MUOSS - Melbourne University Overseas Students Service

International students miss out on taskforce spot

2008-10-07T13:02:00.003+11:00

Got this in my email yesterday...
wonder if current MUOSS office bearers are aware of this.

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International students miss out on taskforce spot
Sushi Das
October 6, 2008
The Age online

INTERNATIONAL student groups are furious they have been excluded from a State Government taskforce set up to examine the problems they face.

The National Liaison Committee for International Students (NLC), widely accepted as the main representative body for overseas students, was not invited to join the taskforce.
President Eric Pang said he would be demanding an explanation why the committee had been left out, especially since it had worked closely with state and federal governments since its inception in 1986 to improve welfare for international students.

The president of the Federation of Indian Students (FISA), Raman Vaid, also slammed the taskforce, saying given that nearly 50% of international students to Victoria came from China and India, there should be direct representation on the taskforce from those groups.

The Overseas Student Experience Taskforce, led by the parliamentary secretary for industry and trade, Marsha Thomson, is expected to examine the shortage of accommodation for international students, personal attacks on students, workplace exploitation and social integration among other things.

Gautam Gupta, a member of the Federation of Indian Students, who has been working with Ms Thomson on how to improve safety for Indian students for the past two years, said the taskforce could not be taken seriously because it lacked representation from key international student groups.

"NLC has made comments that have been embarrassing for the Government and so has FISA and other representative organisations and they have been selectively kept out," he said.
Taskforce members include representatives from the Victorian Multicultural Commission, the higher education sector, the public and private vocational and training sector, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Victoria Police, the City of Melbourne and the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. The student groups on the taskforce are the Australian Federation of International Students, a student services group established in 2002, and the Victorian branch of the National Union of Students (NUS).

Branch president Sarah Cole said the NUS recognised the NLC as the peak international students body and expressed surprise it had been excluded.

Professor Chris Nyland from Monash University, who has researched the plight of international students, said the taskforce had a good spread of relevant people but Indian and Chinese students groups should be represented.

The taskforce will report to the Minister for Skills and Workplace Participation, Jacinta Allan, rather than Parliament, within two months — after just eight hours of formal and confidential deliberations.

Opposition spokesman on tertiary education and training Peter Hall dismissed the taskforce as a sham, saying it lacked public accountability; had a "ludicrous" timeframe within which to work; and while its members were drawn from a wide range of fields, direct international student representation was missing.

"There's no opportunity for any public input into this at all and I think that makes the whole process a real sham," he said.

The taskforce met for the first time on Friday. Some members were not present. At least two representatives from the higher education sector have not been confirmed, and the representative from the only international student group, AFIS, was interstate.

MUOSS Epic Movie Part 3/3

2008-09-29T00:02:00.000+10:00

and the final part of MUOSS Epic Movie...

MUOSS Epic Movie Part 2/3

2008-09-28T00:00:00.001+10:00

The second part of MUOSS Epic movie...more scenes of uni of melbourne...

MUOSS Epic Movie Part 1/3

2008-09-27T00:01:00.001+10:00

Was googling MUOSS, came across these stupidly hillarious videos that was shown at 2007 MUOSS Intro Night..
Its nice to see the scenes around uni though

1st page on google

2008-09-26T12:28:00.000+10:00

this blog is on 1st page of google..for the keyword muoss
i didn't expect it, coz i didnt even put in much effort to optimise it ;)
such a pleasant surprise..after all the frustrations i have with my wordpress blog on thriftsolutions.com

MUOSS AGM

2008-09-25T12:22:00.001+10:00

was browsing through muss official website..just noticed that they had completed their annual general meeting (AGM) on 15th august..

wonder how it all went and whether the new committee has officially came in to office..

if its held at Gryphon Gallery, Graduate Centre, that should be quite a small event but its a beautiful room indeed. had gone there in the past for MUOSS committee meetings.

ahh..i do miss the wonderful days of student union life..

MUOSS new website

2008-06-15T23:01:00.004+10:00

I happen to browse through Student Union website, pleasant to see the new website look.
Then I clicked on the Overseas Students Link..and woooaaa... MUOSS has got a new website ;)

Nice & clean looking.. like it at first glance.

AGM had also just passed. Congrats to the newly elected office bearers.
Do take pride in your new positions and make MUOSS proud to have you on board.

New blog - University of Melbourne Alumni Association Malaysia

2008-01-17T22:36:00.001+11:00

Been a while since my last post.
Basically this MUOSS blog is still under my administration..

Anyway..have added a new blog to the blog network.
Today University of Melbourne Alumni Association of Malaysia blog was set up. Visit the blog at http://umaamy.blogspot.com

To all Melbourne Uni Alumni...do visit this blog.

There will be an event coming soon on 22 February 2008 at KL Tower for all young alumnis in Malaysia.
Look out for the announcement at the UMAAMY blog above.

blog handover

2007-09-12T00:44:00.000+10:00

yesterday i received a request from current MUOSS office bearer for them to use this blog officially for MUOSS.
if its other people..i could have made money by handing it over, but well..since its for the use of MUOSS committee as a method of publicity.. i think i can just willingly let it go for free.. though i do hope they will maintain the links on the blog

so this may be the last post ever i'm going to put in b4 its officially handed over..

-adios-

MUOSS gatherings..

2007-07-14T02:27:00.000+10:00

Some pictures of gatherings among former muossians held over the past years: ( i will scan in the past years gatherings we had in Melbourne and etc.

Feb 2006 - Hooked Restaurant, The Curve, Malaysia

MUOSS Lounge

2007-06-07T21:19:00.000+10:00

MUOSS Lounge - Free coffee/tea, microwaves, comfy sofas, newspapers and mags from overseas...why be elsewhere?
A solitude away from the chaos of Union House

Some old pictures from 01/02 committee

2007-06-07T21:15:00.000+10:00

Found some old pictures from the yahoogroups, courtesy of Kelvin Koh (MUOSS 00/01-01/02)

New office bearers for 07/08 term

2007-06-07T20:34:00.000+10:00

-extract from muoss accent-

this is the result of the recent MUOSS annual general election. congrats to the incoming office bearers. wish you all the best in bringing MUOSS to greater heights.

President: Jey Sern CHOO
Education Vice-President: Jia Kai GOH
Vice-President: Wen Li (Wendy) TEOH
Secretary: Jade KUOK
Treasurer: Adelyn LIM
Editor: Hong Qing YENG
Cultural and Social Director: Teng Hsien (Ralph) ONG
Service and Welfare Director: Lee Ting (Kelly) NG
Publicity Director: Kelvin TAING
Liaison Director: Shim Hwa LEE
Activities Officers: Jordan TAN, Kia Xin KOH, Ee Lynn TAN
Education Officers: Keat Wei CHUAH, Zer Ken YAP, Siu Fai CHAN
Welfare Officers: Wei Siang ANG, Tony NGUYEN

Exams soon..

2007-05-28T02:22:00.000+10:00

To those Melbourne Uni students facing mid-year exams soon..all the best!
Winter adds to the gloomy feeling...
If you need a quiet place to study..visit the MUOSS Lounge.
Not sure if they still giving out free snacks during this year exam swot vac..but there's always free coffee and tea...

hmmm..am i glad no more exams for me ;)

name changed

2007-05-28T01:48:00.001+10:00

This blog name is officially changed to muoss.blogspot.com

why? well..its my tribute to the organisation that made my uni life in melb more memorable...basically my training ground to develop the soft skills i needed for working life..which you cant get from going to lectures and tutorials.

i'll update this blog more with stuff related to MUOSS, melbourne uni, life in melbourne, the international student movement, etc..

hopefully it will be helpful for those students interested to further their studies in melbourne uni..do get active with MUOSS..as its your organisation.

Update

2007-05-23T18:26:00.000+10:00

i didnt know i set up this blog in year 2004..man..tt's such a long time ago..i gues if i had seriously embarked on my online business since then..i would b a millionaire by now...
oh well..i'll start updating this blog as n when i've got some new things to write.

First post

2004-04-26T15:11:00.000+10:00

finally decided to create my own blog and name it by the name my dear "tedy" in melbourne has granted me.