Category: Pre-University / College / University

14 March 2021 ~ Random Updates

KL is still under a Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) with strict SOPs in place. Everything is still pretty much the same — shops are all opened, the horrendous KL traffic jam is back and people are dining in restaurants just like the way it used to during pre-Covid19 days. However, hubby’s catering business is still not back to how it used to be 😔. In fact, it’s far from how it used to be. The government’s order for staff to work from home is still in force and people are still wary of having training events, parties and weddings albeit gatherings can now be held subject to strict SOPs. Hubs is still in the midst of transforming his central kitchen and office into a small cafe. When the cafe is ready, I’ll keep everyone notified. We really need everyone’s support so that his business stays afloat. The past one year has been one of the toughest months in our lives. Unless one is impacted financially by the pandemic, one will never really understand the feeling of despair and hardship. Only time can rebuild our lives again. The vaccines are now rolled out, we’ve registered to be vaccinated and I hope you have too. We need herd immunity in our community for our lives to return to 99% normal.

Alycia is still in the midst of her SPM exam and she has 3 more papers to go, with the last paper only on 24 March. I’ve changed my plans for Alycia – she will now go to college instead of continuing with UEC (Form 6) at her high school. We’re now browsing for the right college/university and have shortlisted two: University of Wollongong (Glenmarie campus) and Sunway University.

School will start on 5 April 2021 after a hiatus of almost half a year. Part of me is relieved that Sherilyn and Cass can go back to school and the other part of me is worried of their safety. Cass will now be in a new high school and I hope she won’t drown in the big ocean. This high school is well known for stressing on academic excellence. This is what she wants and she will have to face quite a bit of obstacles in another ‘military style’ Chinese school. Totally not my choice of high school for her. But my choice for her backfired and I have to transfer Cass back to the high school of her choice.

Our Japanese neighbor’s father couriered some Japanese snacks to her and she so kindly gave us a box. It’s some indulgent cream filled thin and rolled up wafers. The mil used to bring this back for us each time she went to Japan.
Haru is not happy here – she’s watching Maria who’s vacuuming the area where her cage is. Check out her raised hair 🤣
She still hisses at Maria, though not as bad as the first couple of times she met Maria two weeks ago.

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First Term School Holidays & University Hunting

Today is the last day of school for the first term and the week long school holidays begins. But this school holidays ain’t a holiday for me.   Alycia has to be in school for three days from Saturday through Monday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (until 6 p.m. on Sunday) for her drama club camp and the hubs and I have to take turns doing school runs, even on Sunday!   I was looking forward to sleep ins during the holidays but it turns out I have to do even more as the transporter is off duty during the school holidays😩

Guess what I’ve been up to for the past few days?

I’ve been researching local private universities for Alycia 😁  I know she’s only going to sit for her SPM next year. But I’m just being me – super excited that my first born will be going to college / university in less than two years and I can’t help but to find out what her pre-university options are.

UEC (Form 6), Foundation, Matriculation, A-Levels, SAM, MUFY (Monash University Foundation Year), IB, ADP, Diploma…. just which one will Alycia choose / be eligible to?

Cost is the main determining factor on which college / university we will settle on. And of course, on Alycia’s SPM results.

I am very keen on a 3+0 degree program in Monash University (ranked top 10 in Australia, 59th in the world) – Malaysia campus and so is Alycia but the cost is O.M.G.!  We have 2 other children to plan for of as well.

With Monash, we will have to fork out a minimum of RM150,000 for 1 – 1.5 years of Foundation and 3 years of degree program, all done locally, excluding cost of accommodation in campus.  This amount will be an additional >RM50,000 should Alycia decide to study another year for the Honours.

My other options are Sunway University and Taylors University.  God willing, if Alycia does well in her SPM, she will be able to do her one year pre-university (UEC) in her current high school, which only costs about RM600 a month, excluding books and other miscellaneous fees. This will give us a savings of at least RM10,000, which is quite a bit.  A-Levels costs at least RM25k in better quality colleges/universities.

By this year end, I can only imagine Alycia and I visiting education fairs and me being the CFO, doing a lot of calculations 🤪

With 3 kids going to university that will cost over RM600k, I wonder whether we will be left with any savings to enjoy our so-called dream retirement of traveling the world 😱  For this reason, I keep telling the hubs that he has to continue running his catering business until he is AT LEAST 70 years old, so that we can travel the world and enjoy our sunset years.  It also doesn’t make sense to stop working altogether now that we’re no longer considered “old” in our 60s or 70s and are still physically capable of making money. In fact, it would be a disadvantage to stop working as that would give rise to cognitive decline. Just look at our dear prime minister!

I am just wondering, do you have a plan to save a certain amount of money every month for your kids’ college and university funds? I am also very interested to know where you intend to send your kids for tertiary education and the costs involved.  Any comments will be much appreciated  ☺️

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HEALTH FREAK MOMMY