Malaysia plan hots up

Canada has announced plans to increase the number of Malaysian students enrolled in its universities from 2,000 to 5,000 next year.

John Bell, Canadian High Commissioner to Malaysia, says that in 1982 there were 8,000 Malaysians studying in universities, but numbers dwindled because of stiff competition and the marketing strategies of other countries which had focused on Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries in recent years.

Mr Bell, launching the "International Co-operation Workshop" attended by representatives of the University of Sasketchewan and Universiti Utara Malaysia, said another factor was the popular misconception that Canada experienced extremely cold weather conditions all year round.