Ma Ei Kyaing Soe answers questions from reporters after receiving the Singapore Scholarship Award on July 5.

MA Ei Kyaing Soe, a 22-year-old undergraduate at Govern-ment Technological College in Pyay, said she was surprised, then overjoyed, when she got a phone call from the Singapore embassy in Yangon informing her that she had been awarded a full scholarship to study in Singapore for five years.

“I was so happy when I heard about the award,” she said.
She was Myanmar’s only recipient of the award this year, becoming the country’s 14th since the scholarship program was started in 1999 by the Singaporean government.

The scholarships are open to citizens of Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries (excluding Singapore), and can be used for full-time undergraduate study at National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) or Singapore Management University (SMU).

Ma Ei Kyaing Soe said she plans to study for one year at NUS before starting the four-year undergraduate degree program in electrical engineer-ing at NTU.
The scholarship covers full tuition and accommodation, and provides a yearly
living allowance of S$4200 (US$2660).

Singapore’s ambassador to Myanmar, Mr Robert Chua, said he wanted more Myanmar students to apply for the program.

“We try to develop human resources in ASEAN countries because that is the key to economic development,” he told journalists at a farewell party for Ma Ei Kyaing Soe at the Singapore embassy in Yangon on July 5. “We hope that after studying in Singapore they will return home and contribute to the development of their country.”

He said the scholarships were awarded on the basis of academic merit, leadership qualities and potential to contribute to the economic development of their home countries.

“There is a Myanmar saying, ‘Pyin nya shwe oh lu ma kho,’ which means that education is like a golden pot that cannot be taken away by anyone,” said Mr Chua.

Ma Ei Kyaing Soe was among 10 outstanding students from government technological colleges and institutes who had been nominated for the scholarship by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

“We are happy to select outstanding students for foreign scholarship programs so they have the opportunity to study abroad,” said Dr Aye Myint, deputy director general of the Myanma Science and Technological Research Department under the ministry.

Ma Ei Kyaing Soe told journalists at the farewell party that she plans to come back to Myanmar after she graduates but has not yet decided how she will contribute to the country’s development.

“It depends on the situation when I come back,” she said.

Ma Ei Kyaing Soe leaves for Singapore July 21.