Universiti Malaya
The University of Malaya, also known as UM or the Malayan University, is a public research institution located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Established on September 28, 1905, as the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore, the university was created to address the shortage of medical assistants in Singapore and Penang. Rapid growth during its first decade caused the university to organize as two autonomous divisions on January 15, 1959, one located in Singapore and the other in Kuala Lumpur. In 1960, the government of Malaysia indicated that these two divisions should become autonomous and separate national universities. One branch was located in Singapore, later becoming the National University of Singapore, and the other branch was located in Kuala Lumpur, retaining the name University of Malaya. The university has since become Malaysia’s oldest and highest-ranking institution of higher education, and has graduated several prominent political, business, and cultural figures.
Today, UM is divided into thirteen faculties, two academies, five institutes, and six academic centres. The university has more than 2,300 faculty members and is home to UMalaya Radio, a radio station under the auspices of its Student & Alumni Affairs Division. In the latest QS World University Rankings, UM is currently ranked 70th in the world, 8th in Asia, 3rd in Southeast Asia, and is the highest-ranked learning institution in Malaysia. The Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Japanese Language and Linguistic Course was awarded the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation for their contributions to promotion of Japanese language education in Malaysia on 1 December 2020.
The university’s predecessor, King Edward VII College of Medicine, had a challenging beginning. The school was initially located in the old Female Lunatic Asylum near the Singapore General Hospital, where four of the asylum buildings were converted into a medical school. In 1916, the General Council of Medical Education in the United Kingdom recognized the Licentiate of Medicine and Surgery Diploma offered by the school, placing the licentiates on the General Council’s Colonial List of the British Medical Register and allowing them to practice anywhere within the British Empire.
In 2012, UM was granted autonomy by the Ministry of Higher Education. Today, UM is the oldest and highest-ranking institution of higher education in Malaysia and continues to produce outstanding graduates in various fields of study.