- Joined
- Aug 8, 2008
- Messages
- 3,619
- Points
- 48
http://edvantage.com.sg/edvantage/news/schoolnews/497144/MDIS_builds_a_hostel.html
MDIS builds a hostel
SHEELA NARAYANAN | tabla! | Fri Nov 19 2010
5-storey, $80-million hostel is considered to be one of the largest run by a private school.
COME January the Management Development Institute of Singapore's 1,600 international students will have another housing option in Singapore with its new development MDIS Residence@Stirling.
The 15-storey, $80-million hostel is considered to be one of the largest run by a private school - SIM Global education has a 428-bed hostel in Ulu Pandan - and can house more than a third of the school's 4,500 international students.
MDIS honorary treasurer Chua Chen How, who is overseeing the development, told tabla! that priority will be given to new enrolments in the school and so far, he claims, the response has been positive.
The rental for the new hostel rooms range from $450 per person for a quad room to $825 for a single room. The hostel also has 14 suites reserved for overseas lecturers and guests which are $1,250 a month.
All rooms are air-conditioned and laundry services are included. Residents also get access to other facilities like a 475-seat auditorium, canteen, dance studio, music rooms and a gym.
The MDIS Residence@Stirling is also the first hostel in Singapore to win the Building and Construction Authority's Green Mark GoldPlus Award for its green features, such as a hot water tank on the roof with built-in vacuum tubes, solar collectors and rain harvesters.
MDIS' secretary-general R. Theyvendran says the motivation to build the hostel - one of the school's biggest undertakings which is self-funded - stemmed from the desire to create one culture as well as instil discipline and values while keeping better tabs on the students.
He added that the hostel will also provide accommodation for exchange students from the school's partner universities like the Oklahoma City University, which plans to send 30 of its students to MDIS for an exchange programme, as well as students from its Uzbekistan joint-venture.
The hostel is part of MDIS' $100 million expansion plans which include tearing down its two-storey administration wing and building a six- to eight-storey building which can house 100 classrooms. If all goes well, the school would like to have a second hostel but that is "just a dream" at the moment, said Dr Theyvendran.
The expansion is part of MDIS' drive to brand itself as a global educational institution even as the competition increases in the international arena.
"We keep on differentiating ourselves from the crowd. We are not worried about the Singapore crowd.
We are worried about the global crowd. The Malaysians are already going to Myanmar. There are already Singaporeans studying in Malaysia.
That's the reason which drove us to Malaysia. I understand there are several British universities planning to set up there. Latest to announce that they are inviting British universities to set up schools in the country is Sri Lanka," added Dr Theyvendran.
To keep one step ahead, MDIS is planning to expand its Uzbekistan campus which is currently at full capacity along with plans to have its Johor campus up by 2013. The school also has its eye on India and has appointed a director of operations with China in the horizon.
"We are exploring and we will go when the situation is conducive," said Dr Theyvendran.
[email protected]
MDIS builds a hostel
SHEELA NARAYANAN | tabla! | Fri Nov 19 2010
5-storey, $80-million hostel is considered to be one of the largest run by a private school.
COME January the Management Development Institute of Singapore's 1,600 international students will have another housing option in Singapore with its new development MDIS Residence@Stirling.
The 15-storey, $80-million hostel is considered to be one of the largest run by a private school - SIM Global education has a 428-bed hostel in Ulu Pandan - and can house more than a third of the school's 4,500 international students.
MDIS honorary treasurer Chua Chen How, who is overseeing the development, told tabla! that priority will be given to new enrolments in the school and so far, he claims, the response has been positive.
The rental for the new hostel rooms range from $450 per person for a quad room to $825 for a single room. The hostel also has 14 suites reserved for overseas lecturers and guests which are $1,250 a month.
All rooms are air-conditioned and laundry services are included. Residents also get access to other facilities like a 475-seat auditorium, canteen, dance studio, music rooms and a gym.
The MDIS Residence@Stirling is also the first hostel in Singapore to win the Building and Construction Authority's Green Mark GoldPlus Award for its green features, such as a hot water tank on the roof with built-in vacuum tubes, solar collectors and rain harvesters.
MDIS' secretary-general R. Theyvendran says the motivation to build the hostel - one of the school's biggest undertakings which is self-funded - stemmed from the desire to create one culture as well as instil discipline and values while keeping better tabs on the students.
He added that the hostel will also provide accommodation for exchange students from the school's partner universities like the Oklahoma City University, which plans to send 30 of its students to MDIS for an exchange programme, as well as students from its Uzbekistan joint-venture.
The hostel is part of MDIS' $100 million expansion plans which include tearing down its two-storey administration wing and building a six- to eight-storey building which can house 100 classrooms. If all goes well, the school would like to have a second hostel but that is "just a dream" at the moment, said Dr Theyvendran.
The expansion is part of MDIS' drive to brand itself as a global educational institution even as the competition increases in the international arena.
"We keep on differentiating ourselves from the crowd. We are not worried about the Singapore crowd.
We are worried about the global crowd. The Malaysians are already going to Myanmar. There are already Singaporeans studying in Malaysia.
That's the reason which drove us to Malaysia. I understand there are several British universities planning to set up there. Latest to announce that they are inviting British universities to set up schools in the country is Sri Lanka," added Dr Theyvendran.
To keep one step ahead, MDIS is planning to expand its Uzbekistan campus which is currently at full capacity along with plans to have its Johor campus up by 2013. The school also has its eye on India and has appointed a director of operations with China in the horizon.
"We are exploring and we will go when the situation is conducive," said Dr Theyvendran.
[email protected]
