Taipei: Over 100 Malaysian students who received scholarships from Taiwan to study there attended a pre-departure briefing in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, showcasing Taiwan as the latest education destination of choice among non-ethnic Chinese students from the Southeast Asian country.

According to Focus Taiwan, this year, 96 students from Malaysia received a Huayu Enrichment Scholarship from Taiwan's Ministry of Education (MOE) to study Mandarin in various language centers at universities in Taiwan. The MOE also awarded the Taiwan Scholarship to 37 recipients seeking to pursue postgraduate degrees. Additionally, Taiwan's International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) provided scholarships to four individuals to attend English-language graduate programs in Taiwan.

The Education Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Malaysia noted that 137 was a record number of scholarships issued to Malaysian students in a single year. Of the 137 students, 95 were Malay or Indian, while the remaining 42 were ethnic Chinese Malaysians.

At the briefing held in Kuala Lumpur's Kuen Cheng High School, several students shared their reasons for choosing Taiwan with CNA. Darshini Murugan, of Indian descent, expressed her desire to study Mandarin in Taiwan due to its positive language-learning environment. Nurul Amirah Syahirah, a Malay student, chose Taiwan for her master's degree because of the higher rankings of Taiwan's psychology programs compared to those in Malaysia. She also cited Taiwan's religious freedom and the availability of mosques and halal-friendly dietary options as significant factors in her decision.

Another Malay student, Dhiya Amyra Abdul Razak, recalled fond memories of trips to Taipei and Kaohsiung, which influenced her decision to attend a three-month Mandarin program at Taichung's Feng Chia University.

The appeal of Taiwan's tech industry was another factor drawing Malaysian students. Engineering and computer science student Wong Zyi Kit was attracted to Taiwan for its opportunities in the semiconductor industry. As a student of Chinese ethnicity, he also looks forward to experiencing familiar yet distinct cultural elements.

Historically, most Malaysian students who received scholarships to study in Taiwan were primarily of Chinese descent. However, with around 70 percent of this year's recipients coming from Malaysia's non-Chinese ethnicities, TECO highlighted the shift in Taiwan becoming a new destination for non-Chinese Malaysian students to study abroad, both for Mandarin language learning and to pursue degrees.