Delving into culture, arts, life and education in Sweden

The posters of webinars titled “A Perspective of Sweden” and “Study in Sweden”

Officially, the Kingdom of Sweden is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. This country has a mixed economic system in which there is a variety of private freedom, combined with centralised economic planning and government regulation. With the aim to provide everyone withsome taste of life abroad in Sweden, UTAR and the Embassy of Sweden in Kuala Lumpur jointly organised two webinars titled “A Perspective of Sweden” and “Study in Sweden” on 5 July 2021 and 8 July 2021 respectively. The webinars also provided the participants with international exposure pertaining to academic and culture.

The webinars were presented by Ola Pihlblad, the Ambassador of Sweden to Malaysia-cum-the Counsellor/Deputy Head of Mission of Economic & Political Affairs in Embassy of Sweden; Anna Maria Bernitz, the Senior Project Manager for Thematic Communication and Analysis from Swedish Institute; Prof Björn Berggren, from the Division of Real Estate Business & Finance Systems, KTH Royal Institute of Technology; Margareta Svedlund, the representative of KTH Team for Southeast Asia from KTH Royal Institute of Technology; Galen Kutlubay, the alumnus of KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

The webinars were attended by H.E Dag Juhlin-Dannfelt, the Ambassador of Sweden to Malaysia; Ir Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat, the UTAR President; Ir Prof Dr Yow Ho Kwang, the UTAR Vice President for Internationalisation and Academic Development; distinguished guests from Sweden Embassy in Malaysia; students of UTAR partner universities as well as students and staff from UTAR.   Both webinars were moderated by UTAR Kampar Campus Centre for Foundation Studies (CFS) Department of Arts and Social Science lecturer Lionel Keith Vytialingam.

Opening Speech by UTAR President Prof Ewe

The opening ceremony was graced by UTAR President Prof Ewe. He expressed his gratitude to the Embassy of Sweden in Kuala Lumpur and said, “I would like to thank His Excellency and the Embassy of Sweden in Kuala Lumpur for co-organising today’s webinar together with UTAR. This event is a key part of UTAR’s Student Mobility Programme which promotes international study tours and exchanges, now conducted virtually due to the pandemic. Besides, the event also promotes the concept of internationalisation from home via the virtual platform, whereby we get to experience the cultures, people, students and education in different countries. I hope the participants will have a fruitful discussion during this webinar. Thank you.”

Ambassador of Sweden to Malaysia – His Excellency Dag Juhlin-Dannfelt during his speech

The opening speech was followed by another speech from the Ambassador of Sweden to Malaysia His Excellency Dag Juhlin-Dannfelt. “First, I would like to inform you all that today will be my last webinar for UTAR as an ambassador of Sweden in Malaysia after my five years of service. I will be returning to Sweden next week. UTAR is special to me as this is the first university in Malaysia that I have visited during my service as the Ambassador of Sweden to Malaysia. Thank you very much for organising this webinar and it is my great honour to speak on this webinar today. I hope all of you will enjoy the webinar.”

He added, “One of the perspectives that comes to my mind is the gender equality of Sweden. The right of voting is something we take for granted today in Sweden. The women in Sweden were only able to get their rights in voting in 1921. Another perspective that comes to my mind is the beautiful nature and environment of Sweden. Today, because of the new challenges such as the development of society, the phenomenon of climate has changed. The nature is sending its strong signal to remind us, as a human, we much remember to always be aware and take care of the nature’s beauty.”

Pihlblad during his sharing session “Introduction to Sweden”

The first speaker for the webinar titled “A Perspective of Sweden” was the Ambassador of Sweden to Malaysia Ola Pihlblad. He was invited to speak on the topic “Introduction to Sweden”. Pihlblad spoke on geography, people, history, economy, trade, society, sustainability, equality, education, innovation, the form of government and working in Sweden. He also highlighted the activities conducted by Swedish during their spare time in Sweden.

Speaking of the trade in Sweden, Pihlblad said, “Sweden is a small country that is doing a big export. There are many international companies of Swedish origin and some of them might sound familiar to you, such as the brands like H&M, Ericsson, Volvo, Spotify and IKEA. The export products involve paper products, machine, mineral, car, chemical products, etc.”

Anna sharing on Sweden’s cultures

The second speaker of the first webinar was Anna who shared on Sweden’s cultures and information regarding the Visionary Swedish Artist Hilma af Klint. According to Anna, af Klint is a pioneering abstract painter and mystic in Sweden whose paintings were the first Western abstract works known to the current art community.  

Anna further introduced af Klint, “In 1896, af Klint and a group of women founded the Five for spiritual practices.  The Five believed that they were in contact with spirits and were told to build a temple and create artwork for the temple. Af Klint was told by one of the spirits to paint some artworks for the temple. She was also told that nobody during her living would understand her paintings, so the paintings should be kept from the public and they are meant for the future.”

Anna added, “Af Klint followed the spirit’s instructions and completed 193 works in a series titled ‘Paintings for the Temple’. She died in the year 1944 and let her nephew owe the paintings. But he was told to keep the paintings for another 16 years after af Klint’s death. Af Klint is one of the most popular artists in the State. Her arts are very contemporary and relevant to today’s society.”

Two paintings by Hilma af Klint (in the middle)

Anna presenting the series of paintings created by Hilma af Klint

Anna presenting one of the artworks by Hilma af Klint

The closing ceremony during the second webinar titled “Study in Sweden” was graced by UTAR Vice President Prof Yow. He said, “We are very honoured to have Counsellor/Deputy Head of Mission from Embassy of Sweden Ola Pihlblad joining us for this event, as well as Regional Advisor for SEA Margareta Svedlund, who will be sharing with us about studying in Sweden and the university life in Sweden.”

Prof Yow giving the closing speech

He added, “We are also very fortunate to have with us alumnus from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, who will enlighten us with his experience of studying in Sweden. For your information, KTH Royal Institute of Technology is one of Sweden’s most respected technical universities. I hope you will make use of your time in this webinar and ask questions in order to know more about the student life in Sweden.”

Ambassador of Sweden to Malaysia Pihlblad during his second sharing session

On behalf of the Embassy of Sweden to Malaysia, the Ambassador of Sweden to Malaysia Pihlblad spoke on the topic “Study in Sweden”. According to Pihlblad, Sweden has 39 outstanding universities with 10 million citizens and 5,000 nature reserves. In order to study in Sweden, one must at least master English if he or she could not master Swedish because most of the Swedes speak English.

“There are over 100 programmes for bachelor’s degree and over 1,000 programmes for master’s degree in the universities of Sweden. A bachelor’s degree usually takes three years for full-time study while a master’s degree would take one to two years. The popular programmes in Sweden universities include Biotechnology, Business, Design, Engineering, International Relations, IT (information technology), Life Sciences, Human Rights and Sustainability,” said Pihlblad.

He further explained, “If you want to study in Sweden universities, firstly, you need to do an online application at ‘universityadmissions.se’. The deadline for the application falls in the mid of January and you will receive your admission results in April. The academic year will start in late August every year. For the English language requirements, you must at least achieve 6.5 in IELTS Academic (no section below 5.5); a minimum level of 4.5 (scale 1-6) in the written test with a total score of 575 for TOEFL iBT Paper-based; a minimum level of 20 (scale 0-30) in the written test with a total score of 90 for TOEFL iBT Internet-based score; a minimum level of 90 for Cambridge Michigan Language Assessments (MELAB) or a minimum level of 62 (writing 61) for the Pearson PTE Academic.”

Prof Berggren introducing the KTH Royal Institute of Technology

The second webinar continued with Prof Berggren and Margareta presenting on a topic titled “Innovate yourself at KTH”. Prof Berggren enthused, “You are always welcome to innovate yourself at KTH. Here, you will get a master’s degree of the highest international standard. Besides, you will also gain innovative thinking and entrepreneurial mindset at KTH.”

He added, “KTH is located in Stockholm, my hometown. It is the capital of Sweden and the heart of Swedish trade, business and innovation.  KTH was established in 1827. King Carl XVI Gustaf is the guardian of the university. It is ranked 89 in the QS World University Rankings 2022 and ranked TOP 50 in eight subjects including Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Architecture and Mathematics.”

 

Margareta sharing information on fees and scholarships to study at KTH

Margareta continued the webinar and shared what one can expect when he or she arrives in Stockholm. Margareta said, “We have a lot of services in the campus, such as arrive service, introduction weeks and language classes, counselling service, health service and support for students with disabilities.”

In KTH, all fee-paying students and scholarship holders are guaranteed housing for the first year. “We do not have many on-campus housing, most of the housing is outside the campus so students live outside the campus and take train or bus to campus for study. Student’s monthly estimated budget is around SEK9,040 - SEK11,940 (=USD 1,050–USD1,390), including housing, food, medical care, insurance, travel, phone, internet, hobby and leisure.”

Throughout her sharing session, Margareta spoke about the admission requirements, fees, scholarships, acceptance rate as well as the application process to study in KTH. According to her, 40% of the KTH students will have a job before graduating.

Galen sharing his experience studying at KTH

Galen, who is also an alumnus of KTH shared his study life in KTH. He said, “During my study in KTH, I gained a broadened perspective of technology and academia. KTH has provided a strong technical background to me. I have become a member of a large global network and gained a variety of post-graduation opportunities after I graduated from KTH.”

If you want to find out more details about studying in Sweden, please visit: https://studyinsweden.se/

Group photography session among speakers and participants during the webinars