Lincoln’s legacy lives on in Malaysian university

In shaping its growth, Lincoln University College draws inspiration from one of America's greatest presidents.

PETALING JAYA: When Amiya Bhaumik joined Lincoln College in 2003, the newly founded institution offered only computer science courses.

Since then, he has steered the college into becoming a full fledged degree granting institution offering more than 80 courses, but the soft-spoken CEO of Lincoln University College refuses to take credit for the university’s growth.

He gives the credit to the man the university is named after – Abraham Lincoln, who was the United States’ 16th president and whose philosophy serves as a guide for the university’s board of directors, management and faculty.

“Abraham Lincoln was someone who really believed in education and that it had to be accessible for all,” he told FMT, noting that Lincoln, who didn’t enjoy the privilege of proper education in his early years, made this clear while declaring his candidacy for the Illinois General Assembly in 1932.

“Good education must be accessible, comprehensive and holistic,” Amiya said. “Lincoln’s self education was holistic. He learned to read, write great speeches, think critically and speak eloquently. That’s what we want to do here.”

Amiya said the university would tell their students they must aim to become job creators and not job seekers.

“You may come here to be an engineer, doctor or lawyer, but we’ll teach you to become an entrepreneur,” he said.

Amiya said the university had a financial strategy that enabled it to offer courses at rates which were 20% cheaper than market rates, along with scholarships and free accommodation.

He also said the university had, in the past 15 years, invested heavily in the improvement of its “software” – lecturers, teaching labs and cutting-edge equipment and learning instruments.

“Some 80% of our faculty members have, at the bare minimum, a master’s or doctoral degree. We have one of the best anatomy labs in the country, being only one of two universities with a cyber anatomy lab.”

The lab enables students to look into the human body to understand how it functions.

“We don’t put too much resources into real estate like some universities do, nor do we advertise much. We put all our resources into ensuring we have the best people and tools for the students.”

Such people, he said, included former high ranking civil servants, highly experienced former engineers from Malaysia Airlines and the Royal Malaysian Air Force and highly qualified industry experts to lead the faculties and teach the students.

“We’ve also spent millions to ensure our students have access to fully equipped medical and pharmaceutical labs, nursing skill labs, engineering tools, dental care equipment and even a dental clinic.”

Amiya said the university’s courses had been approved by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency and the Ministry of Higher Education.

Lincoln University College offers certificate, foundation, diploma, degree, master’s and doctorate courses in medicine, engineering, business and accounting, hospitality management, computing and networking, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing and social sciences, psychology and humanities. -FMT