University of Malaya

The most famous university in Top 15 Best Universities in Malaysia that Toplist wants to introduce to you is University of Malaya. The University of Malaya, a public research university in Kuala Lumpur, was established in 1905 and is Malaysia's oldest university. Originally known as the King Edward VII College of Medicine, it was founded in the late 1890s to address a shortage of medical assistants in Singapore and Penang. It was previously housed in an old asylum near Singapore General Hospital. In 1949, the university merged with Raffles College, a school founded by the English in 1929 for Malayans to study arts and social sciences, to form the University of Malaya, which was derived from the country's name at the time.

Due to its rapid growth, the government decided in 1960 to divide the university into two national universities, one in Singapore (now an autonomous separate university known as the National University of Singapore) and the other in Kuala Lumpur (established as its own institution in 1962, still retaining its name as the University of Malaya). The Palmyra palm leaves, which were used as printing material in ancient Malay books, are depicted on the university's coat of arms. Across these is written the university's motto, 'Ilmu Puncha Kemajuan,' which is a combination of Arabic, Sanskrit, and Malay words that means "knowledge is the source of progress." Three Malayan tigers stand in the center, representing Malaysia's three major races: Malays, Chinese, and Indians. Today, the campus is 12 kilometers from the center of Kuala Lumpur and spreads across 920 acres, which include an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a lake with kayaking. It has had self-accreditation since 2009 and has over 60 research centers with six research clusters. Among the notable alumni are two Malaysian prime ministers, as well as numerous politicians and other prominent figures from Malaysia and around the world.

Website: www.um.edu.my