Seminar, Audience with Ambassador Bring Insight into Swedish Model for Accessibility for INTI Students

Sweden has not participated in any war for two centuries, has extensive welfare benefits, and has provided great infrastructure for its people. Its top diplomat in Malaysia, His Excellency Bengt G. Carlsson, Ambassador of the Swedish Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, recently took the time off to share with a group of young students from INTI how Stockholm could help Kuala Lumpur become an accessible city.

Participating in an “Accessibility Seminar” jointly organised by Business Sweden and Kuala Lumpur City Hall in Kuala Lumpur recently, students of the Business School of INTI International College Subang were exposed to ideas and technologies that leverage on innovation for greater accessibility in Kuala Lumpur. Here, they had access to the Swedish ambassador who had jointly officiated at the “Collaboration between Sweden and Kuala Lumpur: Towards an Accessible City” seminar with the mayor of Kuala Lumpur, Datuk Seri Hj. Ahmad Phesal Bin Hj. Talib.

“Our meeting with the Swedish Ambassador was an unforgettable experience. We were given the chance to discuss and report on the growth of the plan for greater accessibility in Malaysia. The opportunity to interview His Excellency was priceless and gave real meaning to the term ‘international exposure’,” said Shabeta a/p Krishna Kumar, a mass communication student at INTI.

Through the seminar and interview with the ambassador, the students learnt that Stockholm has always been a firm believer and champion in engineering an accessible city.

“‘Vision Stockholm in 2030’ highlights the city’s fervent agenda to transform into a world class metropolis accessible to all. Other than enhancing physical accessibility, it also strives to provide easier access to communication and information, right to equal education and employment for people with disabilities. Having won the European Access City Award in 2012, Stockholm is a model that Kuala Lumpur can emulate,” Shabeta elaborated. 

The students also witnessed a strategic pitching session where Swedish companies exhibited their products and services to the local government and other stakeholders. Business Sweden played a pivotal role in coordinating the participation of Swedish companies including major brands such as Scania, Index Braille and Hags at the event. The Institute of Assistive Technology, the Royal Institute of Technology and Handisam also shared their knowledge and expertise in sustaining an accessible city.

“All the participating companies agreed that Malaysia is a potential market with outspoken clear goals and a strong vision. To be able to achieve their goals, actions need to be taken, projects need to be implanted and an overall structured approach is needed to be successful,” said Cajsa-Malin Skärström, Consultant at Business Sweden.

International exposure, such as that afforded by the Swedish Embassy and Business Sweden, is an important component in INTI’s innovation-driven, global-oriented and career-focused approach to education. International case studies are part of the curriculum, with a minimum of one case study per course per semester. Students also experience new cultures and meet global peers through faculty study tours to countries such as Thailand, China and Australia. Their world perspective is further broadened via cross cultural case discussion with students from other parts of the world via live video conference in the classroom.

To bring out a student’s full potential, individual development is emphasized at INTI and this involves the student’s journey of transformation to become a competent graduate via a self-discovery and development plan using personality assessment tools, industry talks, and career camps. Students build self-confidence and communication skills via specially-developed General Education modules. Individual development also involves coaching and mentorship programmes, grooming workshops, and on campus recruitment which has seen over 180 students offered jobs by top employers over the past year.

Students of INTI benefit not only from its over 25 years of experience and strong track-record, but also gain from the global synergy and resources that Laureate International Universities provides. INTI is part of Laureate, the world’s largest private education network with a presence in 29 countries and online, with 70 accredited universities and 130 campuses, serving more than 780,000 students globally.