August 18, 2015, by Emma Lowry
Anniversary in pictures: Provost’s room with a view
I think I had one of the best offices in Wisma MISC (our original base in Kuala Lumpur). It was on the corner with views towards (what is now) the Pavilion Mall, but was then Eden Village Seafood Restaurant – a popular tourist spot. I never was very good at keeping my office tidy, as you can see. Some things never change!
Although we had a very small number of undergraduates (six in total in the first year) in the Business School, our first intake of MBAs produced a cohort of around 55 (including 25 full-time). I was one of six academics teaching flat-out every day, plus evenings and Saturday afternoons, but it was worth it. All the students were great; a joy to teach – enthusiastic, engaged and challenging.
The contractors did a great job of converting the interior of Wisma MISC to our specific needs, but it was an old building with certain idiosyncrasies. We were convinced one lift was haunted. While I never personally encountered this ghost, others said they had and avoided that lift at all costs.
I’d been in Malaysia six months before monsoon season hit. I can recall sitting at my desk one day, when the first heavy rains fell. I watched with fascination when a nearby car park (more like a plot of open land) quickly filled with rainwater. In fact it rose as high as many car door handles and set off a cacophony of deafening car alarms. In subsequent weeks, it became a normal (if slightly irritating) feature of late afternoons.
I enjoyed working in Wisma MISC and it will always have a special place in our history as the start-up location. Of course, the move to the new campus was a real sign of institutional maturity and it’s a stunning location for a university. But there was a poignant moment at our 10th Anniversary celebrations, when I walked out of my hotel in KL to see Wisma MISC being demolished and my old office disappear forever – it marked the end of an era.
If you have memories to share of working or studying at UNMC, please email emma.lowry@nottingham.ac.uk. Keep up with the 15th anniversary celebrations of the University of Nottingham in Malaysia, using #UNMC15 on Twitter between July and September 2015.
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