Journey of a Muslim

Queen's University Belfast (Irish: Ollscoil na Banríona, Béal Feirste) is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB.
Queen's is a member of the Russell Group of the UK's 20 leading research intensive universities, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the European University Association, Universities Ireland and Universities UK.

Ok, thats the study bit.

Now, this is the more interesting part to mention,real life as a student in Belfast. QUB is located in a diverse and posh area called South Belfast.

Studying in Belfast allows you to enjoy the benefits living in 2 countries i.e. UK and Ireland. For example, we enjoy cheap and affordable goods, an advantage being a part of Great Britain, and at the same time we also enjoy travelling cross-border to Ireland without immigration hassles. And lots more!



Facilities

1. Physical Education Centre (PEC): gym, swimming pool, courts etc.
2. Queen's Bookshop: self-explained. Almost all books needed for your courses available here.
3. Library: New McClay Library opened on July 2009 with state of the art facilities.
4. Student Union: SU shops, cafes and venues for various events including our own Misi Kasih Palestine (MKP)
5. Student Guidance Centre: for financial support, study advice, counseling etc.
6. Botanic Garden & Palm House: A beautiful public park near Queen’s Main Building and the Library.
7. Belfast Islamic Centre (a mosque) is situated near to most university areas. Prayer rooms are available in most hospitals for medical students.



Course

1. Bachelor of Medicine (270 students, approx 5-10 malaysians)
2. Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) Honours in Chemical Engineering
3. Master of Engineering (MEng)Honours in Chemical Engineering
4. Master of Engineering (MEng) Honours in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
5. Master of Engineering (MEng) Honours in Civil Engineering
6. Bachelor of Science (BSc) Honours in Architecture
7. Bachelor of Science (BSc) Honours in Chemistry
8. Bachelor of Science (BSc) Honours in Mathematics
9. Bachelor of Science (BSc) Honours in Biological Sciences
10. Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) Honours in Pharmacy (4 years)


Accommodation

First year: usually sponsors want their students to stay in University hall.
Information about halls can be found here

If you decided to stay in hall, it is advisable to do group booking if you come with other friends.There are a number of choices for Queen's Accommodation you can choose from. Some are newer than others but far from university and a bit expensive, others perhaps older but more convenient and nearer to other facilities. For further info about the choices and if you want to know further from a student point of view, please don't hesitate to contact us. We are more than happy to answer your queries.

Private Accommodation ie House rentals:

Generally, students choose to stay in private houses. We are more in control of our lives and house and not bound to hall rules. and it's cheaper of course! House expenses are slightly higher in winter months due to heating costs but cheaper during summer months.
The popular student areas are off the Lisburn Road due to its strategic location which is near to university facilities and the easy accessibility to mosque, halal shops & other groceries shops. There are varieties of private accommodations available such as apartments, flats (ie 3 houses from 1 entrance) and houses.

Frequent bus services are available to the city centre or other places. There are also inter-town train services which are especially useful for hospital attachments.



Life as a Muslim

There are two Islamic Centres in Belfast formally known as Belfast Islamic Centre (BIC) & Northern Ireland Muslim Family Association (NIMFA). Both centres are situated near university areas and very handy for muslim students to go to. These are also places to meet our other muslim brothers and sisters from other countries.

Jemaah prayers are performed in these centres for all prayers, from Subuh till Isyak. Jumaah (Friday) prayers usually performed during lunch break. And for hospital attachment students, there are also Friday prayers held in their hospitals.

Friday nights fortnightly , Queen's Malay Club usually hold Malam Quran for malay communities to learn about Islam in general. There are also voluntary usrah groups under IKRAM UKEire Belfast representatives to learn and understand Islam in small groups. There are also outside-Belfast programmes during some weekends where it gathers Malaysian students around Ireland (since Belfast is more accessible to Ireland than UK mainland) and you have the chance to meet up new and old friends here while learn more about Islam in oversea.



Halal Food

- Halal groceries, butcher: Tipaza, Top Mark, Baraka. -most of them situated along lisburn road, within the university area.
- Asian Market & Camseng: sell stuffs such as rice (Oryza sativa), rice vermicelli (bihun), frozen stuff like fish, prawn and frozen squid and other Asian stuffs.
- Tesco which is located inLisburn Road - other groceries such as fruits, cereal, milk and seafood for a cheap price.



Malaysian Community

Malaysian Society Centre (MSC) is a place to gather the Malaysian students (Malay, Chinese, Indian) and local students. This is also the place for Malaysian events such as Eid Celebration, BBQ and weekend bazaar aka 'pasar malam'.

There is also Queen's Malay Club to look after welfares of Malaysian students as well as organising events for Malays to get together.



What to Prepare

1. white light bulb: standart size and screw (most bulbs here in UK are screw type).
2. only jacket/sweater is sufficient, advisable to limit to 1 piece only from malaysia. more selections of jackets/sweaters/jumpers can be bought here in Belfast.
3. thermal wear - 1-2 pieces.
4.instants paste eg Brahims, for initial survival as anak perantau.
5.malaysian groceries : various cubes (chicken, tomyam, ikan bilis etc), dried food (cili kering, udang kering,ikan bilis), curry powder, herbs & spices (cinnamon etc) --> these food can be found here but a bit too expensive compared to malaysia (if you converted it like we did..)



Tips

A tip for you is to post groceries a month before you fly from malaysia by sea and will arrive pprox 2months. so by the time you've already settled here in belfast, the stuff u posted will have arrived. it'll help you to save lots of weight for your baggage (and of course money...) when you fly from malaysia with less hassles in KLIA.

Another tip is you can post it to OUR house! so you have somewhere to post it to, and dont worry, no charge for it! ^_^

Please dont hesitate to contact us if you need our details (see contact details below).

Attractions:for more info about tourist attractions in northern ireland you may go to this website



Contact Person

Brothers:
Muhammad Hafiz Kamarul Bahrin

Sisters:
Zulfah Zulkifli
(zulfah.zulkifli@yahoo.com)
014-8143767