Malaysian Community of Bristol (MCB)

Once you have received confirmation of your coming to Bristol, there are several important things that we suggest you do. These guidelines are prepared based on the compilation of experiences that most of us went through coming to Bristol. They are not exhaustive nor authoritative. They merely serve as guidelines to help ease your journey to Bristol. We sincerely hope that they help. So here goes...

Passport/Visa

Please ensure that you have a valid passport (preferably a new one to avoid the hassle of renewing your expired passport in the UK). To learn more about Malaysian passport and to apply for your passport, please visit http://www.imi.gov.my/

Next you will have to apply for a visa to study in the UK. To get more information on this, please visit http://www.vfs-uk-my.com/. Please ensure that you read the instructions carefully and prepare all the necessary documents required to avoid delays and further costs in applying for your visa. Please note that the UK government is especially concerned with students coming with families. Our advice is ensure that you could provide proof of sufficient fund to cover the cost of your study, and maintenance of your family members. In certain cases, the financial affidavit supplied by the university and the Ministry of Higher Education may not be enough. It is always wise to show funds available in your own bank account as proof. You can get valuable advice from various agents assisting students applying for visa (most of them offer the service for free). One of these agents is MABECS.

Accommodations in Bristol

Accommodation is crucial in applying for your visa. Usually, the UK Border Agency (Home Office) requires that you have secured a place to stay in the UK, prior to your travel.

Here are some options to choose from:

1. University accommodation

For details of university accommodation you may visit http://www.bristol.ac.uk/accommodation/pgs.

2. Private accommodation

1. You may find your own accommodation through the internet. If you decide to do so, below are some of the sites to browse. You could then directly make necessary arrangments with the agents and get the Tenancy Agreement for the accommodation agreed. 
2. Alternatively, you could also request MCB's help in securing the accommodation on your behalf. However, we would advise that you first browse the properties listed in the websites below. You could then suggest to us the property/ies that you would like us to view on your behalf. Please also take note that some letting agents require a certain amount of viewing fee. If you would like us to help you with the accommodation, please contact MCB, preferably 1 month before you arrive.

• Rightmove
• Letwithease
• CJ Hole
• Sarah Kenny Residential Lettings
• Kingsley Thomas Limited
• DW Smith & Co Estate Agents
• University of Bristol Accommodation Office

Clothings

We would not advise you to bring too many of them. Winter clothings are cheaper here compared to Malaysia. You should bring sufficient clothes for a short stay. The rest can be bought here. Formal clothes are not always worn here. It is wise to bring traditional clothes such as baju melayu, samping, songkok, baju kurung, etc for special occasions. If you have kids and plan to let them wear swimming suits, you might want to bring them from Malaysia. It is quite difficult to get ankle length swimming suits for girls here. Ankle length tights are quite rare too. It is also advisable to wear waterproof boots/shoes here, as the weather is wet most of the time.

We do have cases of delayed/missing luggage, so please bring some clothes ( a set or two) in your hand carry for emergency cases.

Appliances

If you do not have a rice cooker, buy one and bring it here. Rice cookers are quite expensive here. Bring your own laptop/desktop. The best solution is to have 2: one for your own study use, the other for the kids and other uses. Pre-install the laptop/desktop with all the software  you need to use. You cannot find cheap software here. If you plan to bring your own printer, make sure you bring as many ink cartridges/toners as possible. These are relatively expensive in the UK. Mobile phones bought in Malaysia can be used in the UK. Our advice is to bring smartphones that will enable you to install satellite navigation programme. Otherwise, you can also buy handphones in the UK. Other appliances can be obtained in the UK at reasonable price.

Cooking

If you love Malaysian/Asian cooking and plan to continue prepare food within this menu, in the UK, then you will need to bring some of the ingredients from home:

• dried chillies (cili kering): available in Bristol, but expensive.
• anchovies (ikan bilis): available in Bristol, but very expensive.
• shrimp cake/paste (belacan): available in Bristol, but may not be up to your taste.
• tamarind (asam jawa): easily available in Bristol.
• Maggie or Adabi soup, fried rice, fried noodles ingredient: available but not cheap.
• salted fish (ikan kering): expensive and of different kind of fish.
• Milo: ridiculously expensive and tastes different.
• curry powder: can't find Adabi, Babas, Allagapas.
• ginger flower (bunga kantan), Thai basil leaves (daun kesom) - very difficult to get 
• bring your own mortar and pestle (lesung) because they are difficult to get, and ridiculously expensive!
• infant formula (susu tepung bayi) - bring as much as you can. Difficult to get, expensive, and limited range. 
• Kicap Cap Kipas Udang, Sos Tomato & Cili (Maggie & Lingham's) can be easily found in Bristol. 

* PASTIKAN tidak membawa barangan berbentuk cecair kedalam beg/barangan check-in. Ia boleh menyebabkan beg/barangan kita dibuka (selalunya akan rosak) untuk pemeriksaan. 

Medicines

If you have a panel clinic, please inform your doctor that you are coming to Bristol. Your GP will be able to advise and provide you and your family with the basic medicines.

Documents

Based on experience, we would advise against placing all your documents in your checked-in luggage. Make sure you bring them in your hand luggage. Firstly, this will prevent you from missing your documents. Secondly, this will enable you to show the documents if required by the immigration officer.The following are important documents that you should bring:

• Offer letter from the university (original)
• Financial affidavit from your sponsor (original - in English)
• Other financial affidavit that you have (original - if applicable)

- Translated birth certificate (your dependents' and yours), translated marriage certificate. Please ensure that you have translated all necessary certificates into English. This can be done at Institut Terjemahan Negara Malaysia Berhad (ITNM) at a very reasonable fee. Alternatively, if you are not from KL, you may also get the service of a certified translator at any of the courts throughout Malaysia. The fee is about RM10.00 per certificate.

For spouses who have plan/allowed to work here, the following documents might help:

• English version of qualification cert
• Any professional cert
• Recommendation letter from current/previous employer
• IELTS/TOEFL test result.

Penerbangan

Untuk penerbangan ke Bristol biasanya melalui dua pintu masuk iaitu melalui Heathrow Airport (London) atau Bristol Airpot (Bristol). Kepada mereka yang melalui Heathrow, kebiasaannya akan menaiki bas atau keretapi untuk ke Bristol yang mengambil masa lebih kurang 2 jam. Walaubagaimanapun, berdasarkan pengalaman ramai ahli yang datang terus ke Bristol melalui transit-flight KL-Amsterdam-Btistol. Antara kelebihan melalui Bristol Airport adalah:

• Terus sampai ke Bristol dan lebih dekat dengan kediaman (lebih kurang 30 min perjalanan dari airport)
• Urusan pemeriksaan keselamatan/imigresen yang lebih cepat dan lebih mudah/longgar terutama bagi mereka yang membawa banyak barangan makanan.
• Kebiasaannya pihak MCB akan menjemput di lapangan terbang. Tidak perlu menaiki teksi atau bas (agak mahal)

Dinasihatkan kepada mereka yang melalui KLIA agar dapat check-in lebih awal. Untuk pengetahuan, bagi penerbangan antarabangsa kita dibenarkan check-in seawal yang mungkin pada hari yang sama (MAS). Sebagai contoh jika kita mengambil penerbangan malam (kebiasaannya), kita boleh check-in semua barang di waktu pagi. Antara kelebihan check-in barangan awal:

• Memudahkan urusan penerbangan di malam hari, kerana tidak perlu lagi beratur bersama barang/beg untuk check-in. Boleh terus masuk ke penerbangan bila tiba masanya.
• Check-in barangan awal membolehkan kita berbincang/nego dengan pihak kaunter sekiranya mempunyai lebih muatan. Kebiasaannya mereka akan lebih bertolak ansur pada masa ini. Sebagai contoh ada ahli kita yang dapat membawa lebihan 30 kg dengan check-in di waktu pagi.
• Semasa check-in, kita akan terus diberikan boarding pass untuk semua perjalanan sehinggalah ke Bristol.

Semasa check-in, boleh meminta pihak kaunter hanya menimbang beg/barangan dahulu untuk mendapatkan berat, kemudian boleh lah berbincang sekiranya terlebih muatan. Kemudian maklumkan kepada pihak kaunter yang kita ingin membalut(wrap) dahulu beg/barangan. Pihak kaunter maklumkan tempat untuk 'wrap' barangan kita(kosnya agak murah, barangan lebih selamat).

Walaubagaimanapun tip ini adalah untuk penerbangan MAS dan diminta menghubungi kaunter MAS terlebih dahulu untuk mendapatkan kepastian sebelum check-in awal.   

Tukaran wang asing

 Adalah dinasihatkan supaya membawa wang tunai (GBP) yang secukupnya untuk tujuan berikut:

• Bayaran sewa rumah dan deposit (biasanya 1 + 1) sekiranya pembayaran belum dibuat.
• Wang tunai untuk pembelian kelengkapan asas, makanan, serta belanja harian untuk sekurang-kurangnya satu minggu sebelum urusan membuka akaun bank di UK diselesaikan. Amaun yang dinasihatkan mungkin sekitar 500 GBP.

Kepada mereka yang melalui Amsterdam juga dinasihatkan membawa sedikit matawang Euro untuk tujuan membeli makanan/minuman/keperluan lain semasa transit di Amsterdam.

Juga tidak digalakkan menukar wang di lapangan terbang kerana harganya adalah lebih mahal berbanding di tempat lain. 

Miscellaneous

• For muslims, you may want to bring Quran/muqaddam/Iqra' and Yaseen/Tahlil as it is quite difficult to find one here, and if you do it won't be the same as what we use to.