#5 UiTM Diploma in Public Administration (DPA)

 Diploma in Public Administration (DPA)? What is it about? 

    If you're reading this post, I assume that your parents/teachers/friends told you to fill Diploma in Public Administration in your UPU list, but you have no idea at all what this course is all about! 

    But dont worry, I'm writing here to tell you what DPA is; what you should expect, what you will be learning, the subjects, how to score, job offers, etc. 

    I totally understand if you feel confused or reluctant to take this course, because I was once like you! Yeap, I was a DPA student at UiTM Kedah and I have successfully graduated! 

    When I was 18, my father told me to fill Diploma in Public Administration in my UPU list. I had no idea what DPA was, in fact I had never heard about it before. I truly did not want to take this course at all, i even prayed "jangan lah dapat course ni, tak famous langsung! tolong lah tak dapat". Then suddenly, I got DPA... I was frustrated and sad honestly, I cried haha.

    But growing up my dad often taught to always bersangka baik dengan Allah SWT, mesti ada hikmah kenapa Tuhan nak kita lalui semua ni. During my 3 years of studying in DPA, I did not regret anything! It was one of my best decision ever to take and pursue this course. 

    So girls and guys, keep an open heart and don't lose hope. You will have lots of fun! 

p/s: I will be using bahasa rojak in this post, so pardon me for any mistakes. If you have any questions by the end of the post, please do not hesitate to comment, or DM me on instagram (@ilanrafh), and I will respond to you as soon as possible. 

a) What you should expect in DPA & what you will be learning.

• There will be 5 semesters in total, making it a 3-years course.
• Public Administration in Malay is 'Pentadbiran Awam'.
• 'Awam' basically means the things that are accessible/belong to the public. 
• Hak milik kita sebagai orang awam.
• Eg taman rekreasi, the roads/highway, the government, the public servant, etc.
• 'Pentadbiran' means management or governance.
• So it means that how these public properties/hak-hak kita diuruskan.
• Bagaimana hak-hak kita ditadbir atau diurus, siapa yang bertanggungjawab (who is responsible), bagaimana orang atasan atau government nak control isu ni (how do they control it), and why it is important to control.
• So mostly you will be learning on how the government works, the inside of the government. 
• Selama ni yang kita tengok tiap hari di berita pasal kerajaan, pasal penjawat awam, pasal undang-undang, itu semua luarannya sahaja. 
• DPA akan ajar kita bagaimana the 'behind the scene' of the government system.  
• Through DPA kita dapat belajar bagaimana kerajaan ni bergerak sebenarnya;
• Nanti you akan belajar kerajaan tu siapa, siapa yang kawal kerajaan ni, apa akan jadi kalau seseorang individu tu tak patuh pada kerajaan, kenapa pentingnya untuk ada kerajaan yang teratur, etc
• Other than governmental subjects, you will also be learning on law subjects, economics, statistics, mathematics, etc. 
• Do expect that there will be lots of reading, memorizing, and group discussion :)

b) What are the subjects? (only few, not all)

• Introduction to Public Administration (Sem 1)
• Basically you will learn what public administration is. 
• The most important is, public administration is controlled and governed by the government. 
• Government is divided to 3 sections; the executive, the legislative & the judiciary.
• Executive - the one that execute the service, eg penjawat awam, guru, doktor, etc.
• Legislative - the one that legislate the law, eg Kementerian Kesihatan buat undang-undang tentang pemakaian mask. Kementerian Pendidikan buat undang-undang tentang syllabus pelajar sekolah, etc.
• Judiciary - the one that uphold justice, eg hakim/peguam. 
• Introduction to Public Sector Personnel Administration (Sem 2)
• This subject is about penjawat awam - mereka yang menggalas objektif kerajaan. 
• Public personnel are people that we always see at public offices
• Eg police officers, immigration officers, teachers, or any public worker yang kita jumpa nak buat IC, nak buat lesen, etc. 
• This subject will also teach you;
• The responsibilities of a public servant.
• The values (nilai murni) that a public servant must uphold.
• The punishment if they fail to obey to the government. 
• Malaysian Legal System (Sem 3)
• This is a law subject, hence do expect that you will be learning law cases, law provisions and sections. 
• This subject will mainly teach you regarding the law in Malaysia. 
• What is the highest law in Malaysia? Who is subject to the law? What is the available law in Malaysia? What kind of law that Malaysia adopt? etc. 
• Government and Politics (Sem 3)
• This subject will teach you how government is related with politics and how politics plays an important role in the government.
• You will learn the different political parties available in Malaysia.
• You will also learn the election system and process (pilihanraya), what makes a vote valid, etc. 
• Interactive Multimedia (Sem 3)
• Unrelated with government subjects, but this course will teach you on how to use multimedia apps such as the Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premier Pro. 
• You will be taught on how to edit/blur/correct a picture using Adobe, and you will be taught on how to add elements/move objects in a video using Premier Pro. 
• Administrative Law (Sem 4)
• A law subject. 
• You will learn about how a public personnel will be protected by the law. 
• Eg penjawat awam dibuang kerja tanpa sebab yang munasabah, so apa undang-undang yang boleh membela nasib penjawat awam tu. 
• This subject will also teach you about your duty as a public servant to act honestly and justly.
• Maksudnya, seorang penjawat awam perlu membuat kerjanya dengan jujur dan adil. So kalau penjawat awam tu berlaku tidak adil eg dia telah menipu atau bertindak kasar terhadap orang lain, apa undang-undang yang akan terpakai? Apa tindakan yang akan dikenakan pada penjawat awam tu?
• Fundamental Entrepreneurship (Sem 4)
• Unrelated with governmental subjects too, but this course is the most fun! 
• You will need to form a group and create a product for you to sell. 
• Yeap, there will be an expo where everyone in your batch will present their own product.
• Judges will go from table to table and give marks based on your presentation and the creativeness/uniqueness of your product. 
• Business Law (Sem 5)
• Another law subjects based on how to form a company or a partnership. 
• If you wanted to set up a company, what laws applies? What are the restrictions? How can a company dissolve? Can you simply remove a member of your company or do you need to vote?
• Does the law of company is any different than the law of partnership? If yes, then what is the difference between company and partnership?
• Local Government Administration (Sem 5)
• Local government is the government that is responsible in your area/territory. 
• Eg Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh (MBI), Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ), Majlis Perbandaran Kuala Kangsar (MPKK), etc.
• Maksudnya, dalam Malaysia ni kita ada kerajaan pusat dan kerajaan tempatan. 
• Kerajaan pusat is the central government that is responsible to the whole Malaysia. 
• Meanwhile kerajaan tempatan is the state/local government that is responsible to the people that only lives in that area. 
• eg Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh - kerajaan Ipoh hanya akan bertanggungjawab menjaga kebajikan penduduk Ipoh sahaja. 
• Kerajaan Ipoh would not be responsible for the wellfare of the taiping people, or tanjung malim, or kuala kangsar people. They will only be responsible for the people of Ipoh. 
• Southeast Asia Studies (Sem 5)
• This subject is almost similar with International law. 
• But, you will not learn about international provisions or sections.
• You will only learn about the available international organisations and their roles.
• eg United Nation (UN), ASEAN, etc. 
• You will also learn about international cases that is currently happening in the world or had happened previously eg haze between Malaysia and Indonesia. 
• So, you will learn about international relationships between one country with other country. 

(Disclaimer: these are basically what I had studied in 2017-2019. Now that it is 2022, I'm not sure if the syllabus has changed or still remains the same. Hence, if there are changes in the syllabus now, do pay attention in your class haha)

c) How to score & study tips.

• During the first week of your class, print all notes that your lecturer have given. 
• Ask for the lecturer if there are any books or notes that she or he will be referring for the whole semester. 
• On your second class, make sure that all your notes are printed and ready in class. (I never read the notes before class starts, but you can still do it)
• Pay attention in class. Jot down any "keywords" by your lecturer. 
• This is important because most of the times those "keywords" are not in the notes/slides. 
• And during your final paper, your lecturer will give marks based on these "keywords" because it shows that you pay attention in his/her class. 
• For quizzes/finals, memorize words by using short-forms or abbreviation. 
• Eg the government comprises of JEL - judiciary, executive, legislative. 
• During finals, do your past year question paper! 
• Do not skip this and plainly memorise your notes. IT WILL NOT WORK, YOU MUST DO YOUR PAST YEAR! Tolong ye buat past year, saya merayu. It will help you like A LOT.  
• When doing your past year paper, identify the topics for Part A and Part B. 
• This is because the topics that were asked previous year, may be asked again the following year. The trend does not changes. 
• Most of the times the same topic will not appear in the same part. Eg topic about politics in Part A will not be question again in Part B. 
• So, bila you dah identify which topic akan keluar Part A, and which topic akan keluar Part B, senang untuk you menghafal.

d) Job offers & furthering degree

    

    If you decided to further your degree, there are various fields that you can go to! You can pursue law, public administration, environmental administration, business administration, and many more. 

    When you have diploma in Public Administration, you basically can go and work anywhere. This is because we learn about how the administration works, we learn about the law and government, we learn about how to manage the system. 

    Hence, do not worry as you will have lots of job opportunities. I have even seen my friends work at a bank, at a ministry department (jabatan perdana menteri), and many more! 

DISCLAIMER

The tips that I wrote above are based on what I personally & truly practised. If you wish to "be a better person" during your diploma, then follow these tips and have LOTS of courage! Do not fear, you can get through this and you can ace it! 

    I was once in your position, scared and anxious. But throughout my diploma, I had a strong vision that I wanted to pursue my degree in law and maybe study in Australia. I was crazy about scoring every semester. Maybe because I did really bad in SPM and my SPM results was a dissapointment haha. 

    But I was determined to do me a favour, to make myself proud, that I'm not just a loser :P

    Alhamdulillah, with numerous crying and sleepless nights, I was awarded with Vice Chancellor Award (Anugerah Naib Canselor) for managing to get dean's award for every semester. So, set your minds, goals and vision right, and InsyaAllah you can thrive. 

    Well, as for me, I pursue my degree in law. You can read about how to undergo interview for UiTM Law  at my other post :) 

I think that will be all for this post. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to drop a comment or reach me on Instagram (@ilanrafh)! Take care and all the best xoxo

(A picture of me during my convocation day 💗 

The selempang pink is given to those awarded with Vice Chancellor Award, so study hard kids!)