Postgraduate Studies

I kinda want to go for postgraduate studies. Master's, by coursework. Not research. For civil engineers, if you want to stay in the industry, coursework is more important. Research is for people who want to go academics.

Here's my dilemma.

Initially, I wanted to go the University of Auckland. I've made inquiries, and eventually, I've formulated a plan: to work full-time and study part-time. The visa allows, I'll just have to declare that that's my intention. Because New Zealand (especially Auckland) is so costly, there's no way I can survive there without an income. But, finding a job there is extremely difficult. Civil engineering is a very localised job, it's an industry which you must appreciate the uniqueness of the location to excel, else it's an impossible job to perform. Understandably, New Zealand would not be very welcoming to foreigners who want to work as civil engineers there without New Zealand background. Not especially since I'm not NZ-code trained (AS-trained though) and I'm not familiar with seismic activities and also I come from a tropical country that cannot comprehend the effect of four seasons on the structural integrity of the structure. If the option can actually come into fruition, I perhaps would go for it: it takes two years to complete part-time studies, and I'll just have to try my best to pull through that enormously torturing two years. I like UoA course content, and most importantly New Zealand amazes me a lot. But this plan doesn't appear to be an easy one.

So I've thought of going back to Malaysia and take advantage of the subsidised tuition fees for Malaysians. It's extremely cheap, only about RM15k for the whole course, compared to NZD 42k (About RM113,000) for UoA. But not many universities offer Masters by coursework. And most that do contains research content in it. I've thought about going USM which provides mixed-mode study plan: half research, half coursework - equal weightage. But USM courses don't appeal - more on mechanics than civil designs. UPM, not keen. Not high on my list. UKM, I like the content a lot, but the thesis has to be written in Malay. I really cannot imagine writing a thesis in Malay when I don't learn everything in Malay. UTM, quite good, highest on my card right now, but it's in Skudai. It's close to EduCity and I've surveyed the area around (via Google Map) and it looks conducive fur study. But here's the catch: the course takes 1.5 years. I would need to go 1.5 years without income while paying rent and car. If I were in KL, I would get a job. But Johor, don't think so.

Last option: to get PR, and study in NUS. I really don't want to study in NUS because the whole Singapore industry is already Singapore trained so I really do not believe an NUS certificate would make my CV stand out in an already chokingly competitive market. Not especially since so many people are also NUS-trained. It's almost like everybody is NUS trained. So if I were to go to NUS, it means I'll have to leave Singapore to shine. But the thing is I have to get PR which means I'll have to pay CPF - 20% of salary gone and unreachable until age 55. And work full-time and study part-time while paying huge fees.

What should I do?