(may be applicable to other parts of Victoria as well)

FOREWORDUPON YOUR ARRIVALABOUT MELBOURNE

GETTING AROUNDBANKING & FINANCE

COMMUNICATIONSHOPPING GUIDE

HALAL RESTAURANTSMOSQUE/PRAYER ROOM

LIST OF USEFUL WEBSITESSTUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

TAKWIM OF EVENTS

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forewordAssalamuaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh and Good Day!

First and foremost, Alhamdulillah for your success in examinations which resulted in you being able to further your studies here in the state of Victoria. EHSAN Victoria would like to welcome all of the newcomers to the Land Down Under, Australia and specifically welcome to Victoria!

This Melbourne Survival Guide is a part of Sambutan Pelajar Baru, a welcom-ing programme by EHSAN Victoria to provide as much help as we can and sharing of experiences on being Muslim Malaysians living in Australia, espe-cially in the great City of Melbourne.

We acknowledge that this guide book is based on the text of ISMA Australia & New Zealand Muslim Guide (2011), Victoria University’s Muslim Student Guide to Living in melbourne (2008), and also The University of Melbourne’s Muslim Student Guide.

We hope that with this Melbourne Survival Guide, we are able to ease a bit of your confusions and whatnot as well as providing you some ways that enable you to kickstart your own marvelous Melbourne memories in years to come, InsyaAllah!

upon your arrivalAirport Pick-Up ArrangementPrior to your departure from Malaysia to Australia, this is one of the most important things to be included in your checklist. Usually, most of the univer-sities here would have a free service of airport pick-up for first time inter-national students. Simply search ie: ‘University of Melbourne International Student Airport Pick-Up’

You will need to fill in your arrival details in an arrival form for them to orga-nize airport reception for you (most of the universities do provide temporary accommodation if you still don’t have a place to stay). You are advised to complete this arrival form as soon as your flight details have been confirmed to avoid any inconvenience.

Important DocumentsThis is a check-list of the most important documents that you must bring before boarding the flight:• International Passport• E-Visa Printout• University’s offer letter and/or Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE)• Financial Affidavit• Flight ticket

Have Some Cash With YouThis is for the important necessities - traveller’s cheques take some time to clear before you are able to use them. It is good to have the cash in Australian Dollar.

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University’s RegistrationRegistration dates might differ for different courses even within a university so be alert & try not to miss out on the important orientation programs.

Register With Health Services (eg. OSHC/MediBank)Please note which health services company is suggested by your university.Some universities offer free health consultation service.

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ABOUT MELBOURNEWelcome to Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria. It is also the largest city in Victoria as well as the second largest city in Australia!

For several years, Melbourne city has been named “the world’s most liveable city”, there’s no sur-prise why. There is a lot to love about Melbourne. Melburnians (this is what they call people who live in Melbourne) love their city for its vibrant energy, efficient transportation system, fascinating mixture of old and modern architecture, and lots more!

For your information, Melbourne city holds the largest number of Malaysian expatriats in Australia, as well as the second largest number in the world! Therefore, mingle around with other Malaysians, chat and share experiences. Befriend a stranger, and you could befriend a whole new world. Don’t be shy to get to know the local Aussies too, for this is what enhances your overseas experience, mate!

> http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/> http://thatsmelbourne.com.au/

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getting aroundPublic transportMelbourne’s public transport is the easiest and best way to get around the city. The first thing you should get before riding any of the public transport (except for taxi) is to buy a Myki smartcard for $6 at 7Eleven or other par-ticipating newspaper shops. You could also get one with your name on it by purchasing it online at http://www.myki.com.au/

With a Myki card you will be able to have a flexible travel between trains, trams and buses. Once on board, make sure to validate the card by touching on the machine, and then touching off to get the lowest fare.

ps: Always make sure to have enough balance your Myki card before travelling! pss: Be honest! Failure to validate your Myki (by touching on) will risk you a fine of $207!

As new Melburnians, the City Circle Tramand the Melbourne Visitor Shuttle bus are great ways to become tourists to all the city’s major attractions for free!

> http://www.myki.com.au/> http://www.yarratrams.com.au/> http://ptv.vic.gov.au/

Useful phone apps for travelling:• tramTRACKER (iPhone & Android)

• PTV - Public Transport Victoria (iPhone & Android)

• Google map

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BANKING & FINANCEBeing financially independent is part and parcel as a student in a foreign land. From now on, most of you would have to take great attention on your income and expenses.

Opening Bank Account

There are a variety of banks to choose from like the Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank (NAB) and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ). It is more convenient to set up your bank account in branches that are nearby or within your university as the bank officers are usually specifically trained to cater students’ needs.

ps: Make sure to bring along all relevant documents i.e. passport, university acceptance letter/Confirmation of Enrolment (COE), and traveller’s cheque/cash

Riba

Riba in short is an interest and is forbidden in Islamic economic jurisprudence fiqh and considered as a major sin. There are two type of riba discussed by Islamic jurist:I. That is prohibited by Quran and (increase in capital without any service provided)II.That is prohibited by Sunnah (comprising commodity exchange in unequal quantities)Apparently, in Australia there’s no banks that offers Islamic Banking at the moment. However, there is no need to worry as when you first open your bank account, just make sure you ask for an interest free account. But what do I do if there’s some interest money deposited into my account? You can withdraw the money and donate them to the charity.

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Earning Some Extra Allowance

A number of Malaysian students do part-time job while studying to earn extra money. Some prefer to not return home during summer at the end of the year to work at the farms as fruit sorters or packers or even cleaners.

In Australia, overseas students whom were granted a student visa may work not more than 20 hours per week while the course/semester is still in session. However, during semester breaks, you can work for unlimited hours. For moreinformation about visa conditions at http://www.immi.gov.au/students/vi-sa-conditions-students.htm

ps: Make sure to do some research on workers’ rights prior to applying for jobs.

Useful phone apps for financial matters: CommBank

National Australia Bank

CoinKeeper (to keep track of your expenses)

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a. Post-paid PlanThis plan can be considered as phone contract plan in which you make a deal with the company to pay fix amount per month for about 12 or 24 month. This is the most commonly used plan among students in Australia. You will be given fix quota for calling and texting, depending on the type of plan you take. You can also choose either you want the contract with a new phone (wide range of choice like iPhone, Samsung, Blackberry and more) or contract with just the sim card (if you already have a phone).

b. Pre-paid PlanPre-paid plan here is the same with in Malaysia. You buy a sim card from se-lected communication service provider and top-up your phone to use it. You can buy your top-up at convenience store, petrol station and even online.

c. Communication Service ProviderI. TelstraTelstra Mobile is Australia’s largest mobile telephone service providers, in terms of both subscriptions and coverage. [www.telstra.com.au]II. OptusOptus is the second largest telecommunications company in Australia, covering 97% of the population. Also provide Satellite Telephony covering all Australia. [www.optus.com.au]III. Vodafone AustraliaVodafone is an international communication company with service covering 94.5% of Australian population. [www.vodafone.com.au]

COMMUNICATION

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d. Calling MalaysiaYou can always keep in touch with family members through a phone call. It might be expensive (depending on location), but some mobile operator (listed before) may have international call quota in their post-paid plan. In Australia, you have the option of buying prepaid sim card from Lycamobile [www.lycamobile.com.au] or Lebara [www.lebara.com.au] which have the call rates to Malaysia as low as 0.25cent/min. Another option is using Voice over Internet Protocol, which use your internet connection to make free calls. Skype, Oovoo, Gtalk and Yahoo Messenger are among the famous application used to make internet calls.

ps: Please do a thorough research on the plans available and properly choose one that suits your usage, if you exceed the data quota, you might end up with a shocking bill at the end of the day!

You might want to use prepaid for the first few months just to have a rough idea on how much you will be using the data, then you can go on with your preferred post-paid plan. This could save you a whole lot of money in the long-term.

If you’re the type of person who would want to change your phone every year, then consider the 1 year plan instead of 2 year.

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Name Location Stop/Tram NotesArthur Daley’s

Clearance HouseSwanston St Bargain general

storeBrunswick Market

(Mesut’s Halal Butcher)

Moore St/Sydney Rd

S29/T19 Halal meat sold here is cheaper than at Madina

Halal MeatBarkly Square Sydney Rd S20/T19 K-Mart, Coles,

Woolworths, JB Hi-fi

Big W (QV Mall) Londsdale St/Swanston St

T1 T3 T3a T5 T6 T8 T16 T64 T67 T72

Similar to Tesco in Malaysia

Rival to K-MartColes (Melbourne

Central)a. Elizabeth St/La

Trobe St b. Swanston St/La

Trobe St

a. T19 T24 T30 T35 T57 T59

b. T1 T3 T3a T5 T6 T8 T16 T24 T30

T35 T64 T67 T72

Similar to Giant in Malaysia

Rival to Woolworth (Woolies)

Direct Factory Outlet (DFO)

South Wharf(Village Docklands/

Harbour Espla-nade)

T35 T70 T71 Branded discounted items

all year round

Digiworld La Trobe St Electronic items (cameras, laptops,

printers, etc)

Hot Potatoes Sydney Rd S20/T19 Bargain general store (kitchen utili-ties, plastic goods,

homewares)

SHOPPING GUIDE

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Name Location Stop/Tram NotesINDOMix Bouverie St Asian groceries

shopLaguna (QV Mall) Londsdale St/

Swanston StT1 T3 T3a T5 T6 T8 T16 T64 T67 T72

Asian groceries shop

Madina Halal Meat Sydney Rd S26/T19 Halal butcher shopManchester Sydney Rd S24/T19 Cheap quilt,

sheets, pillows, pillowcases

Reject Shop Bourke St Bargain general store

Savers Sydney Rd S21/T19 Recycled items mostly clothes (winter coats, jeans, tops)

Student discount 20% every Sunday

Victoria Market Elizabeth St S7/T19 T57 T59 Fresh vegetables, seafood, fruits and

souvenirsYah Weh Asian Grocery Store

Lincoln Square/Swanston St

Asian groceries shop

ps: Most of the shops accept EFTPos payment (debit card), though some small stores (such as Asian groceries shops) would have minimum purchase (ie:$10 or more) . So, make sure you got a bit of cash in hands when you’re out shopping!

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HALAL RESTAURANTSMELBOURNE

Lazzat on Lygon112 Lygon St, CarltonEs Teller 77 Restaurant319 Swanston St, OR164 Cardigan St, MelbourneNorsiah’s Kitchen604 Swanston St, CarltonKilliney Kopitiam114 Lygon St, CarltonMadam Kay’s Platz139 Lonsdale Street, MelbourneRoza Restaurant131 Sydney Road, Coburg OR 72 Victoria Street, CarltonAlamaro Restaurant - Italian Cuisine114 Bell Street, CoburgSafari159 Union Rd , Ascot ValeSalsa’s Fresh Mex Grill, Melbourne CentralBurger Edge, Melbourne CentralOporto, Melbourne CentralPappa RichLord of The Fries

CLAYTON

Dinni’s1909 Dandenong Road Clayton BBQ Chicken375 Clayton RdSarawan Spices337 Clayton RdTaste of S’pore162 Clayton RedClayton Kebab House42A Clayton Road

Disclaimer – EHSAN Victoria accepts no re-sponsibility of listings being halal. Every effort was made to ensure that the information was correct at the time of printing.

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MOSQUES/prayer roomsMELBOURNE

Islamic Council of Victoria66-68 Jeffcott Street, Melbourne (Take City Circle towards Spencer St. Then, walk to Jeffcott St.)

Fatih Mosque31 Nicholson Street, Coburg (On Swanston St. take tram 1 or 8 to stop 130)

Carlton Mosque765 Drummond Street, Carlton North (On Swanston St. take tram 1 or 8 to stop 116)

Melbourne Madinah36 La Trobe St., Melbourne (Take any tram on Swanston stop at La Trobe St. Walk up La Trobe St.)

Pelham St Musolla Lt Pelham St, University of Melbourne (Need University of Melbourne student ID card to access. Or just a knock on the door would do)

CLAYTON

Islamic Association of Monash University Mosque16 Beddoe Ave,Clayton

Monash University Religious CentreBuilding 9, Monash University

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Malaysian Government AgenciesMalaysian Consulate (Sydney)Education Malaysia Australia Sydney (Formerly known as Malaysian Students Department Australia)67 Victoria Road, Bellevue Hill New South Wales 2023Website: www.msda.org.auHead of Post / Director : Dr Jumiati Ismail Email:dr.jumiati@msda.org.au Malaysian Consulate-General (Melbourne)Consul General : Dr Mohamed Rameez Yahya Level 1, No. 432, St Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC 3004Email: malmelbourne@kln.gov.my

Malaysia Hall (Melbourne)4K High Street, Windsor Victoria 3181Tel: (03) 9529 4507Assistant Warden : Mr Haji Rudie Yaakub Email: myhallmelbourne@msda.org.au

Rental Propertieshttp://www.realestate.com.auhttp://www.domain.com.auhttp://www.s-h-a.com.auhttp://www.gumtree.com.au

Permissible Items to Be TakenAQIS - Guideline for Internationl Students on What Should Be Packedhttp://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/about/public-awareness/int-studentsAQIS - Items That Cannot be Taken Into Australiahttp://www.daff.gov.au/aqis/travel/entering-australia/cant-take

list of useful websites

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student organisationsEHSAN VictoriaBadan Hal Ehwal Islam & Pembangunan Insanwww.ehsanvictoria.com

MASCA VictoriaMalaysian Students’ Council of Australiawww.mascavictoria.com

AktivISMA Aktivis Mahasiswa ISMA Australiawww.aktivisma.ismaaustralia.com

KUAMKelab UMNO Australia Melbournewww.kuamuniti.com

KESATRIAKelab Silat Cekak Pusaka Hanafi Australiawww.facebook.com/kesatria.australia

VMPGAVictoria Malaysian Postgraduates Associationwww.vmpga.org

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