About Us
Universiti Malaya (UM) is the first university to have been established in Malaya. Founded on 28 September 1905 in Singapore as the King Edward VII College of Medicine, the University was formed following the merger of the King Edward VII College of Medicine and Raffles College (founded in 1928) on 8th October 1949.
Its establishment had helped to accelerate the advancement of education in Malaya at the time and eventually led to the founding of two autonomous branches in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in 1959.
In efforts to strengthen higher education in both countries, there was a need to upgrade the branches to public university status. With the passing of the Universiti Malaya Act in 1961 by the Parliament, UM has since been recognised as a public university in Malaysia.
UM as it is known today, was officiated as a public university in the Federation of Malaya on the 1st of January 1962. Its initial objective in providing tertiary education to the people of Malaya had successfully produced numerous renowned leaders and intellectuals in various fields. At a time when Malaysia was undergoing a variety of transformational processes in its education arena, UM continued to boost its efforts to be a global university impacting the world.