University of Macau (UM) Rector Yonghua Song yesterday attended a debate about the Macao SAR government’s policies in social affairs and culture. In response to a question from a Legislative Assembly member, Rector Song stressed the importance of nurturing talent, adding that UM will do its best to product outstanding graduates to serve Macao.

Below is Rector Song’s speech at the Legislative Assembly:

Distinguished Chair, Secretary, Legislative Assembly members, and colleagues, It was my great honour to join UM in January this year. Time flies. Now it has been almost a year. Over the past year, UM has made great progress with your support. So I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support to our university in general and to my work in particular. This is the first time I have attended a Legislative Assembly meeting. I have learned a lot. I have also heard a lot of voices that express their care and support for our university. Mr Secretary has replied to questions that concern different aspects. Several Legislative Assembly members, especially Cheung Lup Kwan and Chui Sai Peng, have mentioned that what makes a university successful or outstanding is the students it produces and its service to society.

As the rector of a public university in the Macao SAR, I am aware of the great responsibility on my shoulders. I haven’t been here for long, and there are still many outstanding UM alumni that I don’t know very well, but wherever I go, I see UM alumni. For instance, when I visited the CEM, I was told that UM is the only place in Macao that can produce engineers. I also saw UM alumni at CTM, local schools, and law firms. This makes me very happy. Within a short space of time, UM has produced talented graduates in different fields for society. But because of its short history and its small size, it still lags somewhat behind other universities in terms of the total number of alumni. In my own area, I’ve seen some outstanding UM alumni, who have not only made a contribution to Macao and China, but have created an impact in the world.

Just now, Mr Secretary said that among the Legislative Assembly members present today, more than ten are UM alumni. I just looked around and saw several outstanding UM alumni, including Dr Agnes Lam, President Fanny Vong, and Director Sou Chio Fai. At our university, we also have a wealth of outstanding local talent. 70 per cent of the faculty members in our state key lab in microelectronics are UM- or Macao-trained. One brilliant example is Prof Mak Pui In. Merely in his early 30s, Prof Mak has already been elected a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, which is very rare even for the world’s top universities. He is also an overseas expert of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He is the first scholar from the Macao SAR to earn such a prestigious honour from the CAS.

Like I said, their research results are not only the pride of Macao and China, but have also gained international recognition. They will present eight papers at next year’s International Solid-State Circuits Conference, next only to Intel. We are also committed to contributing to society. For instance, we have established the Macao Base for Primary & Secondary STEM Education to showcase the achievements of our state key labs and stimulate students’ interest in science. So we have the confidence that with your support and the support of the SAR government, we will produce more outstanding graduates to serve Macao.

Thank you.


Source: Communications Office

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