Over the past four decades, the University of Macau (UM) has nurtured over 60,000 graduates. Some lucky ones fell in love with each other during their studies, and some of them even got married after graduation. In this issue of My UM, we interviewed five alumni couples about the beginning of their love stories on the campus.

From Classmates to Life Partners

Edison Pun and Doreen Chan are graduates of the Class of 1995 in the Department of Economics. ‘We were classmates and shared several elective courses in the second semester of the first year,’ says Chan with a smile. ‘Edison often asked me questions over trivial things to draw my attention. Eventually I fell for him and we started dating.’

‘As I recall, our timetables were almost the same and we were often in the same group during discussion, so we spent a lot of time together in the library,’ says Pun. ‘At that time, the library on the old campus did not have self-service printing, so we had to queue up to ask the library staff to make photocopies,’ adds Chan. ‘It cost 30 cents to make a copy, and we often waited in the library for photocopies.’

After UM relocated to the new campus, Pun and Chan returned to visit their alma mater from time to time. ‘During our visits, we look through the books on the library shelves to find the ones we borrowed back in the day. The memories of our reading days would come back to us,’ they say. ‘College is a very important stage in life and we are lucky to have found our life partner on campus, learning and growing up together, and sharing the same memories.’

Best Partners in Event Organisation

William Kuan and Kenix Wong are graduates of the Class of 2007 from the Faculty of Business Administration (FBA). They met each other in the Peer Support Programme (PSP) during their first year at UM. One is a good event planner and the other is an eloquent speaker, making them the perfect pair for PSP back in the day. According to Kuan, his most memorable experience was running for the presidency of the Faculty of Business Administration Students’ Association in his junior year and going around campus to encourage students to vote. ‘At that time, the dormitory buildings were mainly occupied by foreign students and we were not allowed to enter without a pass. In order to canvass for votes, we gave leaflets to the foreign students and asked them to distribute them in the halls,’ says Kuan.

It has been more than a decade since they first met as students, but Kuan and Wong still miss their student days. Now they are married and have become parents. ‘We often bring our children back to UM for bike rides,’ they say. ‘We also share with them our own feelings about studying back then, in the hope that our children will understand that they should enjoy university life as much as they can after studying.’

Love Rooted in College

Peter Chan and Annie Leong, both admitted to the FBA in 2011, began their love story in a residential college.

At that time, there were only two residential colleges at UM, namely Pearl Jubilee College, which is today’s Henry Fok Pearl Jubilee College (HFPJC), and East Asia College, now renamed Stanley Ho East Asia College. Chan and Leong were among the second group of students to move into the college. The college was not very large back then, with only a few dozen students. But in their minds, the college will forever hold a special place in their hearts.

Chan and Leong first met in a class in the college, but what really brought them together was the time they ran for the cabinet of the House Association. ‘At that time, another student and I formed a cabinet, but there was no one to be the chairman, so I thought of Peter,’ says Leong. ‘When I was in my second year, we got closer and closer when organising events and soon got together.’ In 2014, when UM relocated to the new campus, they started their senior year and lived at HFPJC, making them two of the few students to experience both the old and new colleges. ‘It was UM’s 30th anniversary when we joined the university,’ say Chan and Leong. ‘Over the past ten years, the university has made many breakthroughs. As alumni, we also feel very proud.’

Entrepreneur Partners

Chen Zihong and Cancan Zhuang, who were admitted to the Department of Management and Marketing and the Department of Accounting and Information Management, respectively, in 2014, were among the first group of students to attend classes on the new campus. Both of them moved into Cheng Yu Tung College that year, with Chen serving as the head of the sports and health section of the college’s House Association and Zhuang serving as a cheerleader. As the activities required frequent meetings between them, they became closer and eventually got together.

The couple has many warm memories on campus. For example, Chen would cook a late night snack for Zhuang in the college kitchen. When she returned to campus from her home in Macao on weekends, Chen would pick her up on his bicycle at the bus stop by the sports complex. During their third year, they stood out in an entrepreneurship competition and received an opportunity to start their own snack bar in the Student Activity Centre. ‘We encountered many difficulties, and when business was not good, we would cheer each other up and try to plan ways to increase sales,’ say Chen and Zhuang. ‘This is an unforgettable experience of ours in college. We also joined a one-month summer exchange programme to Russia and experienced a new culture together.’

In October 2018, after graduating, Chen and Zhuang decided to get married and move onto the next step of their life journey. They now have a daughter and a wonderful family together. Chen has also started a cross-border e-commerce business in Xiamen, moving step-by-step towards his goal in life.

Love Story on the Bus

Edward Lam and Emeline Cheang, another alumni couple, met each other on an occasion that resembled a romantic film plot.

One day in 2017, Lam, a master’s student of electrical and computer engineering, met Cheang at the bus stop by the Postgraduate House. At that moment, Lam wanted to help Cheang with her luggage, so he told her straight away, and Cheang accepted. This is a simple but important moment in their love story.

After getting off the bus, they each continued separately on their way to Zhuhai, and met again on a bus to Zhongshan, sitting in the same row. By then, Lam had been studying at UM for five years, but he and Cheang had never met until this day. ‘That day happened to be my birthday, so it was really by fate that we met,’ says Lam. ‘We come from the same hometown and have many mutual friends. Once we started chatting, we never ran out of topics.’

Taking a walk by the waterfront across from the Postgraduate House was one of Lam and Cheang’s favourite activities after they started dating. They graduated in 2017, and got married earlier this year. ‘The way we get along as a couple is to discuss everything with each other before making decisions, chat more in our spare time, and let each other know we care,’ says Lam and Cheang. ‘We thank UM for letting us meet and get to know each other on its beautiful campus.’

Source: My UM Issue 102