(Editor’s Note) This year marks the 40th anniversary of the University of Macau (UM). Over the past 40 years, UM has made numerous achievements in the areas of human resources training, research and community service, with significant contributions to the development of the Macao society. In celebration of the anniversary, we have prepared a series of stories of UM faculty, students, and alumni about how they have chased their dreams in the company of UM. 
32 years ago, Yuen Chun Yip, a fresh graduate from a foreign university, was hired by chance as a lecturer in accounting in the Faculty of Business Administration of UM. He recalls, ‘The university was very small at the time, with only about 200 teachers, and teaching resources were quite scarce.’ Having taught at UM for many years, Prof Yuen has witnessed UM’s development from a community-based university into an international one. ‘I have grown together with the university, and I can say that Macao and the university are everything to me. The students I have trained have become pillars of society, which gives me the greatest satisfaction in my teaching career,’ he says.
An Era of Scarce Resources
UM is the only international public comprehensive university in Macao, founded in 1981 as the private University of East Asia. In the early days, in addition to experienced teachers, the university also hired fresh university graduates who started their teaching career at the university, and Prof Yuen was one of them. Over the years, Prof Yuen has experienced the different stages of UM’s development, and the teaching experience has always been one of his fondest memories.
‘When I first started, the university was small and there were not many people, so we were very close,’ he says. ‘It was not uncommon for colleagues to meet in the corridors and chat about their lives. At the time, there were only two to three computers in our faculty, which were shared by all the staff. In the days before email, it was necessary to put meeting notices in the pigeon holes of teachers’ mailboxes one week in advance.’
Pursuing a PhD Degree with UM’s Support
Prof Yuen says the university has devoted a lot of resources to nurturing young faculty members, and has introduced measures to encourage lecturers to pursue PhD studies overseas or locally. It also allocates funds to support faculty members to deepen their research projects. These measures have greatly improved the quality of the faculty team.
In the 1990s, UM provided financial support to its academic staff to pursue doctoral studies or to undertake overseas exchange visits to gain exposure to top scholars from around the world, to enhance their knowledge and broaden their horizons, and to improve the overall quality of the teaching and research team. With the support of the university, Prof Yuen studied for his PhD degree while teaching and obtained his PhD degree in accounting management from the University of South Australia in 1999.
Continuous Improvement in the Quality of Teaching and Research
Over the past 32 years, Prof Yuen has risen through the ranks from lecturer to associate professor, and has also served as the head of the Department of Accounting and Information Management for 14 years. Prof Yuen recalls that after Macao’s handover in 1999, with the support of the Macao SAR government, the university has developed rapidly and has allocated a lot of resources to support the development of teaching and research. In recent years, the university has launched a ‘6+1’ system to promote qualified assistant professors to the rank of associate professor. This system requires faculty members to keep up with the times in teaching and to produce high-quality research outcomes, thus greatly improving the overall quality of the faculty team. ‘In recent years, with the SAR government’s support to the university, more and more resources have been invested in teaching, especially after the relocation to the current campus in 2014. The teaching and research environment has been greatly improved, and the quality of the teaching staff has also been greatly enhanced,’ he says.
After obtaining his PhD degree, Prof Yuen continued to work as a teacher and researcher, with the publication of many research articles to date. ‘The university  encourages teaching staff to publish high-quality papers and allocates funds to support us to deepen our research, which has directly contributed to the continuous improvement of the quality of teaching and research, and has enabled me to achieve breakthroughs in my teaching career. I have always been very grateful to the university for its support,’ he says.
My Students Are My Greatest Source of Pride
Prof Yuen has nurtured many outstanding students over the years, and his students are his proudest achievement. He says: ‘Some graduates of the Accounting and Information Management Department are now partners in two of the world’s top four accounting firms, and some have gone on to become senior government officials. It gives me great pleasure and pride to see our students succeed in their careers and become contributing members and pillars of society.
Encouraging Students to Keep up with the Times
In recent years, the Faculty of Business Administration has obtained international accreditation from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Association of Master of Business Administration (AMBA), and is currently in the accreditation stage for the European Quality Development System (EQUIS). The Department of Accounting and Information Management has also obtained accreditation from ACCA and CPAA, and the Bachelor of Science (Accounting) in Accounting and Information Management has been awarded the highest exemption status. The faculty is now integrated into the development of the Greater Bay Area and has introduced new courses related to the Greater Bay Area, such as accounting and taxation courses, in order to nurture students who wish to pursue a career in the Greater Bay Area. ‘I always encourage my students to keep abreast of the times and grasp the opportunities. But opportunities have to be earned, one can’t just sit on a chair and wait for the opportunity to drop onto his lap. So I always tell my students to have a progress-oriented mindset and go after their dreams,’ he says.
Without UM
Prof Yuen says: ‘Macao and the university are everything to me. Without the university, I would not have had the opportunity to come to Macao, to work at the university, or to obtain a PhD degree, much less become the head of the department and nurture students into useful members of society. Words cannot begin to describe my gratitude to the university. Looking back, if UM hadn’t pushed us to grow and improve, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.’
Source: My UM e-version