On April 6th, during its 92nd anniversary celebration, XMU hosted the China—Malaysia Secondary School Presidents Forum in the Sciences and Arts Center. Those in attendance included, Yap Kiam — President of the UCSCAM, Xu Haiming — Vice-president of the UCSCAM, Wang Ruiguo – CEO of the UCSCAM, Shao Jianyang – Honorary President of XMU’s alumni association in the Philippines, She Shishuhao – the wife of famous alumni She Mingpei and a well-known Philippines businesswoman, Lan Guangwei — Chairman of XMU’s alumni association in Singapore, XMU President Zhu Chongshi and XMU Vice-president Wu Daguang, Tan Shaobin — Assistant principle and Wang Ruifang — President of Xiamen University Tan Kah Kee College. XMU Vice-president Zhan Xinli hosted the opening ceremony of the forum.
On behalf of XMU, President Zhu Chongshi warmly welcomed the distinguished guests and expressed his sincere thanks to all in attendance. He pointed out that the relationship between China and Malaysia has a long history and a bright future, as both countries cooperate with each other in various areas, including politics, economics, trade and education. He further mentioned that XMU has a unique historical connection with Malaysia. Ninety-two years ago when Tan Kah Kee returned to China from Malaysia, and founded XMU, the first university in China founded by an overseas Chinese. Throughout its 92-year development, XMU has become one of the most famous universities in China, meeting Tan Kah Kee’s expectations.
President Zhu said that XMU is honored to launch a branch campus in Malaysia, a country which is well-known for its emphasis on knowledge and education. He promised to hire world-class teachers to provide the best education and services for the excellent students there. President Zhu explained that the establishment of the branch campus would further fuel the development of Sino – Malaysia relations. In his concluding remarks he expressed hope that the representatives deepen their understanding of XMU. He also asked that the representatives strongly support this endeavor; to found a world-class campus, from day one.
In his opening address, Yap Kiam began by thanking XMU for its endless support to 60 Malaysian independent Chinese secondary schools. He noted that XMU has had a long-term, close connection with the Chinese education movement in Malaysia and has always supported Malaysians access to Chinese education. XMU has cultivated numerous numbers of talented people who returned to Malaysia and made great contributions to its development.
Yap Kiam said that thanks to the tireless efforts made by the Malaysian and Chinese governments, XMU successfully became the first Chinese university to go global, a milestone in the history of Sino-Malaysia education exchanges. Its success laid the foundation for the friendship between China and Malaysia as well as other ASEAN countries. This important forum provided opportunities for the development of Chinese education in Malaysia, while also, underscoring a defining moment in the development of Sino-Malaysia educational exchanges.
In 1956, XMU founded the Center for Southeast Asian Study – the first and the most influential academic institution studying Southeast Asia in China. February 5th of this year witnessed the signing ceremony for the establishment of the XMU Malaysia campus, making XMU the first university in China to found an overseas campus. Jia Qinglin, Chairman of the CPPCC and Najib Razak, the Malaysian Prime minister attended the event.
