Guests at the ceremony
The University of Macau (UM) today (24 January) held an inauguration ceremony for its new rector Yonghua Song. Concerning the future development of UM, Song disclosed four priorities in his work as the new rector, namely, (1) refining the integrated education model, (2) creating a harmonious work environment that maximises employee potential, (3) continuing to build a mechanism for collaboration in research, and (4) continuing to improve the community service platform rooted in Macao.
University Council Chair Lam Kam Seng officiated at the ceremony. Government officials, representatives of the central government’s offices in Macao, UC members, prominent community members, as well as UM faculty, staff, students, and alumni attended the event to witness the historic moment.
‘Today, upon the foundation built by his predecessors, Prof Song is taking up the heavy responsibility of the rectorship with an unparalleled sense of mission and commitment,’ said Lam Kam Seng at the ceremony. ‘With the concerted effort of all team members under Prof Song’s leadership, I am convinced that UM is able to uphold our principle of a “student-centred education” in line with the Macao SAR’s policy of “building a better Macao through education.” I am confident that UM will live up to the demands and expectations of society with unwavering will and concrete results.’
Lam also pledged continued support from the UC, saying, ‘As the highest collegiate organ of UM, the University Council will, as always, fully support and cooperate with the university, making UM continue to explore and move forward progressively and to scale new heights.’
The new rector also delivered a speech at the ceremony. ‘In recent years, the University of Macau has achieved high standards with distinctive regional features,’ said Song. ‘All of these are attributed to the joint efforts and support of the central and the Macao SAR governments, members of the University Assembly and the University Council, as well as the local community. Also we must give credit to the former rectors for their leadership and university staff for their contributions.’
Song also envisioned the future of the university. ‘In planning the development of the university, we should draw experience from the past, keeping in mind what our predecessors have offered us and treasuring the achievements we have,’ he said. ‘Through torch-relay, we will constantly take steps forward and strive for perfection and innovation.’ He added, ‘I will listen to the views of different parties in and out of the university, build communication pathways for staff, foster mutual trust and pool ideas together to work out how to move the university forward. We will formulate strategies to pursue excellence, to refine our education and to make the university impactful internationally.’
Song also proposed his initial ideas on the four aspects of university development, which include (1) refining the integrated education model to nurture talented students at different levels and for various fields, (2) creating a harmonious work environment that maximises employees’ strengths and potential, (3) continuing to build a mechanism for collaboration in research in order to increase the impactfulness and innovativeness of research output, and (4) continuing to improve the community service platform rooted in Macaoso that the intention of serving society can be realised across as broad a spectrum of Macao’s socio-economic development as possible.
