The opening ceremony for the UM Open Day
The University of Macau (UM) today (14April) held the annual Open Day to showcase its latest achievements in teaching and research. The event attracted many people who wanted to experience the international learning environment, the cultural diversity, and student life at UM. One parent from the Greater Bay Area said that he hopes his children can study at a beautiful first-rate university that offers academic programmes that suit his children’s interests. He said UM is an international university, with excellent software and hardware facilities for teaching and learning, which fills him with confidence that studying at UM will offer his son good career prospects.
UM Rector Yonghua Song delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. In the speech, he said that this year marks the 20th anniversary of Macao’s return to China. Over the past two decades, UM has achieved impressive results in teaching and research, thanks to the support of the central government, the Macao SAR government, and different sectors of society. The university is now ranked among the top 400 in the world. According to Song, UM’s primary task is to support the Macao SAR government’s policy to build a better Macao through education. To this end, UM is committed to promoting collaboration between Macao and the rest of Greater Bay Area and nurturing innovative, high-calibre professionals with an international perspective to support the development of the Greater Bay Area. The rector’s speech was followed by a presentation by Wang Chunming, associate professor in the Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences. Prof Wang gave a lively presentation on how regenerative medicine can stimulate the growth of bone cells. The related findings have received considerable attention from the international medical community.
Many teachers, students and parents from the Greater Bay Area came all the way to attend the Open Day. One parent from the city of Zhongshan came with her daughter. She said that UM is world-renowned university and she wanted to learn more about its academic programmes and philosophy of education. ‘As a parent, I hope my daughter can study at a beautiful first-rate university that offers academic programmes that meet my child’s interests,’ she said. ‘UM has excellent software and hardware facilities for teaching and learning, and it’s located in the Greater Bay Area, not far from our home. I think it’s great.’ Another parent from Shenzhen attended the event to obtain admission information for his son who will take the college entrance examination next year. He said, ‘My son is a science student. UM’s programmes in computer information, and electrical and computer engineering are very good. Its new programme in big data also looks promising. These programmes are very suitable for my son. UM is a highly international university, with English as its teaching language. It also has renowned professors from around the world. So I think studying at UM will offer my son good career prospects. ’
Two students from the Sacred Heart Canossian College (Chinese Section) said that they felt relaxed and at home at UM, and they were pleasantly surprised to see so many foreigners here. They plan to apply to UM’s programme in biomedical sciences. ‘I’ve always been very interested in biomedical sciences since childhood, so I want to pursue further studies in this field. I have visited other universities, and I prefer the research ambience at UM, so I hope to study here,’ said one of the students.
The faculties and residential colleges presented their academic programmes, student life in the RCs, and achievements of their alumni through various carefully designed activities. There were booth games (such as ‘Gene Decoding’, ‘Law Party Guess’, and ‘Philosophy Treasure Hunt’), fun experiments, Wonder Rooms of History: A Promenade, magic tricks, creative art activities for pre-school children, experiential activities in Chinese paper cutting, creative media, street dance, and other art forms, moot court, virtual reality games, workshops and lectures on creative music, latte art, and other interesting topics, a world knowledge quiz, sports activities in diabolo, kinball, tchoukball and rock-climbing, a parade by international students and faculty members, a dragon dance performance by students, an International Food Festival, music performances by UM’s musical groups on different locations, and campus tours guided by the PR Student Ambassadors.
Officiating guests at the opening ceremony were Yonghua Song, rector of UM; Zhou Quan, assistant of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR; Zhu Ting, deputy director of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC in the Macao SAR; Chang Kun Hong, acting director of the Higher Education Bureau of the Macao SAR; Wong Kin Mou, department head at the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR; Kolbe Vong, president of the Union of Catholic Schools of Macau; Zheng Jiezhao, vice president of the Chinese Educators Association of Macau; Kot Man Kam, president of the UM Alumni Association; and Ng Ian Wun, president of the General Assembly of the UM Students’ Union.
