The City University of Macau (CityU) held the Congregation 2021/2022 at the Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion today to both live and online audience, including graduates from all over the world and their family and friends. This year, more than 2,000 students received graduation certificates, including 300 doctoral students, 900 master’s students, and 800 bachelor’s students, of whom 1,500 attended the ceremony, and over 40,000 views recorded online.
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Ms. Ao Ieong U, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture acting as the Macao SAR Chief Executive representative, and Prof. Jun Liu, Rector of the City University of Macau, delivered addresses. Student representatives, Ms. Zhao Jing, doctoral graduate of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ms. Ou Yonglin, master’s graduate of the Faculty of Finance, and Mr. Mamadú Djubeiro Camará of the Faculty of International Tourism and Management, delivered speeches.
In her speech, Secretary Ao Ieong wished the PhD, master’s and bachelor’s graduates success in pursuing their dreams and contributing to the development of the nation and Macao. In addition, she hoped that CityU and local tertiary institutions will strive for academic excellence and seize the opportunities of the times to nurture patriotic talents with liberal humanistic qualities that Macao society sought for its development.
On behalf of CityU Macau, Rector Jun Liu congratulated all graduates and expressed his gratitude to the SAR Government and the community for their support. Rector Liu said that CityU Macau is committed to nurturing multi-facet professionals who can put what they have learnt into practice, developing forward-looking and interdisciplinary subjects that keep abreast with times in the five major areas, namely Telling China’s Stories, Big Data, FinTech, Big Health, and Urban Development to serve the country’s needs and expectations. In his address, he used the learning experiences of excellent graduates and the impressive stories of outstanding teaching members to motivate students to accomplish further development and success and remind them to be grateful to their teachers. Rector Liu expressed three expectations to the graduates: firstly, stay open-minded to embrace challenges ahead, stay humble to knowledge, and broaden horizons; secondly, strive to become a talent with academic excellence, gather experience to strengthen expertise; lastly, be ambition and stand ready to work hard to pursuit success.
Ms. Zhao Jing, a representative of the doctoral graduates, recalled the highlights of her doctoral studies in her speech. She pointed out that the past three years of studying at CityU marked a milestone in her academic career and a fresh start to realise her life goal. She said she was fortunate to meet open-minded and caring teachers and classmates who guided her to reflect on and explore more about herself. Putting a premium on cultivating talent and improving its research capability, CityU created a favourable academic environment to motivate its students to conduct scientific research by inviting well-known experts at home and abroad to give talks. With the well-structured PhD programme in Cultural Industry Studies and the standardised academic training, as well as patient instruction, support and encouragement of the professors, she also gained fresh insights into this discipline, transcended her cognitive limitations, and ultimately achieved the transition from valuing “what is useful” to valuing “what is interesting”.
Ms. Ou Yonglin, a representative of the master’s graduates, said it was an honour to be the student representative to deliver the speech. She expressed her gratitude to her alma mater for the support during her two years of study. Over the past two years, she acquired an abundance of theoretical knowledge and a deeper understanding of CityU’s academic ethos – meticulousness, seeking truth, integrity and pursuit of goodness. CityU has provided her with many practical opportunities. The knowledge she has gained in the classroom and the valuable experience from her teachers has helped her overcome every challenge in her internship. Ms. Ou encouraged her juniors to keep their peckers up and spirits high and continue to carry forward CityU’s spirit.
Mr. Mamadú Djubeiro Camará, a representative of the bachelor’s graduates from Guinea Bissau, expressed his gratitude to Mr. Chan Meng Kam and his foundation, that granted him a scholarship to complete the journey. As a graduate of the class of 2022, he felt honoured and proud. Studying in Macao was his first international experience, which he called an extraordinary journey. As a Chinese saying goes, “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime”. He said studying at CityU had enhanced his ability, and the quote – “No pains, no gains” was a testament to his four years of study. Going forward, he wished to contribute to strengthening more significant exchanges and collaboration between the City University of Macau and the Portuguese-speaking countries.
