CityU hosts Chinese New Year Dinner, Rector Jun Liu encourages members to embrace a new chapter in thriving Year of the Dragon

City University of Macau (CityU) held the 2024 Chinese New Year Spring Dinner at Banyan Tree Macau yesterday to reward all faculty and staff for their hard work over the past year, and outline direction and plan for future development. On the same event, the presentation ceremonies for the “Outstanding Teaching Performance Award” and “Long Service Award” for the 2022/2023 academic year took place to recognize faculty and staff who have made outstanding achievements in university development, teaching innovation, and talent cultivation. These awards aim to create a proactive workplace and promote cohesion at work.

University leaders, including Chan Meng Kam, chairman of the Council of City University of Macau, Kong Fanqing, vice chairwoman of the University Council, Council Member Amber Li, Rector Jun Liu, Vice Rector Zhou Wanlei, Vice Rector Ip Kuai Peng, Pro-Rector Wicky So Kam Hung, Pro-Rector Robert Chan Chon Pat, and Pro-Rector Vince Chu Te Lin, officiated the toasting ceremony. The gathering of university leaders, faculty and staff, student representatives, and alumni representatives was a joyous occasion to celebrate the New Year festival and engage in an open dialogue about future plans.

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In his speech, Rector Jun Liu highlighted the university’s achievements over the past year and outlined expectations for the new year in ten different aspects. Rector Jun Liu emphasized that CityU has entered a new phase of development, with remarkable achievements in teaching quality, talent cultivation, and academic research, in line with the SAR government’s administrative principles of “letting Macao thrive through education” and “building Macao with talented people.” As mentioned, this year, CityU welcomed 3,900 new students, bringing the total number of students to over 10,000. With the addition of 80 new faculty members, CityU has significantly enhanced its faculty profile and academic strength. In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the 25th anniversary of Macao’s return to the motherland, CityU will introduce a series of activities to commemorate this special year and foster students’ patriotism and love for Macao. Committed to broadening global vision, CityU has introduced summer programs through the newly established Global Summer Institute. By bringing together the academic strengths of the nine faculties, these programs aim to attract overseas students and those outside Macao to study in the city to promoting Macao’s development as a city of education.

 

“2022/2023 CityU Outstanding Teaching Performance Award” Presentation Ceremony

To promote teaching excellence, CityU hosted the presentation ceremony for the “2022/2023 CityU Outstanding Teaching Performance Award” during the dinner to recognize the exceptional achievements of its faculty and teaching teams in educational development, teaching reform, and talent cultivation. Among them, Assistant Professor Carina Liu Jiayu from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Senior Lecturer Janice Law Yin Man from the Faculty of International Tourism and Management, and Assistant Professor Farzad Sabetzadeh from the Faculty of Business were awarded the “Outstanding Teaching Performance Award.” Lecturer Sou Cheng Wai from the Faculty of Finance and Assistant Professor Claire Ouyang Baixiao from the School of Education were awarded the “Teaching Excellence for Junior Academics Award,” and Professor Jacky Li Xi from the Faculty of International Tourism and Management received the “Excellence in Dissertation Supervision Award.”

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Assistant Professor Carina Liu Jiayu gave a speech on behalf of the awarded faculty. As a Portuguese-language educator, she firmly believes that language is the key for students to open doors to a wider world. She advocates a harmonious and open learning environment in language education, promoting teacher-student interaction, and focusing on cultivating learning interest and cross-cultural understanding. She believes that this helps students construct a more comprehensive worldview and set of values. In her speech, she highlighted the rapid development of the university in recent years has been inspiring and looks forward to continuing to work closely with her colleagues to bring students a high-quality, innovative, and interactive learning experience.

 

“Long Service Award” Presentation Ceremony

To express gratitude to the faculty and staff for their dedicated service to the university over the years, CityU also held the “Long Service Award” presentation ceremony to honor staff who have worked at the university for 10, 15, 20, and 25 consecutive years. A total of 41 faculty members and staff received this recognition.

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Chris Lau Yiu Chung, as a representative of the long-service award recipients, gave a speech. He looked back on his 25 years of service at CityU, witnessing the university’s dynamic development from the Asia International Open University (Macau) to the current City University of Macau. He also experienced the campus’s expansion from Royal campus to the current Taipa campus, with a significant increase in faculty and staff. He expressed his joy in being a part of this growth with CityU. With the recent application to the Macao SAR government for land development to build new campus buildings, he expressed his high expectations for further developing the university and becoming the top university in Macao and even in Asia.

The dinner was warm and lively, and the faculty and staff were deeply proud of the university’s progress in the past year. They were inspired and wished the university continued success and greater achievements in the Year of the Dragon. Members of the university’s Art Troupe performed traditional dance, Chinese pipa and drum ensemble, and a saxophone solo, among other exciting cultural performances. The numerous and diverse lucky draws throughout the evening also added to the festive atmosphere. Amidst waves of laughter and joy, everyone shared in the anticipation of a brighter future for CityU.

Traditional Dance

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Huang Zhuofan (third-year undergraduate student), Liu Runnan (second-year undergraduate student), Wang Yufei (first-year postgraduate student), Zeng Yongxuan (first-year undergraduate student), and Zhao Ziyu (second-year undergraduate student) from Dance Ensemble of Art Troupe 

Chinese Pipa and Drum Ensemble

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Zhao Yuxuan (second-year postgraduate student) and Xing Zheng (second-year undergraduate student), from Folk Music Ensemble of Art Troupe 

Saxophone Solo

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Zhang Yutong (first-year undergraduate student) from Orchestra of Art Troupe