A delegation from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) led by Professor Way Kuo, President, introduced our latest developments to secondary school principals and students and local media during a visit to Taiwan in late January.

Members of the CityU delegation included Professor Alex Jen Kwan-yue, Provost, Dr David Cheng Xing, Associate Vice-President (Global Services), and Dr Raymond Chan Kwok-hong, Director of Communications and Public Relations.

During a visit to St. Viator Catholic High School in Taichung on 31 January, Professor Kuo talked to students in a seminar titled “Do we care about education?”

He encouraged the students to contribute to society after they had obtained their university degrees and reminded them that young people should understand the needs of society and use their knowledge for the betterment of society. This would be more important than earning more degrees, he added.

The delegation met and dined with the principals and counselling directors at secondary schools in Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan, Chiayi and Kaohsiung as well as with local media, respectively. They discussed CityU’s latest advances, including the establishment of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences.

Professor Kuo said the six-year Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine programme offered by the College in collaboration with Cornell University in the US focused on the quality rather than the quantity of students applying for admission.

This year the College will reserve a place for one Taiwanese student who attains full marks in all subjects in the General Scholastic Ability Test and who is keen on working in the veterinary medicine sector.

Ms Ingrid Chou and Mr Scott Shih, two graduates from the College of Business, were also invited to share their learning experience in CityU.

Ms Chou, majoring in accounting, said she had learned a great deal during her studies and had been provided with many educational resources. Her biggest reward was the acquisition of critical-thinking skills after learning how to ask questions confidently. The skills she developed at CityU could now be applied to her work and would be a benefit for her entire life, she said.

Mr Shih, who studied finance as his major, said he was glad to have had a fruitful university life and the chance to develop his interests. He has been an exchange student in Mexico and a volunteer in Cambodia, Nepal and Taiwan.