On March 18th, 2023, NPUST President Chin-Lung Chang travelled to Malaysia to participate in a banquette to celebrate the 21st Anniversary of the Malaysian Alumni Association of NPUST. University alumni and overseas Chinese students gathered to celebrate together. During the occasion, a ceremony was held to recognize the handing over of association president duties from former president Chu Eng Kian to the new president, Lai Cheong Beng, and to inaugurate the 12th Board of Directors. Distinguished guests attending the event included acting president Pang King Hoe of Federation of Alumni Associations of Taiwan Universities, Taiwan’s Ambassador to Malaysian, Phoebe Yeh, and Taiwan Representative’s Office Education Chief, Chia-Lin Chang. The scene was grand, with 55 tables filled with enthusiastic alumni and their families, gathered to express their solidarity and support for National Pingtung University of Science and Technology.
NPUST President Chin-Lung Chang addressed the attendees, pointing out that “the alumni of NPUST have performed very well in Malaysia and the school is grateful to everyone for their contributions in various fields of expertise—NPUST feels honored on account of them. In the past few years, NPUST has worked for the transformation of technology in various fields and next year will be celebrating its 100th Anniversary. And so, we hope that our alumni will be able to come back to their Alma Mater to celebrate this event with us.”
The Association President Chu said “as the world is currently facing the impact of a food crisis, together with NPUST, whose development direction includes science, technology, agriculture and ecology, the Alumni Association hopes to create a bridge to help the country and students to solve the problem.”
National Pingtung University of Science and Technology has many alumni in Malaysia who have return home to take important positions in their country or become successful entrepreneurs. They have contributed a lot to Malaysia, and through the Alumni Association, they have allocated up to 120,000 Malaysian Ringgits in scholarships, loans, and donations for students to pursue advanced studies. This kind of generosity is part of the unique spirit which embodies the Malaysian Alumni Association of NPUST—a spirit which will be passed on to her future students.
Under the arrangement of the Alumni Association, the NPUST representatives visited the textile factory of Ma Oon Kwong, one of the school’s outstanding alumnus. Discussions were also held with more than 20 other Malaysian alumni in the same industry to exchange opinions and share ideas. The next day, President Chin-Lung Chang and Office of International Affairs Dean Vincent Shih conducted in-depth exchanges with three local schools including Chinese High School Batu Pahat, Chong Hwa High School Kluang, and Yong Peng High School. Through the visits, they were able to develop a more intuitive understanding of the gaps that exist between Malaysia’s local school system and Taiwan’s education channels, and will be able to more clearly address the current challenges that the NPUST Overseas Youth Vocational Training School faces. In the future, NPUST will hold discussions with relevant domestic authorities with hopes of adjusting regulations or other supporting measures to help achieve a more effective link between the teaching systems of the two countries and benefit more young people from Malaysia by providing advanced training in Taiwan.
On the last day of this visit to Malaysia, President Chang, OIA Dean Shih and Representative’s Office Education Chief Chang were accompanied by alumni Siew Tick Chai and Lee Mon Peng on a visit to University Malaysia Putra (UPM), one of the top three schools in Malaysia. NPUST and UPM signed a sister-school agreement in 2000 and have enjoyed healthy interaction since that time. On their current visit, Dr. Ismail, UPM’s acting vice-president and college dean, received the visitors from Taiwan. In addition to student and teacher exchanges, UPM expressed its hopes to send faculty members to NPUST for advanced studies or short-term training. Both parties are the top national agricultural universities in their respective countries, and through closer interaction, they hope to see more Taiwanese and Malaysian students benefit in their education and careers.