Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Chen Attends Taiwan Higher Education Fair in Malaysia

Dr. Liang-gee Chen, the political Deputy Minister of Education, Republic of China (Taiwan) paid a courtesy visit to Malaysia from August 4 to 7, 2016. Dr. Liang-gee Chen was invited to speak at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Taiwan Higher Education Fair on August 5. The fair was organized by the Federation of Alumni Associations of Taiwan Universities, Malaysia (FAATUM) and ninety-nine Taiwan universities and 2 government units participated.
During his speech, Dr. Chen pointed out that such Taiwan Higher Education Fairs are very much in keeping with the aims and the spirit of the New Southbound Policy launched by President Tsai Ing-wen. This emphasizes nurturing mutual international understanding and collaboration, by developing people-oriented, two-way exchanges, sharing of resources, and nurturing mutual prosperity here in our region, this includes encouraging university mobility in our Asia-Pacific region.
He pointed out: “There are 14,946 Malaysian students currently studying in Taiwan, including those enrolled in language courses and international exchange students. This number represents an increase of approximately 1,660 (12.5%) compared to last year.” Dr. Chen also announced that next year the quota of MOE Taiwan Scholarships for Malaysia will increase from the current 20 to 30, to attract more outstanding Malaysian students to further their studies in Taiwan.
After the opening ceremony, Dr. Chen led a delegation to visit the University of Malaya where they received a warm welcome from Prof. Dr. Shaliza Ibrahim, Associate Vice-Chancellor, and a number of deans and university directors. University of Malaya is the oldest public university in Malaysia and it has grown into an outstanding educational institution, with an impressive range of research facilities, undertaking both fundamental research and applied research.
Dr. Chen expressed his gladness that six universities, namely National Taiwan University, National Central University, National Cheng-kung University, National Chiao Tung University, National Tsing Hua University, and National Yang-Ming University have all developed collaborations with University of Malaya.“ I hope that their international exchanges and collaborative efforts with University of Malaya will continue and lead to beneficial outcomes for our two nations, and for our wider global community.”
Dr. Chen had a quite tight schedule in Malaysia, but he took advantage of this visit to meet with Senator Chong Sin Woon, the Deputy Minister of Education Malaysia and discuss strengthening bilateral cooperation. Dr. Chen was also invited to attend the ceremony for the signing of an agreement between the United Chinese School Committees Association (Dong Zong) and two universities in Taiwan: National Changhua University of Education and National Kaohsiung Normal University. This agreement will provide more scholarships for trainee teachers to undertake teaching courses in Taiwan and this will help to ease the teacher shortage in Chinese independent schools.