The Overseas Community Affairs Council of Taiwan has selected its 2023 list of outstanding overseas Chinese alumni. Siew Tick Chai of NPUST’s 17th Overseas Youth Vocational Training School, Aquaculture Section, stood out from among many outstanding competitors to win in the Overseas Community Affairs Contribution Category. The Global Overseas Community Affairs Council Alumni Award Ceremony will be held on June 6, 2023. Award categories include Overseas Community Affairs Contributions, Enterprise & Business, Social Welfare, Academic Achievement, Culture and Sports, and Youth Overseas Community Affairs Contributions.
The results of the Overseas Community education policies that Taiwan has been promoting for some 70 years are taking form in a very significant and representative way. Siew Tick Chai is one prime example. Siew graduated from the 17th Overseas Youth Vocational Training School, which was offered by NPUST in an earlier constitution of itself. After returning to Malaysia, Siew joined the Miri Division of the Sarawak Taiwan Graduates’ Association and began helping students make their ways to Taiwan for advanced studies. Meanwhile, he also served as the vice-president of the Sarawak Taiwan Graduates Association and organized the ‘Seminar for Further Studies’, often inviting professionals from Taiwan to give lectures on agriculture and economics. Adding to this, he hosted study tours to Taiwan to promote cultural and educational affairs. In 2022, Siew took over the post of president at the Sarawak Taiwan Graduates Association and began making more effort to provide education counseling to students in Sarawak and all over Malaysia with the aim of bringing Taiwan’s high-quality education opportunities to remote areas, so that more students could have a chance to change their lives.
After developing a successful career, Siew Tick Chai didn’t abandon his own further studies. After a lapse of 27 years, he enrolled himself in the Malaysia Overseas Part-time Master Program offered by the NPUST Department of Agribusiness Management. He graduated with a master’s degree in 2019, making himself into a further example for young people and encouraging them to discover their own shortcomings and dare to seek more knowledge. In Siew’s career, he also showed interest in media and communications, and has been recognized for his years of experience in multimedia audio-visual production. He was awarded “Outstanding Alumnus” by his Alma Mater in 2015, and is the acting president of the Malaysian Alumni Association of NPUST. In this capacity he helps add depth to the relationship between Malaysian alumni and their Alma Mater, and is creating opportunities for industry-government-academia cooperation.
NPUST shares in Siew’s honor to be chosen for the Overseas Community Affairs Contributions Award, and hopes that he will be able to continue to build more links for NPUST and Malaysia so that more students we be able to see benefit in the future.
