In order to provide Malaysian organizations with a deeper understanding of the educational environment and overseas communities policies in Taiwan, the Taiwan Overseas Community Affairs Council once again organized for a delegation of leaders and members of Malaysia’s Taiwan alumni associations to visit Taiwan this year (2025). On March 28, the President of the Malaysian Federation of Alumni Associations of Taiwan Universities, Mr. King Hoe Pang, led a delegation including the top executives of the Federation of Alumni, presidents and directors of regional alumni associations, and members of both the Overseas Chinese Culture & Education Foundation and Overseas Community Affairs Council on a visit to National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST). The delegation of sixty was personally received by NPUST President Chin-Lung Chang, Vice-President Shang-Min Ma, Chief Secretary Fang Ming Lin, Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Ming-Tang Chiou, and Dean of the Office of International Affairs Ru-Chu (Vincent) Shih for a time of meeting and exchange.
President Chin-Lung Chang expressed his pleasure in receiving the visiting delegation, pointing out that the relationship between NPUST and Malaysia dates back to 1963, when the university first established the Overseas Youth Vocational Training School in accordance with the overseas Chinese education policy. Over the years, the school cultivated many classes of Malaysian students and currently there are 26 students from Malaysia enrolled in NPUST’s Department of Plant Industry and Department of Tropical Agriculture Department. After graduation, they can choose to continue their studies or return home to apply their knowledge and strengths in the field and build bridges for agricultural development between the two countries, and even the rest of the world. Our Malaysian alumni have done very well in various sectors. For example, Mr. Cheong-Beng Lai, the former president of the NPUST Malaysian Alumni Association, has gone on to become the managing director of an agriculture trading company and Mr. Siew Tick Chai, the current president of the NPUST Malaysian Alumni Association, won the 2023 Overseas Community Affairs Council ‘s Global Outstanding Overseas Chinese Alumni Award. We are proud to say that Mr. Twang Fui Boo, who is president of the Batu Pahat Alumni Association in Taiwan and Ching-Zeng Lo, who is known as the Malaysian Prince of Dried Fruits, are also alumni of NPUST.
The president of the Federation of Alumni, King Hoe Pang, praised NPUST for its high-quality education and for being a leader in Taiwan’s agriculture sector—and he thanked the school for its efforts in cultivating Malaysian students. During the meeting, in addition to learning about the school’s achievements in Smart agriculture and cross-disciplinary research and development, the guests were interested in discussing the continuation of the Overseas Youth Vocational Training School, the holding of overseas master’s courses and the acquisition of veterinary certifications. They expressed their hopes to see more Malaysian students benefit from NPUST’s high-quality education, to which the school’s teachers also expressed support. After the meeting, the delegation visited the Department of Wood Science and Design, Smart Agriculture Center, and the Staff and Student Consumer Cooperative. Within the limited time of exchange, the leaders and members of the Alumni Association gained a lot and were left with very positive impression about the school.
