The 80th Anniversary of Zhangzhou Alumni Association of Xiamen University was held in Zhangzhou on 18, December, 2017. This meeting gathered lots of well-known names, including Lai Hongkai, associate party secretary of XMU and secretary of Commission for Discipline Inspection, Zhan Xinli, vice president of the university and vice-director of the General Alumni Association, Lu Yinghua, head of Amoy Institute of Technovation, Dai Yiyi, professor of School of Management, Xiamen University, and Shi Huixia, vice secretary of the General Alumni Association. About 400 alumni living in the city gathered at the meeting, sharing their memories of the Alma Mater and seeking more opportunities for development. Representatives from other alumni association, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guizhou, Xiamen, Putian and the United Kingdom also presented at the anniversary to give their congratulations.
At the beginning, Wu Liangtong, executive vice president and general-secretary of Zhangzhou Alumni Association, delivered a welcome speech. He sent the regards of the president to the audience, to whom he extended his warmest welcome and expressed his sincere appreciation on behalf of the association. The meeting then kicked off with everyone singing the school song together.
On behalf of the Alma Mater, Lai Hongkai congratulated Zhangzhou Alumni Association on its 80th anniversary and thanked the alumni for their long-term concern, support and help for XMU. He highly praised the achievements that the association has made in serving alumni, serving the Alma Mater and serving the society. Congratulating the association on its receiving the honorary title of “Excellent Alumni Association”, he encouraged it to move forward for a more fruitful future.
The short film “Connected with Xiamen University for eighty years”, made by Zhangzhou Alumni Association, was shown at the meeting. The film consists of eight events which are of great significance in the eighty years’ history of the association. It successfully shows the development of the association in a unique way of transcending time and space, bringing the audience back to the old times.
Those who were interviewed in the film were all eager to share their thoughts with the alumni present. Shi Huixia said that according to the extant records, Zhangzhou Alumni Association was one of the earliest alumni associations of Xiamen University. During the Anti-Japanese War when Xiamen University temporarily moved to Changting to secure its students, Zhangzhou Alumni Association spared no effort to support the Alma Mater whenever help was needed, moving lots of people at that time. The history of the association is also a journey during which the alumni and the Alma Mater go through thick and thin together. Zheng Laifa, researcher of Zhangzhou Committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, recalled Tan Kah Kee’s inspections of the association. He said that we should learn from Tan Kah Kee who devoted himself to education and actively do our part in promoting the development of XMU and Zhangzhou. Yang Mingyuan, president of the EDP branch of Zhangzhou Alumni Association, and Lin Faliang, president of Zhangpu branch, both talked about the activities organized by their branch. They said that they would do their best to organize more activities to further unite the alumni and promote the “double first-rate construction” of Xiamen University. Wang guangwen, vice president of Zhangzhou Alumni Association and chairman of Sanbao Steel, expressed his deep gratitude for XMU because the school motto “striving for constant self-improvement and pursuing for prime benevolence” had always been encouraging him to do better in his life and work.
Zhan Xinli also highly praised the achievements that Zhangzhou Alumni Association has made for the past eight decades. When talking about the inheritance and innovation of the work associated with alumni, she said she hoped the association would try harder and break new grounds for the future. Zhan also talked about the strategic cooperation agreement between Xiamen University and the “nine cities as well as one region” in Fujian Province, hoping that Zhangzhou Alumni Association would act as a bridge to deepen the cooperation between XMU and Zhangzhou. She also shared with the alumni the international strategy of Xiamen University, especially its Malaysia campus which is not only a cultural action carried out according to the nation’s “Belt and Road” initiative but also a gift for Malaysia where Tan Kah Kee grew up and started his businesses.
During the meeting, Professor Dai Yiyi made a speech “the Present Economic Situation and Real Estate”, analyzing the complexities of China’s economy and the future of its real estate market, which was greatly applauded by the present alumni.
