Chinese New Year Cultural 2023 introduces Chinese traditional culture

PEKAN, 5 January 2023 - Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) organised the Chinese New Year Cultural 2023 programme to strengthen friendships among all ethnic groups in Malaysia.

The programme, which took place at the Multipurpose Hall, UMP Pekan, was celebrated by UMP students and attended by students from Kolej Vokasional Kuantan, Kolej Profesional MARA Indera Mahkota, Kolej Profesional MARA Seri Iskandar dan Kolej Profesional MARA Beranang.

Present to officiate the programme was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), Professor Dr. Kamal Zuhairi Zamli.

Also present were the Chinese Embassy Education Counsellor in Malaysia, Zhao Changtao, Confucius Institute (Malaysia) Director, Yong Ying Mei, and Confucius Institute (China) Director, Associate Professor Dr. Wang Haiyan.

According to Professor Dr. Kamal Zuhairi, learning and mastering Mandarin is not only to communicate but also to understand Chinese culture.

Mandarin is now one of the most popular languages in the world and is also a medium of communication internationally.

“The mastery of foreign languages will increase the value and advantage of a person who can compete in the global market.

“Although UMP is a technical university, mastery of technical knowledge alone is not enough,” he said.

Therefore, he said, UMP offers students foreign language courses such as Mandarin and others.

Meanwhile, for Zhoa Changtao, friendly relations between China and Malaysia have been established for many years involving good collaboration in politics, economy, bilateral trade, society and culture.

Commenting further, he said that in terms of educational collaboration and exchange of views, UMP and Hebei University of China had established the only Confucius Institute (CI) on the East Coast in 2018.

He said CI UMP innovated the Mandarin education model by establishing a teaching site themed ‘Mandarin + technical in metallurgy’.

“The offering of Mandarin language and skills courses also received responses from the local industry and society,” he said.

Various activities were also organised including Chinese calligraphy, paper cutting arts, traditional Chinese music performances, wearing traditional clothes and a demonstration of dumpling preparation and capteh (kicking feathered shuttlecock).

There were also angpaos (red envelopes) for guests who had successfully learned the six cultural activities here.

On another note, UMP received a contribution of the Ambassador of China excellence prize involving 47 students of the Dual Degree Programme of Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) and Beijing Jiatong University (BJTU) China who will continue their studies at BJTU this year.

In addition, a total of 363 Malaysians working at Alliance Steel (M) Sdn. Bhd. (ASSB) are currently pursuing a technical Mandarin course organised by CI UMP since July last year to improve communication between Malaysian and China staff.

UMP collaborates with ASSB in academic efforts with the community by meeting the needs of the industry to realise the glory of UMP education.

By: Siti Nurfarmy Ibrahim, Corporate Communications Division, Chancellery Department

Translation by: Dr. Rozaimi Abu Samah, Engineering College/Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology