26 January 2022
Dear New Asians,
Start Anew, Enrich our students
Since my assumption of duty as the College Head for a year, I saw how much the pandemic affected the study of our students. I have been working with my management team to discuss the best ways to help our students. Thanks for the efforts made by our colleagues, we overcame lots of obstacles. In the beginning of this year, I would like to share with you our latest developments, and would like to invite you to nourish our students together.
Affected by the pandemic, many of our lives changed drastically. Students’ economic status, mental health and academy were all severely affected. Fortunately, we managed to resume face-to-face teaching in the last semester. I can see the students’ enthusiasm in pursuing knowledge during my conversations with them in various occasions. They are proactive in engaging themselves in campus life, hoped to chase back the time lost during the pandemic. I find hopes from them, and I became more determined to nourish these students. I hope to start anew, not to abandoning the past, but to embrace all our history and stories, and to carry on our education mission with new visions.
We will let our students develop new global visions, new skill sets to face contemporary challenges, new mentality to maintain mental health, and new enthusiasm to serve the community. We will focus on developing and establishing various student enrichment projects. These projects will be supported by the “New Asia Student Enrichment Fund”. We will implement our projects with new visions, besides maintaining our long-established education on morality and humanity, we also let our student to learn about the actual international relation, and also train practical skills, so as to achieve “pursuing knowledge and learn how to cultivate one’s moral character as an integrated whole”.
As a New Asia College alumnus, I am very honoured to take the role of the College Head. But I am also very cautious on every matter of the College, as being the College Head is a heavy responsibility bourn by our past sages. Being the senior of our students, I show special care about them. I hope they enjoy being a member of the New Asia Family, to be influenced by our teachers, to develop and make the New Asia Spirit shine. Our College Founder, Mr. Ch’ien Mu, once recalled that an exile youth said so, “.. When I entered New Asia College, I feel like I get a new home. My soul is comforted and found sustenance.” Through participating in various activities of the College, I hope our students would not feel alone.
Our resources are always scarce, the resources to take care each student are the least amongst all colleges. Due to various reasons in the past, we even lost the support of some projects. I sincerely hope that every New Asian would support our fellow students with the spirit of “In adversity and perils I forge ahead, in poverty and want I remain passionate” by supporting the “New Asia Student Enrichment Fund”, in order to let our diligent students to grow in the New Asia family. The donation campaign last year for the “Walk Together Fund” was greatly supported by our alumni, it tremendously helped the students in need. We sincerely thanks for those who supported us. I hope that you will continue the supports to us; together we take the challenges to come, and pass the torch of New Asia Spirit.
I wish all of you a healthy and a prosperous new year of Tiger.
Chan Sun-on Hector
Professor, Head of New Asia College