Humbled Musings by UTAR Council Member

The Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS) hosted UTAR Council Member Senator Dato’ Dr Hou Kok Chung’s book launch at Sungai Long Campus on 15 September 2017.

From left: Prof Ang, Prof Tan, Datuk Seri Wee, Dato’ Hou, Prof Lucia, Prof Lee and Prof Lim

Present at the book launch were the Minister in The Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Ir Dr Wee Ka Siong, Taiwan Fu Jen Catholic University Prof Lucia Lin, UTAR Vice President for R&D and Commercialisation Prof Ir Dr Lee Sze Wei, ICS Dean Assoc Prof Dr Chong Siou Wei, R&D and Postgraduate Programmes Deputy Dean Assoc Prof Dr Wong Wun Bin, Dato’ Hou’s guests, friends, students, and colleagues. The occasion also saw the presence of Dato’ Hou’ teacher Prof Ang Tian Se, Prof Tan Chong Tin, Prof Lim Chooi Kwa, staff and students from UTAR and schools as well as members of the media.

The book titled “《底蕴》(Humbled Musings)” was authored by Dato’ Hou. “Humbled Musings” is the third book of the series of calligraphy and essay, after his two previous books, namely “Appreciate” and “Conscience”, which was launched in July 2016. “Humbled Musings” is a combination of 48 calligraphies and 48 essays that reflect on Dato’ Hou’s sense of accomplishment in meeting new friends and solving life issues.

While praising Dato’ Hou for his accomplishment, Prof Lucia said, “This book is a combination of all the artwork calligraphy and essay that is related to Dato’ Hou’s daily life. His unique insight on life and values is written in the essay and is expressed through the calligraphy. I also discovered that he gave a great deal of attention on the inheritance of education, especially in Malaysia’s three major languages.”

Datuk Seri Wee remarked, “Today I am here to share the joy of reading Dato’ Hou’s new book. I truly admire Dato’ Hou’s dedication in writing this new book despite his busy schedule. He published two books 11 months ago and within this short period of time, he managed to write another new book, and that is indeed a great achievement.”

Dato’ Hou thanked Datuk Seri Wee and Prof Lin for their commendation and said, “I consider books as another part of my life. I also believe that positive energy is an important element in communication and interaction. We are developing new innovation every single day and we need positive energy to keep our mind clear and strong. I also wish to urge all my friends to see that beauty exists everywhere. We need to discover it and keep the beauty in our hearts and mind, then the world will become a better place.”

Dato’ Hou presenting the calligraphy artwork to Datuk Seri Wee and Prof Lucia while Prof Lee looks on

Datuk Seri Wee and Dato’ Hou with their acquaintance and secondary school students