UTAR and Han Culture Centre Malaysia (HAN) officially inked a collaboration agreement on 25 October 2019 at Sungai Long Campus. With this agreement, UTAR would become the first university recognised by HSK Test Centre (a centre established by HAN to promote Chinese language learning) in Malaysia.

Signing on behalf of both institutions were UTAR President Ir Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat and HAN President Dato’ Goh Hin San. It was witnessed by UTAR Vice President for Internationalisation and Academic Development Ir Prof Dr Yow Ho Kwang and HAN Managing Director Mini Goh.

Also present at the signing ceremony were HAN Vice President Datin Lee Ngeok Lan, General Manager Alex Yong; MunHoe & Mar Lawyer Christopher Mar Sze Wei, assistant lawyer Evone Koo; UTAR Institute of Chinese Studies Dean Dr Chong Siou Wei, Faculty of Creative Industries Dean Dr David Tneh Cheng Eng, Division of Community and International Networking Director Assoc Prof Dr Lai Soon Onn, Centre for Extension Education (CEE) Director Lim Guat Yen, and CEE staff Hemalatha Naranasamy.

Speaking at the ceremony, Prof Ewe expressed his appreciation to HAN for this beneficial collaboration. He said, “UTAR is indeed happy to establish this connection with Han Culture Centre Malaysia. I believe that both institutions share a similar vision in promoting the Chinese language as well as its culture and tradition.” According to him, UTAR has more than 100 students involved in students exchange and study tour this year, and the University also received about 100 inbound students joining UTAR programmes such as study tour. “We always encourage our students to broaden their experience by travelling more. This is also a good time for students to visit China as we know China has improved and grown at a faster pace,” he said. He then added, “This collaboration will definitely benefit our students.”

On the other hand, Dato’ Goh said, “Today’s signing ceremony is simple yet meaningful. UTAR is the first university which offers Chinese proficiency test in Malaysia.” According to him, there is a huge demand to learn the Chinese language, not only among the Chinese people but also foreigners and non-Chinese heritage people. He explained that Mandarin has become increasingly important and has been recognised as a working language. He also shared the collaboration of HAN with other institutions such as Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Putra Malaysia, and look forward to working with UTAR.

Established in 2009, HAN aims to promote Chinese language learning amongst Malaysians besides serving as a platform for cultural exchange within the country. It is authorised by Distance Education Centre from China Confucius Institute as “Chinese Testing Services Centre Malaysia” to provide internet and paper-based test, and it is the only centre which provides HSK-Internet Based Test (HSK-IBT) in Malaysia.