UTAR President delivers speech at international conference hosted by NPTU

UTAR President Ir Prof Dato’ Dr Ewe Hong Tat was invited to attend the opening ceremony of the 2023 International Conference on Ethnic Groups and Cultures in Southeast Asia to give a speech. Held on 14 April 2023 via Google Meet, the conference was organised by the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences of National Pingtung University (NPTU), one of UTAR’s active partners.

Also present at the opening ceremony were University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam Vice Rector Prof Lê Hoàng Dũng and NPTU College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Dean Prof Chien Kuang-Ming. A pre-recorded welcome speech video by NTPU President Robert Y.S. Chen was also played during the conference.

Prof Dato’ Ewe mentioned that it was an honour for him to attend and deliver a speech at the opening ceremony of the 2023 International Conference on Ethnic Groups and Cultures in Southeast Asia. He said, “NPTU is one of our important collaboration partners. Our first memorandum of understanding was signed in 2013. Our partnership has been running for 10 years ever since. During these 10 years, we have implemented a number of cooperation in exchange programmes, online workshops and international conferences. I believe the collaboration between UTAR and NPTU will facilitate mutual development and create new horizons to face challenges.”

The conference saw the participation of scholars from Taiwan, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc. Furthermore, Prof Kenneth Dean, a renowned historian and sinologist from the National University of Singapore gave a keynote lecture titled “One Sea One Temple: The Historical Transformation on Temple and Society Networks in Singapore and Southeast Asia”.

The conference, which was divided into two sessions, featured a total of eight topics related to ethnics and cultures in Southeast Asia. It also included two forums titled “Dialogue between Taiwan and Aborigines in Southeast Asia” and “Nation and Ethnicity in Civil War”.

Prof Dato’ Ewe (bottom row, most left), Prof Kenneth Dean (top row, second from left), NPTU College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Dean Prof Chien and University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam Vice Rector Prof Lê Hoàng Dũng with participants