On the 14th of January, TKU held an Overseas Chinese Spring Festival Banquet. The banquet took place at a restaurant near the TKU Tamsui Campus, and was attended by a total of over 260 people, including overseas Chinese students studying at Tamkang, TKU faculty and staff, and members of various overseas Chinese student committees. Among the attendees was the President of TKU Dr. Flora Chia-I Chang, the TKU Vice President for Administrative Affairs Dr. Po-yuan Kao, the Secretary of the Overseas Compatriot Education Committee Wu Rui-mou, and Kuo Da-wen, an adviser from the Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission. In her opening speech, President Chang commented on the vast number of people in attendance which, she added, “made for a very lively atmosphere”. Mr. Kuo, on the other hand, expressed his hope that each of TKU’s overseas Chinese students – regardless of where they eventually develop their careers –reserve a permanent place in their hearts for Taiwan.

The main feature of the banquet was the raffle draw. Yang Zheng-hui, a third year TKU student from Myanmar, won a cotton bed quilt. She happily related “I’ve been wanting to buy a new bed quilt. This is such a coincidence”. Ye Zhi-cheng, a second year Tamkang student from Macau, won the major cash prize of NT $6,000. With a look of disbelief, he explained how he was going to spend his money “I’ll use it to pay for my tuition fees next semester”.