Former chief executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah, who is now a vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), has urged young local people to remember the hopes raised by three state leaders for the city’s young people, as well as to link their personal careers to the development of the nation and Macau, the Macau Foundation (FM) said in a statement yesterday. 

Ho made the remarks in a speech on Sunday during the graduation ceremony for the “Tianjin Exchange Programme for Macau Undergraduate Students”. 

A total of 30 local students went to Nankai University in Tianjin for the 15-day exchange programme earlier this month, according to a statement from the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) on June 6. 

The northern coastal metropolis of Tianjin is one of the mainland’s four municipalities, with a population of about 15.5 million. 

According to the FM statement, students from the public University of Macau (UM), Macau Polytechnic Institute (IPM) and Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT), as well as the private Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) and City University of Macau (CityU) took part in the programme. 

Initiated and advocated by Ho, the annual exchange programme was first held in 2015, the IFT statement said. 

Co-organised by the CPPCC’s Committee for Liaison with Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese, CPPCC Tianjin Committee, Central People’s Government Liaison Office in Macau and the Macau Foundation, this year’s exchange programme was jointly run by the Institute for Tourism Studies and Nankai University, according to the IFT statement. 

In his speech, Ho said he hoped that the students on the exchange programme will remember the hopes raised by President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee Chairman Zhang Dejiang during their respective inspection visits to Macau, as well as consider late premier Zhou Enlai as their role model, according to the FM statement. 

Zhou served as the premier from the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on October 1, 1949 until his death on January 8, 1976. 

Ho said he hoped that the students will aspire to contribute both to the nation and Macau, as well as grasp the opportunities in the current era, the FM statement said. 

Ho said he also hoped that the students will become upholders of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle, the FM statement said. 

Former chief executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah speaks during the graduation ceremony for the “Tianjin Exchange Programme for Macau Undergraduate Students” in Tianjin on Sunday. Photo: Macau Foundation

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