On the afternoon of April 18, 2022, Professor Zhu Shuiyong, a well-known scholar of Xiamen University (XMU), was invited to give a special talk on "Mr. Tan Kah Kee: History and Spirit” at the ICI library hall. All of the Chinese staff and faculty and more than 300 students attended the lecture in a combination mode of online and offline. The forum was hosted by Wang Yi, Chair of the ICI Council.
Zhu Shuiyong reviewed the glorious deeds and patriotic feelings of Tan Kah Kee, XMU Founder, from the three aspects of "going to Singapore", "running education" and "founding a world class university". He said that under the extremely difficult conditions at that time, Tan Kah Kee established XMU with great courage and grand spirit, and planned ahead with great foresight, which laid a solid foundation for the XMU’s development, and left precious material resources and spiritual wealth.
Zhu Shuiyong then shared a series of Tan Kah Kee stories including "Tan Kah Kee going across the ocean to start business", "founding Jimei School Village", "choosing Yanwu Field and selecting the site for XMU", speech entitled "Preparing for XMU", "Tan Kah Kee's architectural aesthetics", etc. The retelling of historical events made the faculty, staff and students impressed deeply by Tan Kah Kee's noble spirit of self-improvement, heroic spirit of patriotism and his deep love for XMU. Zhu Shuiyong remarked sincerely: "The inner spirit of XMU inherited from Tan Kah Kee is tightly connected with the destiny of China. As students of ICI, you must learn inheritance and innovation well, and contribute to the great rejuvenation of Chinese nation."
Wang Yi thanked Professor Zhu Shuiyong for his wonderful sharing, and encouraged faculty, staff, and students to learn more about the spirit of XMU, attach importance to the accumulation of humanistic knowledge, and become comprehensive talents with all-round development. This lecture was a very vivid lesson for the faculty, staff, and students on patriotism and loving XMU, which deepened their understanding of Kah Kee Spirit, and further encouraged them to study and carry forward Kah Kee Spirit while adhering to the XMU motto of "Pursue Excellence, Strive for Perfection" so as to make positive contribution to the cause of ICI development.
