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2008-04-07 |
Speech of Prof. Carlos Reis
Illustrious Rector of the Asia International Open University (Macau);
Dr. K. K. Wong, my dear friend;
Professor Armando Rocha Trindade, my eminent predecessor and old friend;
Distinguished guests:
My first words at this ceremony are of gratitude and celebration. Of
gratitude, for the honour of being here today, in the old, beautiful and
memorable city of Macau, among friends and colleagues I respect and
admire; of gratitude as well for all of you who have chosen to honour
this ceremony with your presence. In addition, I wish to offer a word of
festivity, as this is a ceremony of celebration ?or, rather, of
celebrations. A celebration of the time that has passed, in the twenty
years since the founding of the Open University of Portugal,
Universidade Aberta; a celebration, also, of the fifteen years of
existence of the Asia International Open University (Macau); a
celebration, yet further, of the solid collaboration between these two
universities, so distant geographically, but so close to each other in
their shared mission of developing and transmitting knowledge and
culture and educating students, which has opened up the future to those
who seek the learning we offer; a celebration still of those who, past
and present, at both universities, have been able to make of the
university ideal a current and everyday practice.
Universidade Aberta, which today I have the honour of representing, was
born twenty years ago. At that time, one of the honoured guests I am
pleased to see here at this ceremony, witnessed the realization of his
dream: to make of distance learning a means for taking higher education
to those who had previously been unable to pursue their studies. As I
had the privilege to work with Professor Rocha Trindade in that distant
but unforgotten period, I am well aware of the resistance it was
necessary to face and the forces we had to mobilize. Despite such
resistance, Universidade Aberta was born, in large part due to the
persistence, the tenacity and the visionary capacity for mobilization of
its first rector.
Today Universidade Aberta is a consolidated institution. With its
faculty of nearly 200 members, with its nearly 300 non-faculty members,
and above all with its over 9,000 students, distributed among a
considerable number of countries and continents, Universidade Aberta is
among the institutions which, in Europe, most vigorously interpret the
mission of distance learning in higher education. For this reason also,
we were directly connected to the development of the Asia International
Open University (Macau), which occurred at a time when Macau was
preparing to return to Chinese administration.
Since then, time has not stopped, and history has continued apace. At
present, for Universidade Aberta, history means a time of renewal,
because that is what Portuguese legislation has determined, but above
all because we well know that, in the field of university education as
in life, renewal is a defining element of human existence and belongs to
the nature of things. At the moment of this address, the Portuguese
Universidade Aberta is readapting its statutes to the current reality of
higher education in Portugal and Europe. But beyond this, Universidade
Aberta is drastically altering its pedagogical methods and languages: we
are now adapting ourselves to the work instruments provided by what are
called the information and communication technologies and are working
with our students in learning networks. In Portugal, we were, and are,
the first public university of distance education; very soon we will be
a virtual university, similar in every respect to the great virtual
universities of the world.
Distinguished guests:
What I share with you today has as its sole aim to provide you with a
glimpse of our reality as a European public university of distance
education. Beyond this, I wish to reaffirm our intention to continue
along the path of cooperation with the Asia International Open
University (Macau), in accordance with what is stipulated in the
foundational matrix of this University, which receives me today as its
guest. And thus, the presence of Universidade Aberta in Macau, and in
this part of Asia, is and will continue to be ?thanks as well to the
Asia International Open University (Macau) ?a project and a practice
will do everything to consolidate.
To such an end, the commitment and competent efforts of those who
oversee the development of the Asia International Open University
(Macau), particularly its rector, have been decisive. It is for this
reason, with the permission of those present, that I now address Rector
Zhuang, whom I had the pleasure of meeting about two years ago here in
Macau. I know that Rector Zhuang is approaching the end of his term; I
face the arrival of this moment with a mixture of sadness and
confidence. Sadness due to my certainty that the knowledge and
experience of Rector Zhuang has been, and still remains, decisive for
the affirmation of the Asia International Open University (Macau);
confidence because I believe that Rector Zhuang leaves behind the seed
of many fruitful energies, which will surely guarantee the continuous
growth of the tree we planted together fifteen years ago. And it is for
this reason that, with the agreement of the illustrious guests present
here today, I shall evoke the professional trajectory of Rector Zhuang
as a gesture towards the sincere homage we owe him.
Rector Zhuang is an academic of widely reputed and recognized
intellectual qualities. His nomination as rector of the Asia
International Open University (Macau) in the year 2000 was a milestone
in a path as long as it has been fruitful; since then, Rector Zhuang has
been the enlightened leader of an institution that has greatly benefited
from his efforts: the elaboration of a course of study for a Master𠏋
Degree in International Commercial Law is one of the most significant
testimonies of Rector Zhuang𠏋 leadership, as is the permission granted
by the Chinese authorities for higher education so that mainland Chinese
students might earn their Master𠏋 and Doctoral Degrees in Business
Administration here. Another proof of the recognition we owe to the work
of Rector Zhuang is the recent homage he received from Huaquiao
University for the fifty years of teaching he devoted to this
University, where he distinguished himself as a professor of economic
law and in his fulfilment of the role of vice-rector. In the name of the
Open University of Portugal and certain that I am expressing the
sentiments of the Asia International Open University (Macau) and of all
present, I add my voice to those already raised in homage. Without
detracting from his academic activities, Rector Zhuang also served as
the director of a law firm in Fukien and has authored several books on
economic law.
At this time, the best homage we can pay to Rector Zhuang is to follow
his example and, when the time comes, to continue his work. Insofar as
Universidade Aberta is concerned, we will continue to be as committed as
we have been to guaranteeing a Portuguese presence in Macau, a presence
that carries with it the dignity proper to educational practices. I
would like my words also to signal our clear support for the
international dimension of the educational process that the Asia
International Open University (Macau) is carrying out; I am absolutely
certain that it is in this international dimension that the quality of
academic exchange at the university level is best expressed. In
addition, through its connection to Universidade Aberta, the Asia
International Open University (Macau) is in a privileged position to
dialogue actively with Europe; the important role that Macau plays in
the world of business, in articulation with the Portuguese-speaking
countries, warrants that the importance of such a dialogue be stressed.
Distinguished guests:
In a Portuguese novel I greatly admire, it is said, 𢘛ith the passing of
the years everything on Earth, except in China, shall pass away? Let us
give credence to these words: they are a kind of aphorism that could
easily be a sincere wish for, and belief in, the future of the Asia
International Open University (Macau) and for all who work here. And
even if those who work here move on, the fruits of their labour shall
remain; with them, eternity shall grow closer to us all.
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