Aim for big accomplishments, Chinese Premier tells studentsBy MAZWIN NIK ANIS and NG CHENG YEE newsdesk@thestar.com.my PETALING JAYA: Premier Wen Jiabao kicked off his official visit to
Malaysia with a dialogue with
Universiti Malaya students, advising them to aim for big accomplishments rather than big titles.
No matter what job they undertake, they must serve the people well because when they do good for the people, they would always be remembered, he said.
“No matter how senior the position, he will eventually be rejected by the people if he does not serve their interest.
“I will always stay with my people. I will devote myself to develop my country and the happiness of my people.
Warm welcome: Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao (second from right) inspecting the guard of honour upon arrival along with Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifa Aman at the VIP terminal of the KL International Airport Wednesday. -AFP “That is my honest advice to you and encouragement to myself,” he told the audience, who responded with thunderous applause.
Wen spoke of how he switched from being a geologist to a politician, saying that he had worked in the mountainous Gobi Desert in northwest China for 14 years.
“At that time, I did not think about being a political leader or the Chinese premier,” he said, adding that the opportunity for him came from China's reform and opening up of programmes.
“I had the opportunity to move from the mountainous area to a senior leadership post in the government,” he said.
He said he was recounting his personal experience as he wanted young students to aim for big accomplishments and “not big titles”.
Wen is here on a two-day visit to reciprocate
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's visit to China in 2009.
Also present at the dialogue session were
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin, Minister-in-Attendance
Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon and university vice-
chancellor Prof Dr Ghauth Jasmon.
Wen also stressed on science and technology in national development, which he described as the key to bring about changes to the economy and society.
Wen said a Malay Studies Centre would be set up at the
Beijing Foreign Studies University in a move to enhance educational co-operation between Malaysia and China.
Wen said he liked spending time and talking to young people to learn about their feelings and aspirations.
Bernama reports that Wen is accompanied by a 118-member delegation, including four ministers.
This is his second visit to Malaysia after attending the
first East Asia Summit and the ninth Asean-China Summit and Asean Plus Three Summit in 2005.
UM students thrilled to hear ‘Grandpa Wen’By TAN EE LOO educate@thestar.com.my
PETALING JAYA: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's humanitarian gestures and concern for his people have made him a popular leader and idol among Chinese students.
“When our country was grappled with the Szechuan earthquake, he visited the sites and gave words of encouragement to the victims and those affected by the natural disaster. This shows that he cares for his people. He is my idol,” said Chinese student Li Yang of Shanxi, when met during Wen's visit to Universiti Malaya.
The IT student, who has studied in Malaysia for three years, said Wen liked to establish close rapport with his people by having dialogues during the Spring Festival.
Popular leader: Students greeting Wen when he arrives at Universiti Malaya where he had a dialogue session with them in Petaling Jaya Wednesday. Also known as “Grandpa Wen,” the Chinese premier made UM his first stop during his two-day official visit to Malaysia.
UM students, especially the Chinese nationals, were thrilled to meet the Chinese leader as they waved the Chinese and Malaysian flags to welcome him and his delegation to the university.
Wang Jing of Hebei said she got very emotional the moment she heard Wen speak about how China managed to move forward with the help of science and technology.
“There are 1.3bil people in China. It's very rare to be given a chance to meet and hear him speak in person.”
Put people first, says Wen
2011/04/28 By Azura Abas news@nst.com.my
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (right) meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during a welcome dinner on board a Cruise Tasik ship at Putrajaya Lake last night. Wen, who arrived yesterday, is on a two-day official visit to Malaysia. — Bernama picture
KUALA LUMPUR: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urged university students to aim for big accomplishments and not big titles. He said no matter what one was doing, as long as one served the people, the people would always remember the deed.
"No matter what senior position one has, if he doesn't serve the people, he will eventually be rejected by the people," he told hundreds of students during a visit to Universiti Malaya (UM), which kick-started his visit to Malaysia yesterday.
Also present was Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
Wen said China's reform and opening-up programme had given him the opportunity to enter politics.
"When I was working as a geologist for 14 years at the mountainous Gobi Desert area, I had not thought about being a leader or the country's premier.
"The reform and opening-up programme allowed me to move from the mountainous area to the political stage."
Wen also spoke of the contributions of science and technology in driving China's progress.
To stimulate the science and technology sector, he had listed several measures, including encouraging players in the sector to innovate, to discover and to have independent thinking.
"Their successes should be celebrated and their failures should be well understood and tolerated."
He also stressed the importance of knowledge, saying it was the source of progress, happiness and strength and for that, he said education must be a top agenda of a nation.
At the university, he visited a photography exhibition on historical China-Malaysia friendship visits, interacted with students and staff, and presented books on China.
He also planted a friendship camphor tree with UM vice-chancellor Professor Dr Ghauth Jasmon.
The camphor tree, which had medicinal properties and used in Chinese traditional medicine, was chosen to signify UM's commitment to form a firm and steady friendship with the people of China.
Ghauth earlier said the university recognised the strong collaboration with a number of top academic institutions in China.
"There has also been a marked increase in the number of students from China in this university, especially in the fields of engineering, science, business administration and Malay studies.
"In order to further facilitate the needs of students in China who want to pursue their education in our university, we have set up an offshore office in Beijing that acts as a centre for information and recruitment."
There are 347 students from China in the university.
Earlier, Wen, who led a 118-member delegation for the two-day visit, was greeted at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Sepang, by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon and Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman.
