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Conferral of an Honorary Doctorate of Letters
On 12 April 2014, an Honorary Doctorate of Letters is conferred on Mr William Chiu JP at the University of Western Sydney's Parramatta campus in Rydalmere, in recognition of his distinguished service to the community and to fostering China-Australia relationships.
 
 
Convocation Speech AC
William Chiu JP
at UWS on 12 April 2014

Chancellor Professor Peter Shergold, Vice-Chancellor Professor Barney Glover, Academic colleagues, special guests, ladies and gentlemen - and most importantly, graduands.

It is a privilege and honour for me to share my thoughts with you today as the recipient of the Honorary Doctor of Letters from this university.

The first and utmost thing I want to do today is to congratulate you all on completing your degrees. It is a great achievement and one that you and your families should be very proud of www.hwestore.com.

Today's ceremony confirms that you have mastered a body of socially useful knowledge in Science and Health related disciplines and I have no doubt that this will establish a firm foundation for your careers.

More importantly - your studies have also provided you with the skills of critical thinking, analysis, innovation and creativity that you will apply throughout your lives. And most importantly, I hope your studies have given you a thirst for more education.

Now, I know that this might not be something that you want to hear on the day when you finally finish at University, but it is very likely you will undertake further learning activity at some stage of your career. Although the job market changes rapidly, there are fundamental imperatives everyone should be attributed to regardless of occupation.

I understand that the knowledge and training you have received from UWS focus on science and health areas. When you start your career, you will not only contribute the professional skills but will also experience team efforts and dealing with other people on the daily basis. This leads to the topic I would like to share with you today, “Integration of Peace and Harmony”.

In the past decades, I have been promoting world peace, harmony and integration through various social communities around the world. In July 2000, I ?together with friends alike, established The Australian Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China (ACPPRC), which is dedicated to regional and world peace and harmony. It promotes not only friendly ties between Australia and China, but also promotes exchanges and cooperation in economic and cultural spheres between the two countries and friendship ties around the world.

ACPPRC’s main purpose is to unite overseas efforts in promoting and supporting the reunification of the two parts of China across the Taiwan Strait, while also working to further strengthen Australia - China relations.

Since its establishment, ACPPRC has taken an active part in the activities of our Australian society and international relief work. It has made donations and voluntary works to earthquake, snow, bushfire, drought, flood and typhoon disaster relief efforts.

Another prominent annual project under ACPPRC is called "Eyes on China". It is a free cataract surgery medical charity project. It has received warm support from both the Australian and Chinese governments. We have been carrying on this project continually for more than 12 years, not only have we done cataract operations in remote China to restore eye sights to the poor people who have never seen brightness but we have also trained local medical personnel in the skills of using latest medical equipment. With that we will then donate our equipment and eventually helping them to set up "eye-clinics" so that they can continue their work to offer more eye-sight to the blinds. I am very proud to also inform you that the NSW Government especially the NSW Parliamentary Asia Pacific Friendship Group has always been our partner. Bipartisan MPs and MLC members have joined us into the most remote areas inside China to give their personal support and attention to this project. Since 3 years ago, We have also obtained the strong support of Lions Clubs International and Lions Cubs Australia.

These projects are underpinned by the integration of Peace and Harmony, which are the core values in the traditional Chinese culture.?

China, one of the most ancient civilisations in the world, has a written history of nearly 5000 years. Chinese culture has acquired unique characteristics accumulated and passed down through thousands of years by the descendants of the Chinese. Its cultural tradition has become the bond linking the hearts and souls of Chinese wherever they are, and its cultural characteristics are embodied in the ideas, ways of thinking, values and aesthetic tastes of each and every Chinese.

The root of Chinese culture can be summarised in just one Chinese word "He". I am unable to translate "He" into one single English word but the essence of the word "He" may be "integration of peace and harmony". This emphasis on peace and harmony and integration is an essential feature of traditional Chinese culture, with the historical roots of a love for peace cherished by its people, who enjoy China’s reputation as a land of courtesy and propriety. The search for moderation and the beauty of harmony has, since ancient times, always been at the core of Chinese traditional philosophical thinking. These are also important components of educational theory and practice in China. The thinkers, philosophers, scholars and educators of various dynasties of China, in their works, studied in depth and expounded the dimensions of peace and harmony, their significance and the pathways to their fulfilment, which has formed a comprehensive system of thought of moderation and harmony with Chinese characteristics, exerting influence on the morals, ethics and values of Chinese generation after generation.

Tolerance, understanding, integration, peace and harmony are the common ideals and aspirations of humankind and it is the shared responsibility of humankind to disseminate and safeguard peace. As stipulated in the Constitution of UNESCO, since war begins in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defence of peace must be constructed. In today’s world, war, violence, conflicts, discrimination, inequality and intolerance are still endangering and undermining peace and democracy, and it is thus of paramount importance to launch a culture of "He" throughout the world, giving impetus to its development. Each nation bears the responsibility to make a stock-taking of its traditions of culture of "He" and, more importantly, to further disseminate and foster, by way of education, the ideals and values of the culture of "He".

The human skills of respecting the opinion of others, being personally flexible and having the maturity to keep a balance in your life are not skills that you learn in class. But they are as important as anything you have learned in your studies. We are lucky to live in this multicultural Australia which enjoys all the above quality of life.

I hope all of you here leave the University today happy in your memories, firm in your friendships and confident in the skills you have acquired. Today you have put on a hat with 4 corners. After today you will all leave here to experience life. In years to come you'll , through the skill of the culture of "He" temper yourselves and wear away all the 4 corners. I am sure this university will welcome you back to cap you with the honors of no-corner-round hat just like mine!

In future years I hope that you will look back on this special day of celebration with great pride and I trust that you'll have greater achievement. I again congratulate each and every one of you on this occasion on your graduation and wish you every success in your future endeavours as proud alumnus of the University of Western Sydney.

Thank you for bearing with me and thank you for sharing these important years of your lives with all of us at UWS.

Thank you.

 
Congratulations to William Chiu JP
on being awarded Honorary Doctorate Degree of the UWS