Inaugural Meeting of the Nagoya University Taiwan Alumni Association (Taiwan Branch)
The general meeting was held at Caesar Park Hotel, located in front of Taipei station, on Saturday, July 9, 2011 to celebrate the establishment of our 10th overseas branch, Taiwan branch. There are more than 100 Nagoya University alumni in Taiwan, and 43 (Male: 20, Female: 23) of them attended the meeting. Six people including the university president, Professor Hamaguchi, the dean of the Graduate School of Low, Professor Aikyo from Nagoya University, and the chairperson of the Liaison Committee, Professor Nakano, and myself from the alumni association attended the meeting. Since the weather in Taiwan was hotter than Nagoya, it was difficult to walk around outside. The plan of establishing a branch in Taiwan had been discussed since 2007, but it took a long time to become a reality because several problems had to be addressed. I went to Taiwan in June 2011 to participate in the second pre-meeting to discuss issues like the official regulations of the proposed branch and how to organize the upcoming general meeting.
Firstly, the regulations of the branch were discussed among the association board members in the organization meeting, which started at 5:00 P.M. Mr. Akira Tomita (Associate Professor, Tamkang University) moderated the discussion in both Japanese and Chinese. We decided to make the name of the branch “Taiwan Nagoya University Alumni Association,” to place the head office of Mr.Tomi Wang in front of Taipei station, and to appoint one president, one secretary-general, six secretaries, and three auditor-secretaries as board members. However, we had a big discussion about how to choose those board members. In the end, we decided to partially change our original idea from all board members being chosen by election, to instead having the president and auditor-secretaries chosen by election, and the secretary-general and secretaries chosen by the president. We also had a quite a big discussion about the membership fee. The organization meeting in Taipei was quite different from the other meetings in Japan. After that, in addition to the election of three auditor-secretaries, Mr.Yu-Tsung Chien (Kaohsiung University) was elected as a president (president of the branch). Moreover, we discussed about donation to Nagoya University, but the details of that will be discussed further in the next board meeting.
The Nagoya University president, Professor Hamaguchi, and others attended the memorial ceremony which started at 6:00 P.M. In Professor Hamaguchi’s address, he mentioned that the Taiwan branch is the 10th memorial branch and he asked the members to accept international students willing to join. He also talked about the current condition of Nagoya University. After that, as representative of the secretaries, I made a speech to introduce Professor Toyoda’s congratulatory telegram and explain the history and mandate of the Nagoya University Alumni Association. Also, I asked members to visit the online address list managed by the university so they could register their addresses. Later, Professor Hamaguchi gave a certification, branch flag, and memorial gift to the president, Mr.Yu-Tsung Chien After all, Mr.Yu-Tsung Chien made a great address explaining the particulars of the establishment of the branch and mentioned that he would like to assist Nagoya University to thank the support which he has gotten from the university. We took a memorial photo with all the participants after the ceremony.
A reception party was held from 6:30 P.M. at the same place. During the party, Mr.Yu-Tsung Chien selected Mr.Tomi Wang as the secretary-general and also appointed six secretaries. Professor Hamaguchi visited all the tables to make a toast and take photos. All the participants really enjoyed the party with a friendly atmosphere. Lastly, Professor Aikyo made a closing remark and the party was successfully concluded.
