True education
- Matthew Lo
- Jan 31, 2017
- 2 min read
As a HKUST student leader, I enrolled in an exchange tour to Malaysia. The trip lasts for only 5 days, but I already learnt many things, from their culture, food to economy.
The trip
We visited 4 universities in total, including University of Malaya, UPM, TARUC, UKM. We also had a chat with President of Ebara Company. The dullest activity is visiting the National Museum. Luckily, we had free time, so we went the Batu Cave, Petronas Twin Towers and chill out at a nearby swimming pool.
Welcome
I was fascinated by the hospitality of Malaysians. Probably Hong Kong people do not smile a lot because of stress from work and studies. For Malaysians, all the representatives had one thing in common, they welcome us with the kindest greetings. Whenever we visited a university, they served us with food. Malaysians believed that serving food is a meaning of respect and welcome.
Tour
We had campus tours for each university. UPM's tour is what I remembered most. Their campus is enormous, Since the day of visit is a holiday, no shuttle buses are provided. The representatives therefore drove their own cars to take us a lift. They introduced the facilities and even gave us a polo shirt as souvenir.
True education
UKM upholds a special value, to serve others. As expected, the chairman of the student association served us food. The room was hot so I told them to turn on the air conditioner. Unfortunately, it was broken, so the chairperson immediately booked a room for us. I can tell that this school has a strong value to serve others. Judging from his tone when commanding committees, he looked like a dictator, but students respected him. It seems quite contradiction but after a sharing by him, he really gained my respect.
During his sharing, he mentioned about his purpose to be a chairman. He wanted to help the school strengthen the value of serving others. There was an earthquake a year ago in Malaysia, his team volunteered to help the wounded. Their actions influenced the students and almost the entire school skipped lessons to offering a helping hand. He was a law student with a kind heart. With his leadership and kindness, he shaped the school to be a better one. One that nurture students to serve the society. That, I believe, is the essence of true education.
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