Pix: Khairul Helmi
KAJANG: Twenty-four students of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) received financial aid from the Chinese Embassy here today.
The aid was presented by Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia, Bai Tian.
“RM72,000 was disbursed… with each deserving student receiving RM3,000 in recognition of their contributions and achievements at the university,” said UTAR president Prof Dr Chuah Hean Teik.
“In 2016, the Chinese Embassy had presented financial aid to 20 Malay students from this university, totalling RM60,000,” he added.
Chuah said the embassy also donated RM10,000 to three performance clubs at UTAR.
“The clubs are the UTAR Chinese Orchestra, the 24 Festive Drums, and the Lion Dance Club.
“The donation goes towards the purchase of instruments and maintenance of the clubs’ equipment,” he said.
The recipients of the one-off aid today were students of Malay, Chinese and Indian ancestry.
Meanwhile, in his speech at the event, Bai Tian said that China will continue its relationship with Malaysia as usual, despite the recent change of administration.
“Two weeks after the election, I made a courtesy call to newly-elected Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and during the meeting, he acknowledged that China is one of the most important counterparts of Malaysia,” he said.
He added that in this bilateral relationship, youths play an important role.
“We want to help build a relationship between the youths of (our) two nations.
“We hope that there will be more students exchange programmes created to make sure that the students can get exposure to different cultures,” Bai Tian said.