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Homecoming Day: Revive the good old time

Published on 26 April 2017

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Elegantly-dressed brides and grooms held the wedding rings upon their hearts and made marriage vows before wearing them on each other’s finger. This mass wedding actually took place on the UIC campus.

Seven lucky couples, at least one of who was a UIC graduate, relished the pleasant atmosphere amid colourful balloons and flowers in cheers. Among their witnesses, nearly 500 alumni returned from all over the world to join the celebration, which was part of the Homecoming Day activities on 22 April.

This Homecoming Day marked special meanings in these alumni’s nostalgic hearts, as UIC is going to bid farewell to the current campus and move into a new location in the Huitong Village this coming autumn.

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Declaring their love at the ceremony included Jia Lu, Environmental Science graduate of 2014, and his wife Wei Xiaoxia, who had graduated in the same year from the Statistics Programme.

Coming from Inner Mongolia, they met and fell in love with each other in the Dragon and Lion Dance Team at UIC when Wei performed in the front part of a lion and Jia was the back dancer.

“We went to Hong Kong for postgraduate studies and we have been working there,” said Jia. “We are grateful to UIC for giving us beautiful memories.”

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Jia Lu and Wei Xiaoxia  Shen Zhi and Li Yidi 

It was a dream come true for Shen Zhi, a Finance graduate of 2014, and Li Yidi, a year younger from the Financial Mathematics Programme, to throw a wedding party at their alma mater.

“We walked on every inch of this campus, hand in hand,” said Shen. “We signed up for the mass wedding without giving it a second thought when we received an invitation.” Shen’s wife Li obtained a Master’s Degree in accounting and finance in the UK before returning to China last July and working in the financing industry.

Witnessing the lovely young newlyweds, UIC President Ng Ching-Fai expressed dear wishes and gave a warm welcome to all the alumni.

“On this memorable campus, you grew, matured and left for your next stage of life. It always welcomes freshmen and sees graduates depart, while the reminiscences about your then young and pure faces linger forever,” he said.

Bonding each other

The alumni also met the teachers and spoke of their experiences as well as feelings in the various sharing sessions, which were organised by all four academic divisions.

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Qin Zichan is engaged in the aviation industry, after graduated from the Contemporary English Language and Literature Programme in 2015. She flew from Beijing to catch up with the Homecoming Day.

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After getting a Master’s Degree of Chinese Business in Hong Kong, Fang Jiali, who graduated from the Management of Human Resources Programme in 2015, found a job in asset management there. She also opened a spa shop in Dongguan with three other UIC alumni. “We are so-called post-90s, who are labelled negatively,” she said. “We just work hard, step by step, and prove them wrong.”

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It was good news for the Division of Business and Management (DBM) that UIC Management of Human Resources Alumni Association was formally established. UIC Vice President Prof Zee Sze Yong and Dean of DBM Prof Stella Cho congratulated the establishment.

The Homecoming Day, organised by the Four-Point Education Coordination Office and UIC Alumni Association, prepared a luncheon for the alumni and their teachers. During the luncheon, President Ng Ching-Fai presented certificates of Honorary Sponsor to the alumni who supported the college and sponsored the day's activities.

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20170422huijia21President Ng Ching-Fai presents certificates of Honorary Sponsor to the alumni who supported the college and sponsored the day's activities

In addition to sports games including basketball, football, badminton, and rugby, alumni took part in a campus tour that brought back memories of their time spent in UIC.

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20170422huijia5 copyAlumni watch and learn about UIC Stretch and Flex Exercises

In the evening, the alumni went to the Zhuhai Great Hall to watch a drama “Mr Loser”, which starred UIC students. The exhilarating show was ardently received, bringing the Homecoming Day to a perfect conclusion.

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Reporters: Liu Ziting (IJ, Year 2), Deen He
Photographers: Cao Chen, Liu Ziting, Wang Keyan, Wan Shuchen,
Lancy Zhang, Zhou Chunmei, Wang Xiaopeng, Liu Shengning
Editor: Samuel Burgess
(from MPRO)

Updated on 8 September 2020