FM backs group to promote ‘young patriotic talent’

Renato Marques

The Macao Foundation (FM) launched yesterday a new group in Macau which, according to FM president Wu Zhiliang, aims to promote the exchange and sharing of knowledge among “young patriotic talent” in Macau.

The group, named “Gathering of Thousand Talents”, held its inauguration ceremony yesterday at the Macau Forum, attended by Chief Executive (CE) Chui Sai On.

The platform’s launch is in line with a triennial plan that the CE proposed in his 2016 Policy Address. That plan was inaugurated last year with about 1,000 participating youngsters from 12 of Macau’s secondary schools and 10 local associations for exchange programs in mainland China.

The “Gathering of Thousand Talents” is a way to gather and nurture the youth – expected to number 3,000 eventually – who join the first edition of the program, which will run from 2016 to 2018.

“The ‘Gathering of Thousand Talents’ is not a traditional association but a network of communication and an exchange platform to strengthen the relations between the youngsters [participating in the program],” said Wu during the inauguration speech.

“It is also not a common social platform, but a platform that aims to train patriotic talent.”

Liu Jin, director of the Ministry of Education Office for Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Affairs, said the Central Government was “very pleased with the great successes achieved during the first year of operation of the program.”

The program, Liu said, will allow “one thousand Macau youngsters to see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts the splendor, and the robust and accelerated growth, of the motherland.”

According to Liu, the program and the association supporting it will “train increasingly highly qualified staff that love the motherland and Macau, with skills to perform in high-ranking positions and to [play] a relevant role in the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and reach the fulfillment of the Chinese dream.”

Wu said students who participate in the “Gathering of Thousand Talents” platform will automatically be granted membership in the triennial program.

‘Youngsters’ passion for learning is  what creates knowledge’

After the inauguration of the “Gathering of Thousand Talents”, Chief Executive Chui Sai On spent some time responding to questions from participating students. “The government provides opportunities. It is the youngsters’ passion for learning that creates knowledge,” Chui said. The CE added that he intends to encourage the youth to seek new opportunities to aid in the economic diversification of Macau, to which the government is highly committed.