Students from Kasetsart University Taste Chinese Culture at XMUM

2023-03-23

Xiamen University Malaysia Mobility Programme with Kasetsart University was successfully carried out from 26 February to 18 March 2023.

The programme aims to offer students the opportunity to learn about Chinese culture, enriching their knowledge in Southeast Asian Studies. Special courses about Malaysia were also given to expose them to the country's diverse culture.

13 students and Dr. Apicha Chutipongpisit from Department of History, Kasetsart University participated in the programme.

Kasetsart University is a public research university situated in Bangkok. It is the largest university in Thailand, as well as the country's first agricultural university.

Prof. Wang Xiaomei, Dr. Koh Chong Wah along with the PhD student Choo Wan Yein and master's student Leong Siw Yau from Department of Chinese Studies provided with 14 days of Chinese language classes for the students.

Experienced instructors taught the students basic Chinese language skills and assigned interesting assignments, such as conducting interviews, to consolidate the students' knowledge of Chinese.

The MPU Department gave lectures related to Malaysia society and culture, including Introduction to Malaysia, Culture and Beliefs, Diversity in Malaysia (Ethnic and Religious), as well as Important Laws for Thai travellers/students in Malaysia. They also took the students to two field trips around Kuala Lumpur & Selangor on weekends, allowing them taste local culture on a more intimate level.

Classes on Chinese songs, Chinese traditional costumes, Chinese musical instruments, as well as extracurricular activities such as calligraphy, diabolo, tea ceremony, 24 festive drums and Chinese folk dance were also included, allowing students to have hands-on experience of Chinese culture and tradition.

On 17 March 2023, the programme was successfully concluded with a closing ceremony hosted by Prof. Wang Xiaomei and her team. The programme was completed with great success and students claimed to have gained fruitful experience. In the near future, Xiamen University Malaysia would like to strengthen and establish more student mobility programmes with universities across the world.