Dear WAIS President Shi Yigong, HIT Vice President Ding Xuemei, distinguished guests, faculty members, students and family members, and class of 2018 graduates:
Good morning!
Today, we are here to witness the graduation of the class of 2018 undergraduates, the first jointly-educated master’s students, as well as the first graduates of Zhicheng Residential College, Shude Residential College, Department of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, and School of Environmental Science and Engineering. Congratulations to all of them! I would like to thank WAIS President Shi Yigong in particular for presenting his first graduation ceremony speech as a university president here at SUSTech.
I remember meeting class of 2018 undergraduates for the first time. Right before I was about to be officially appointed SUSTech’s President at the ceremony, I took the time to see the students who were going through military training. Their youthful and energetic spirit left me with a good impression. I believe such an experience can also be seen as my interview in front of the students. After all, earning students’ recognition is a significant part of my job. It seems that I am doing okay so far, right? (The crowd applauds).
In the following four years, the class of 2018 graduates proved my first impression right. You possess typical “SUSTech characters” such as solid basic knowledge, real practical skills, strong social responsibility, and advanced global vision. For instance, Su Zimu is the first graduate selected to work at government departments in western China; Chen Wanli solved a problem that has been troubling researchers in the field of image super-resolution for 15 years, and Guo Tianzi started her own research-based company before graduation. She could very well become the first “female entrepreneur” of SUSTech. I am genuinely proud of their achievements.
The class of 2018 undergraduates has played a big part in the rapid development of SUSTech. You witnessed the Ministry of Education’s approval of doctoral degrees at SUSTech, campus construction phase II, the establishment of both the Medical and Business School, and the presence of a variety of research centers: the Shenzhen Grubbs Institute, the Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering, the Artificial Intelligence Institute, the Cryo-Electron Microscopy Innovation and Research Center, and Research Institute for Third-Generation Semiconductors. With joint effort from students, faculty members, and campus staff, SUSTech has achieved the development speed of Shenzhen in the early years of economic reform.
There is a line in Lao Zi’s Tao Te Ching (Scripture of Ethics): One begets Two (yin and yang), Two begets Three (Heaven, Earth and Man; or yin, yang and breath qi), Three begets all things. As the third graduates after SUSTech was officially approved to award bachelor’s degrees, I believe you are the crucial factor that leads SUSTech on an official track of development and contributes to its current achievements.
Of course, I won’t forget praising the first graduating master’s students from SUSTech. SUSTech is such a young university, and China’s current education system doesn’t allow it to admit graduate students at such an early stage. Without graduate students, faculty members and researchers’ potential would be wasted, and they would also have great difficulty carrying on their amazing research projects. I am not willing to sacrifice SUSTech’s future because of policy restraints, so I figured out another way: collaborating with Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) and established a joint education program with them. With the support from HIT, one of the most prestigious universities in the country, our professors can collaborate with leading scholars on academic projects.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to not only HIT, but also other universities who are collaborating with us: Peking University, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, University of Macau, National University of Singapore, University of Birmingham, and Temple University. Today, the Vice President Ding Xuemei of HIT is here with us, and words fail to describe how thankful I am for the support HIT and Vice President Ding over the years. “Virtue has its neighbors (a line from Confucius’ Analects),” and we will continue going hand in hand with HIT and make more breakthroughs in China’s education.
The year 2018 marked the 40th anniversary of China’s education reform, whose most significant achievement is Shenzhen – a miracle in city development across the globe. Located in Shenzhen, the central city of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, SUSTech has been receiving tremendous help from the Shenzhen Municipal Government and the passionate Shenzhen-ers. We will be forever grateful for that, and we promise to give back to the city and make more miracles in the future.
2018 is also the year of the FIFA World Cup. We are about to witness the final match between France and Croatia in two days. The 2018 Russian World Cup is full of surprises, with traditionally strong teams such as Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Spain and Portugal being eliminated early, and international football stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo being sent home. Even England lost to the less famous Croatian team last night, which took me completely by surprise. On the football field, anything can happen; and this year’s World Cup vividly teaches us a valuable lesson: the current world is full of uncertainties.
In recent years, there have been many influential but adverse events on the world stage, making everyone feel uncertain about the future. The ZTE controversy between China and the U.S., USA quitting the UN Human Rights Council, global conservatism, worldwide populism, trade protectionism, ongoing regional conflicts, terrorism, poverty, severe climate change – these are all examples of the world’s uncertainties. Besides, the human society has a long way to go when it comes to equality, justice, and true happiness.
On the other hand, there are many breakthroughs in the field of technology. Artificial Intelligence (AI), biotechnology and quantum computationers are taking the lead. Blockchain, cloud computing, Internet of Things, intelligent cities, unmanned driving are no longer just cool concepts – they are already transforming our lives. However, due to the rise of AI, people are feeling uncertain and insecure about the future: they worry about robots stealing their jobs or even ruling the human race. In other words, the rapid development of technology and information explosion left us with many dilemmas and hard choices.
Having spoken about uncertainties from the perspectives of society and technology, it’s time to shift the focus back to our own students. I believe every one of you was, or still is, uncertain about life after graduation: “Shall I further my studies or enter the workplace? Which city or country should I choose to live my life? What kind of lifestyle do I really want?” I used to face such uncertainties as well. Upon graduating from Zhejiang University 36 years ago, I was full of expectations about the future but couldn’t predict it at all. Every step you take, every decision you make could reconstruct your life.
My major was hydromechanical turbulence, whose core issue happens to be uncertainty. As long as the measure and speed meet the requirements, there will be pulses amongst steady flows – which result in vortex and turbulence. To apply the concept in a societal context, the negative uncertainty around specific global events can be seen as the inevitable outcome of social development. The integration and clashes of inventions, technologies, and ideologies produce pulses, vortex, and turbulence in a social sense, leading to a series of uncertainties. However, we need to understand that it is difficult to surpass others in a steady flow or societal condition since everyone is walking in line at the same speed. But once pulses take place, there will be many vortexes of change that provides us with the chance to lead the way.
The technological development and advancement of the times were rooted in the curiosity to discover the unknown. Human’s intelligence lies in the ability to learn from experiences and summarize the rules with the proper equipment and model, and the capacity to build a relatively “certain” world in the uncertain universe. British educator John Newman said: “If then a practical end must be assigned to a University course, I say it is that of training good members of society… It is the education which gives a man a clear conscious view of his own opinions and judgments, a truth in developing them, an eloquence in expressing them, and a force in urging them.” I hope SUSTech doesn’t only offer you knowledge, but also the ability to find your way in this world of uncertainties.
When facing uncertainties, we first need to be calm and determined: believe in yourself, believe in your people, and believe in your country. Firm belief is the strongest thing in one’s mind; it will eventually lead to your success just as a seed will become flowers and fruits. I have always wanted to be a professor, and I gave up many other tempting possibilities because of my firm belief in academia – which takes me where I am today. In my opinion, every SUSTecher has a firm belief, pure ideals, and true passions. Otherwise, you won’t give up the opportunity to enroll in other traditionally recognized top universities and choose the very young SUSTech instead. Your choices also prove your entrepreneurial and adventurous spirits, which coincide with our university’s vision. With such spirits, you will become confident, assured and determined. We should also be aware that China has a long way to become a truly developed nation – we have a lot of work to do, such as technological development and scientific knowledge. China’s mission of building a peaceful, secure, prosper, open, inclusive and clean world for the entire human race is difficult, but I believe your qualities can help the country to reach the goal closer day by day.
When facing uncertainties, we also need to be positive, be proactive, and be energetic. Recently, there has been a trend among people born in the 1990s: face the world with a Buddha-like (Fo Xi, 佛系) attitude. Many criticize such an approach for being passive, especially for young people. But from my perspective, being Buddha-like has a more positive connotation. It doesn’t mean being indifferent towards the world. Instead, it represents a calm and open mindset: putting your hobby first and doing things in the way you like. As mentioned above, the university doesn’t only teach you knowledge – it also equips you with a sense of responsibility. I believe all of you are extraordinary, and you will eventually become the elite of all walks of life. Your worldviews and values could very well shape the future of the world; your inner world will form the outer world surrounding you.
When facing uncertainties, we also need to have lifelong learning and problem-solving skills. Four years of undergraduate studies only constitute a small part of one’s life, but SUSTech is determined to make the most of the four years and teach every student skills that will benefit them for the rest of their lives. SUSTech’s “three systems (residential college system, academic and life advisors’ system, and academic credit system),” three “–zations (individualization, elitization, and internationalization),” and “three visions (research, innovation and entrepreneurship)” aim to foster well-rounded talents with broad horizons and interdisciplinary learning skills. It also nurtures students’ independent, analytical, critical and creative thinking. We hope you can apply these skills to the society and make as many contributions as possible.
In a word, I hope SUSTechers will have the ability to handle uncertainty, use it to your advantage, and always remain calm, positive, inclusive and ambitious.
A few days ago, I sent every graduate a present. It’s a book called “Hub: China over the Past 3000 Years.” It tells the story of how the Chinese people overcome different kinds of uncertainties over three centuries. The book also reflects on China’s economic reform over the course of the last 40 years. Therefore, we Chinese people have a history of overcoming difficulties and uncertainties. After all, we are the world’s only nation with such a long continuous history and culture. With excellent SUSTechers like you, I believe China will become better and better in the near future. While you are working hard and contributing to the nation, don’t forget about SUSTech and remember to come back!
Congratulations, all the graduates!
