“Run, don’t walk” after your dreams, Nvidia cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) told National Taiwan University (NTU) graduates yesterday, as several major universities held in-person graduation ceremonies for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What will you create? Whatever it is, run after it. Run, don’t walk. Remember, either you’re running for food, or you are running from becoming food. Oftentimes, you can’t tell which. Either way, run,” he said.
Huang was one of several tech executives addressing graduating students at Taiwanese universities.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
National Chengchi University held two ceremonies, with alumnus Patrick Pan (潘先國), who is head of Taiwan and Hong Kong operations at Facebook owner Meta, speaking at the morning ceremony, while Pegatron chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢) addressed the afternoon session.
TUL Corp CEO Ted Chen (陳劍威) gave the commencement speech at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST).
Chen, who is an alumnus of NTUST, encouraged the graduating students to be optimistic, calling it a way to process challenges while remaining calm.
Photo courtesy of National Chengchi University via CNA
While many universities invited members of the tech industry to speak, National Taiwan Normal University asked Academia Sinica’s Lee Fong-mao (李豐楙), a Taoist, to give its commencement speech.
Lee encouraged the institute’s 4,469 graduating students not to be afraid to pursue uncommon or unpopular subjects and themes if pursuing a career in academics.
A devoted person can make their life unique, he said.
Photo courtesy of graduates from National Taiwan University’s Department of Sociology
At National Chi Nan University, student Dredrese Povili, who is of Rukai descent, quoted Rukai writer Avuinni Kadreseng in her graduation speech.
“Values that are deemed worthy often exist amid discomfort. Thus, when we go against the flow and reach the top of the mountain, no matter how difficult the process, nature becomes entwined with our lives,” she said.
Hopefully, the message encourages graduating students to live by doing, trust in traditional wisdom and utilize modern technology to strengthen and reinforce connections with the land, Hsieh said.
At NTU, department of sociology students protested to express their dissatisfaction with university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) for not receiving students in person on Friday to hear complaints related to incidents involving discriminatory remarks made by some students.
The protesters refused to attend the graduation ceremony and instead stood outside holding signs reading: “This is not the graduation ceremony I want.”
After the commencement, Chen told reporters that he supported the demands of the students, adding that he would bring up the issue at the university affairs committee on Saturday.
Respect for multiethnic groups and upholding a multiethnic society are part of being a democratic society, and people should not make comments, even in jest, if it means that others would be feel discriminated against, he said.
The coast guard drove away 567 Chinese boats and seized seven illegally operating in Taiwanese waters in the first six months of this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. They mostly operated near Kinmen and Penghu counties, resulting in fines totaling NT$1.7 million (US$52,440), it said. Three ships — two near Kinmen County and one near Penghu County — were detained in January for illegally crossing the border, while one ship each was detained near Kinmen in February and Penghu in March respectively, it said. The ship seized near Penghu in January was the Yun Ao (雲澳), detained by the CGA’s
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
FLU CONTINUES: Hospitals reported 101,091 visits for flu-like illnesses last week, while 68 severe cases and 16 flu-related deaths were also reported, the CDC said The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported 932 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and 64 related deaths for last week, adding that the number of people who had contracted new SARS-CoV-2 subvariants KP.2 and LB.1 has increased. The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 increased from 815 in the previous week to 932 last week, while 90 percent of the 64 deceased were aged 65 or older, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. JN.1 was still the dominant variant among local and imported cases in the past four weeks, while KP.2 was the second-most common, Lin said. Cases with the LB.1 subvariant
Beijing’s recent provocative actions against the Philippines in the South China Sea were partly meant as a “dress rehearsal” for the invasion of Taiwan, former US deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger said at a Heritage Foundation forum in Washington on Tuesday. Beijing’s blocking of a Philippine resupply mission on June 17 with unprecedented violence had multiple implications. “What they’re doing is trying to demonstrate that they can blockade, create a sense of futility and discredit the idea that the United States is going to help not only the Philippines, but by extension Taiwan,” Pottinger said. Pottinger was referring to a clash