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Ceremony to mark foundation of Malaysia Shikon Society held in Putrajaya, Malaysia ( 2009.2.23 )
A ceremony to mark the foundation of the Malaysia Chapter of Meiji University’s Shikon Society was held at the Shangri La Hotel in Putrajaya on February 2nd 2009. The Shikon Society is an organization for alumni of Meiji University who live or work abroad.
In addition to Japanese alumni who are active in Malaysia and Malaysian nationals who were formerly overseas students at Meiji University, attendees at the ceremony included the Japanese ambassador to Malaysia, His Excellency Masahiko Horie, representatives from the University Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), both of which have links with Meiji University, and various government representatives. Representatives from Meiji University included University President Hiromi Naya, Prof. Tsuneo Sakamoto who is the vice president of research, Prof. Etsuko Katsu who is the vice president of international student exchange, as well as many other academic staff, bringing the total number of attendees to over 80 and making for a lavish ceremony.
Satoshi Nimura, president of local company Nimura Genetic Solutions and who graduated from the School of Agriculture in 1989, was inaugurated as president of the Shikon Society, Nobukazu Kawauchi who graduated from the School of Science and Technology in 1998 and works for Hitachi Hi-technologies was inaugurated as vice-president, as was Dr. Mohad Saufi who graduated with a doctorate from the Graduate School of Science and Technology in 2008 and who now lectures at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. Yosuke Furukawa, who graduated from the School of Commerce in 1956 and who is the honorary chairman of Rohm Wako Ltd., was inaugurated as an adviser.
In his speech, University President Naya stated his hopes for the future role which Meiji University should take against the background of internationalization. Prof. Marzuki Khalid, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of UTM said he wished to develop stronger ties between UTM and Meiji University going into the future.
Ambassador Horie made a speech in three languages, Japanese, Malay and English. This was followed by a speech by Vice President Sakamoto who thanked all those who flew the flag of Meiji University at the Malaysia Shikon Society, and Society President Nimura brought the first part of the foundation ceremony to a close.
At the second part of the ceremony, the graduates of Meiji University took a leading role and with a warm mood and with a deepening sense of togetherness, the room was told of projects which had taken place in Malaysia up to now as well as plans for the future. All of those gathered then sang the University song and Vice President Katsu brought proceedings to a close with a final speech.
On the same day in an interview with one of the major Malaysian newspapers, Ambassador Horie said in order to increase international exchange between Malaysia and Japan, he hoped business developments could arise from a network between Meiji University and universities in Malaysia, and with the Shikon Society.
