Graduation Affairs
By Gloria Lai


Seedlings have flourished now. They are strong enough to stretch out to get the water and sunshine in the real world. A new group of students from the University of Macau (UM) are graduating again this summer. A special committee was set up to deal with the graduation affairs at the very beginning of this semester.

There are almost 800 students who will graduate this year. UM has five different faculties which are composed of a few majors. Each major needs 2-3 students as representatives to the committee. In other words, there are about 50 students in the committee to handle 800 students' matters.

The committee holds meetings every week. The full attendance of all the representatives is required for each meeting since the representatives play an important role because they are like the bridge connecting the graduating students and the committee. They need to present students' opinions to the committee and report information and decisions made by the committee back to their classmates as well.

"There is never enough time for the Graduation Committee," the Master of the Graduation Committee, Winnie Pui said. Due to a large number of students, it is difficult for the representatives to have lengthy meetings with their classmates to exchange ideas and reach consensus about the graduation affairs.

The biggest issue concerned is the venue of the graduation dinner, the last and most significant gala in the four years of university life. The representatives argued extensively about the three choices of the venue: the Portas do Sol, the Ocean Garden Resort and the Macau Tower. Some expressed that Ocean Garden's food is not good and the environment is too common. Others commented that Portas do Sol is more famous for the Chinese food than Western food. Finally, the Macau Tower was chosen by vote with the consideration that it is spacious, has tasteful food and a beautiful sea view around.

The committee also sent out questionnaires to students to know what type of cuisine, Western or Chinese they would prefer for the graduation dinner. The students had made a variety of suggestions and the committee finally reached a decision to have a Western buffet. The environment of the restaurant is also another concern. As a good background is important for taking photos, students prefer the venue with a grand environment like the Macau Tower. A large space which can accommodate all the graduating students is the next concern. That's why most students voted for the Macau Tower in the end.

Another job for the representative is to collect the fee, MOP700 for each student for the graduation affairs which covers the student album publishing, the graduation dinner and the graduation suit. The committee has created a bank account and given just two days for representatives to deposit all the fees of their own major. Therefore, the representatives must be very careful in handling that amount of money.

One of the representatives of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Cherry Ip said, "The university graduation is a significant point of our life and it is the time when our relatives and friends are sharing the happiness with us, so I want to prepare each step of the graduation affairs scrupulously."

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