23 FIJIANS TO STUDY IN CHINA
Yat Sen Secondary School student, Phillip Kok Weng Leong, will be reuniting with his father in China after the 18-year-old bagged a scholarship to attend university there for five years.
Philip’s father is currently working in China. Philip and his two younger siblings live in Caubati. Now, with this scholarship, he will be in a city close to his dad.
The Year 13 student was among the 23 candidates who qualified for the Chinese Government scholarships to pursue Bachelors, Masters and PhD programmes in various Chinese universities.
They were presented with their scholarships at the Chinese Embassy in Suva yesterday.
Four Yat Sen students were in the lucky pick. Philip will be pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
He will be attending Northeast Normal University in Changchun City and though his father will be in a different city, Philip said it still meant a lot to be in the same country and be able to visit.
“My family lived in China for about six years before we moved to Fiji so I am already familiar with the language,” Philip said.
“For the students out there, if you are looking for a new challenge, want to experience new things and cultures then this scholarship is the way to go,” he added
Philip will be leaving for China later this month. Chinese Ambassador to Fiji Qian Bo said it was encouraging to see the academic aptitude displayed by this year’s recipients.
“Two recipients have been admitted in PhD programmes, six in Master’s programmes and 15 in Bachelor’s programmes covering areas like Chinese language and literature, clinical medicine, environment engineering, marine science, financial management, and others,” Ambassador Qian said.
He added China was willing to support island countries in personnel training, and promote teaching and people-topeople exchanges.
Ambassador Qian said as China-Fiji relations progresses, more scholarship and training opportunities will come and exchanges and co-operation in the education field will be broader.
China has granted government scholarships to around 200 Fijian students since 1980.