On 19 January 2015, NUS Libraries was honored to welcome a big group of local and foreign guests to the Central Library to attend the “Guangxi Bookshelf” Project Book Donation Ceremony event.
Academic Talk by Professor Hu Dalei
The first programme on the menu of the day was an academic talk on “The Use of Allusions in Six Dynasties Poems” by Professor Hu Dalei from Guangxi Normal University. Professor Hu’s in-depth knowledge of ancient literature certainly captured the attention of our graduate students and even teaching staff from the Department of Chinese Studies.
At the end of the talk, we were pleased to invite Head of NUS Chinese Library, Dr. Sim Chuin Peng, to present Professor Hu with a token of appreciation for his presence and of course his engaging presentation. With that, the next programme in line was the highlight of the day – the “Guangxi Bookshelf” Project book donation ceremony.
What is the “Guangxi Bookshelf” Project all about?
This project is a collaboration between the Federation of Literary and Art Circles of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the Association of Guangxi Studies. It aims to donate 400, 000 Yuan (approximately S$85,000) worth of Chinese books to a national library and a university library of every country across 10 ASEAN nations. NUS Libraries is honored to receive this huge donation of books for a span of 5 years from 2014 to 2018. The first batch of books worth over Two Hundred Thousand Yuan has arrived in our library in mid-December 2014. These titles, mainly related to Buddhist studies, are now available for use in the Chinese Library. To quote Professor Kenneth Dean from the Department of Chinese Studies, these books are valuable materials that will help support related research in NUS as well as out of NUS.
The Ceremony
The book donation ceremony saw many prominent guests, including Professor He Linxia, Chairman of Guangxi Normal University Press as well as Vice-President of Association of Guangxi Studies; Professor Kenneth Dean, Head of Department of Chinese Studies, NUS; Mr. Seng Lup Chew, President and Permanent Honorary President of Guangxi and Gaozhou Association, and of course NUS Libraries’ senior leadership, namely Mrs. Lee Cheng Ean, Ms. Ng Kim Leong and Miss Kan Sok Cheng.
The exchange of newly donated books and the certificate as well as token of appreciation between Mrs. Lee and Professor He Linxia marked an end to the ceremony. But how could this significant event be complete without a sumptuous meal?
We could not thank Guangxi and Gaozhou Association enough for the splendid lunch they sponsored. Guests, lecturers and students bonded over lunch and it was definitely a heartwarming sight to see everyone enjoy themselves tremendously!
