David on Formosa

About a month ago I was surprised to receive a phone call from a representative of The University of Melbourne inviting me to a reception in Taipei. The reception for alumni and friends was held last night at the Grand Formosa Regent Hotel in Taipei.

The event began with the Acting Representative of the Australian Commerce and Industry Office, Harry Genn, giving a short speech. He noted that The University of Melbourne was highly ranked in various world rankings. Yin Ingamells, Regional Program Manager of the University, also gave a welcoming speech.

Yin Ingamells and Ashley Chang during the lucky prize draw at the reception 

Ashley Chang from the Taipei Artist Village gave a presentation about the exchange program between Asialink at The University of Melbourne and the Taipei Artist Village. I have written about the Artist Village before on this blog. The Asialink Centre at Melbourne University works to promote exchange between Australia and Asia in the corporate, media, education, arts, health and community sectors. I was already familiar with some of Asialink's programs in Taiwan and Thailand.

It was interesting to meet some Taiwanese graduates there who were working in a variety of different fields. Although I think I was the only Australian graduate of the university at the reception. I was glad for the opportunity to renew contact with my alma mater and look forward to other events in the future.