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New Year’s Celebration:Pursuing Dreams Through Persistence
2014-12-31 14:06:52
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Dean Hai Wen gave a speech in PHBS New Year’s Celebration.

Distinguished guests, faculty, staff, and students,

A new year is upon us, giving us a fresh start. We have passed through 2014, and are now chasing our hopes and dreams into 2015. We are bringing our past experiences and new ideas into a new wave of development, and we are looking forward to the new opportunities and challenges that 2015 will bring.

At this time, on behalf of Peking University HSBC Business School, I would like to express my appreciation and deep respect for all the leaders and guests, who took time out from their busy schedules to be here with us tonight. Also, thank you to all of our dedicated faculty, staff and volunteers! I would like to wish all of you a happy New Year and Merry Christmas!

2014 has been a great year for PHBS, we have progressed in leaps and bounds, reaching a new milestone of success.

Looking back on the past ten years, one of the unique qualities of PHBS has been our guiding concept of “business with a military discipline”. We have also inherited Peking University’s rich history and tradition, innovated a new way of learning business, and incorporated international cooperation in order to expand our understanding and research within the fields of management, economics and finance. We are also continuously cultivating the skills of our students in order for them to become the leaders of tomorrow. Through our teaching methods and culture, we are becoming a world-renowned business school.

Along with many of our alumni we celebrated our 10th anniversary on the 25th of October this year. Many of our alumni expressed their gratitude and their fond memories from their time here. They have come from all four corners of the world to provide us with support and share their wisdom with both faculty and students. The sound of 2000 voices all cheering “GO! GO! GO!” is a demonstration of the faith and great hope we all have for our school.

During the celebration of our tenth anniversary we also held a large number of academic activities. In May, we held the “PKU Global Financial Forum” which had guests from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and New York among others. All of these guests are financial professionals who have all graduated from Peking University, and they have set up an alumni association. This association is a platform for our alumni to communicate and share ideas together, maintaining relationships built here at PKU.

In October, we hosted the inaugural Global Deans’ Forum that saw over 40 deans and heads of famous business schools in attendance discussing the role of business schools within the trend of globalization. In December, We also successfully hosted the 14th Annual Chinese Economic Conference, the largest scale, highest quality, and most influential academic gathering in China. The theme of the conference was “The New Normal for China's Economy: Reform and Innovation." There were over 600 delegates from all around China in attendance discussing and communicating new ideas and conceptual frameworks for China’s future development and continual progress.

Through the sharing and exchanging of ideas with these academics, we were able to deepen our understanding of global financial and economics issues, expand our outlook, and broaden our influence on the global education stage.

Students, teachers, friends, a fulfilling and unforgettable year is nearing its end, and we are all looking forward to 2015. Every year at the event of our annual celebration we must reflect on the past year, and establish a new goal to strive toward. In 2008, we had the slogan “Spreading Our Wings to Soar”; in 2009 our slogan was “Creating a Military-Like Discipline”. At our 2014 annual celebration, we brought forth the slogan “New Creation, Broad Perspectives”, and with the completion of our new PHBS building, everything has been renewed and we are climbing toward a new peak.

2015 is the beginning of our next 10-year journey! We are taking on the mantra of “Persisting Toward our Dreams”. If we all share high aspirations, we can innovate together, grow together, persist together, and succeed together.

Throughout history, successful people have almost invariably had high aspirations; have had precision in their scientific approach. Einstein said,“ Everyone has a certain ideal, this ideal determines the direction of his efforts and judgment. In this sense, I never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves.” And Tolstoy said: “A goal is a guiding light. Without a goal, there is no direction; without direction, there is no life.” It is because of these lofty goals that we become inspired to struggle and strive until the goal is reached, and we are capable of making a valuable contribution to the world.

The struggle for improvement is the goal of all men. Every person has a goal, and every organization should have a goal as well. So what is the goal of Peking University HSBC Business School? To become one of the top business schools in the world? Is it to train China and the world’s business elite? These are both our goals, but our most important goal is to educate the kind of people who can demonstrate the concept of “having a goal, and accomplishing it.”

Persistence is action; it is implementation. We not only must have goals, but our goals must be realistic; we must have the spirit and abilities to realize them. This spirit I speak of is unafraid of danger; it doesn’t fold under pressure, nor does it give into temptation. It will not give up its goal, remaining calm no matter what. Without this spirit, your goals cannot be reached. The abilities I am speaking of refer to the ability to overcome problems as they arise. You need both a long-term strategic plan, as well as a short-term plan. This capability comes from knowledge, certainly, but also from hard work and discipline.

As we enter 2015, we have adopted a new slogan, “Persisting Toward our Dreams”, and this slogan will drive us through the next ten years, as it is the hope of all of our faculty and students. From this slogan we will find a goal, persist towards it, maintaining a broad vision and being dependable, until Peking University HSBC Business School transforms all of its students into goal seeking, responsible, and wise global citizens who will lead our civilization into the future.

Students, Teachers, Friends, within this new year, we will be seeking to further enrich our faculty with experts from around the globe; we will increase the volume and quality of our research, and raise the level of education. We will create more stringent requirements for our students, while consolidating the culture and traditions of our university, resulting in high-quality international talent. In the new year, we want to accelerate the pace of international construction, and improve the international influence of our hospital. We are also recruiting more students from different cultures, and expanding our influence throughout the international community. We are planning to hold more international seminars, extensive international exchanges and actively promote our AACSB International accreditation. In the new year, we also want to further improve the efficiency of our administrative work; rationalize the relationship between the various departments, clearly define the division of labor, improve cooperation, deliver enthusiastic service, and maintain strict management. It is our belief that these efforts will lead to creating a first-class management team and services, thereby ensuring that our school maintains its pace of growth throughout the coming years.

Dear Teachers, Students, and Friends, the road ahead is full of challenges. What an exciting mission it is. I am full of joy looking back on the past 10 years, and I can hardly maintain my composure when I consider the next ten years to come. It is my sincerest hope that you take these words and apply them to your lives, persisting in your efforts, fearlessly pursuing your goals, and helping make PKU HSBC Business School transform into a world leading institution! Together we can strive for a brighter, more prosperous tomorrow!

Lastly, I would like to wish everyone health, happiness, and the fulfillment of your dreams in 2015!

(Translated by Cheng Yidan)