University of Macao receives donation of nearly $20 mln

The Wu Yee Sun Charitable Foundation Ltd. Tuesday made a donation of 150 million HK dollars (19.3 million U.S. dollars) to the University of Macao Development Foundation (UMDF), which was the largest single benefaction since UMDF's inception in December last year.

The cheque presentation ceremony was held at the Government Headquarters of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), during which the SAR's Chief Executive and UM Chancellor Chui Sai On received the donation from the charitable foundation.

As the biggest local public higher education institution, UM has an important role to play in Macao and it has embarked on a new era of development with the dedicated effort of both the central government of China and local community, said Chui at the ceremony.

In recognition of this magnificent contribution, the central library on the UM's new campus will be named after Wu Yee Sun, a Hong Kong merchant and philanthropist.

With a total area of around 1.09 square kilometer, the new campus of University of Macao (UM) is located on the Hengqin island, a part of China's southern coastal city Zhuhai. On Dec. 20, 2009, China's President Hu Jintao officiated at the groundbreaking ceremony of UM's new campus, and the new campus was expected to be completed within three years.