BX Gathering in Beijing
Our last BX gathering of 2019 was held in Beijing last Saturday. Scholars and alumni had a great time catching up with one another, and also had the opportunity to hear from three students who were selected to speak during our career panel session. Sharing practical tips on job hunting, interviewing, and navigating workplace culture, each panelist offered helpful and interesting insights into the job search process and finding your place as a fresh graduate.
A heartfelt thank you to our moderator and panelists for your support, and to Mr. Ueda Kenji and Ms. Seo Mariko from BXAIJ for joining us. We hope everyone learned something new and enjoyed connecting with the Bai Xian community. Until next year!
New Structure, New Titles
As part of the restructure of the AFLSP in 2020, our 16 university partnerships will be consolidated to 6. There will no longer be any distinction between “Anchor” and “Participating” Universities – all universities within our network will be known as “Partner Universities.” Our program framework will remain unchanged.
To maintain consistency and unity across all our platforms and titles, we would also like to announce that “AFLSP Scholars” will now be officially known as “Bai Xian Scholars,” and “AFLSP Exchange Scholars” will be officially known as “Bai Xian Exchange Scholars.”
Autumn Hike Up Takaosan
Last Sunday, the newly minted steering committee of the BXAI Alumni Association’s Tokyo Chapter hosted their very first event of the academic year with a hike up Takaosan, a scenic mountain near Central Tokyo. Tokyo-based scholars and alumni had a great time catching up with one another while soaking in the breathtaking views of the mountain’s famous autumn foliage.
BX Gatherings in Hangzhou and Shanghai
We had a great time with our scholars and alumni last weekend in Hangzhou and Shanghai! Catching up with them over dinner at each city, we were captivated by wonderful study abroad and Summer Program stories, and enjoyed learning about the different cultures represented. Thank you to everyone who joined us – we hope you had a good time and look forward to seeing you again soon!
BXAI Celebrates 5 Years!
Since 2014, BXAI has been building bridges across cultures to pave the way towards a prosperous, sustainable, and conflict-free modern Asia. As we celebrate our fifth anniversary, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for sharing our vision and walking alongside us as we seek to bring up future leaders who embrace diversity and promote peace in Asia and beyond. We invite you to join our scholars and alumni on a trip down memory lane through our special fifth anniversary video!
BX Gatherings in Kyoto and Tokyo
We had a blast in Japan this past weekend at our two BX gatherings held in Kyoto and Tokyo. In Kyoto, we welcomed scholars from our new cohort and caught up with alums over fun icebreaker games and dinner at a local restaurant. In Tokyo, we organized a career panel session featuring four of our Tokyo-based alumni, who shared openly about their AFLSP memories, working experiences, the workplace culture in Japan, and challenges they have faced.
A big thank you to everyone who joined us at our gatherings – we hope you enjoyed them as much as we did! Special thanks goes to Dr. Zhao Liang from Kyoto University and BXAI president, Prof. Katsuichi Uchida, for joining us at our Kyoto and Tokyo events respectively; as well as Mr. Kenji Ueda and Ms. Mariko Seo from BXAIJ for making the Tokyo gathering possible. Can’t wait to see all of you again soon!
BX Gatherings in Beijing, Shanghai, and Kyushu
Over the past few weeks, some of our alumni hosted BX gatherings in Beijing, Shanghai, and Kyushu to welcome our newest cohort of scholars. Sharing about study abroad stories and personal experiences over delicious local meals, our scholars and alumni became fast friends as they connected over their different backgrounds, passions, and dreams. What a great way to kick-start the new academic year!
Welcoming Our New Advisory Council Member
We are pleased to welcome our newest member of the BXAI Advisory Council, Mr. Kuninori Matsuda, to the BXAI family. Mr. Matsuda is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Pakistan, and brings with him a wealth of experience and expertise, having worked in the field of Japanese foreign affairs for over 30 years. We look forward to working alongside him in our shared mission to raise up future leaders and promote peace and regional collaboration in Asia through the AFLSP.
Restructuring of the Asian Future Leaders Scholarship Program
Bai Xian Asia Institute (BXAI) is pleased to announce that the Asian Future Leaders Scholarship Program (AFLSP or the Program) will operate under a new structure with effect from the 2020-21 academic year.
As an educational organization that continuously self-evaluates to ensure its outcomes meet key performance indicators, BXAI has always maintained a flexibility to amend its programs and partnership terms so as to react to changing needs and address performance gaps. Based on annual reviews of the AFLSP from the past five years, we have decided to restructure the Program in a way that allows us to better focus our efforts and resources to achieve more targeted results aligned with BXAI’s vision and mission.
From the 2020-21 academic year onwards, our university network will be limited to five key cities in East Asia, namely, Beijing, Hong Kong, Kyoto, Shanghai and Tokyo. We will also be consolidating our university partnerships to six in total, including: Hitotsubashi ICS, Kyoto University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Waseda University.
We sincerely thank all of our 16 Anchor and Participating Universities for their engagement and support since the inception of the Program. Each university has played an important role in the AFLSP’s growth and success, and for that we are very grateful.
We firmly believe that this necessary change will enable us to strengthen our programs and cultivate a deeper sense of community, thereby allowing us to make greater strides in line with our mission of bridging cultures and developing a new generation of Asian leaders.
BX Gathering in Hong Kong
This past Tuesday, we had the honor of hosting a BX gathering in Hong Kong to welcome our new cohort and to catch up with BX Alumni and friends. It was a fun-filled evening complete with ice breakers led by the new steering committee of the Hong Kong alumni chapter, as well as candid sharing from our scholars, alumni, and guests, which included Ms. Angela Cheung, Mr. Jason Lai, Mr. Jonathan Mok, and Mr. William Wong. Our CEO, Ms. Ronna Chao, encouraged scholars to take advantage of this unique study abroad opportunity. “Step out of your comfort zone and do things that you’re not used to doing. You have to manage your time to do things that may not seem appealing at this moment, but when you look back, are very valuable,” she said.
Thank you to everyone who took part to make this gathering such a memorable one. Until next time!