Dear Members,
Our Annual Lecture was successfully conducted on the afternoon of September 22, when the weather condition finally stabilized after the passing of Typhoon Meranti and Maleka respectively just last week. It couldn’t have been a more appropriate occasion for our keynote speaker, Dr. Eugene Chien, to elaborate on the topic: “Go Green For a Sustainable World”, and discuss issues like the global climate crisis, a new era of energy efficiency and carbon reduction, as well as how to live a low-carbon lifestyle and so on with our members.
There were around eighty members and friends that participated, and since this was the first activity after the summer break, the hallway outside the Auditorium was filled with laughter and exuberant conversation; it’s clear our sisters really missed one another. We also took this opportunity to introduce few new members to our WTIC family, and a catering buffet service from the 5-star Hotel Royal-Nikko Taipei was arranged.
Our Club President Lily Chiu delivered her welcome remarks, greeting the new members and thanking our old members for their enthusiastic participation. In any club, having members’ support in joining activities is the cornerstone of success. Following that, the spouse of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Linda Lin Chi Lee, herself also a new member, came to the podium to introduce Dr. Eugene Chien to the audience. Dr. Eugene Chien received his B.S in mechanical engineering from Taiwan University and later his Ph. D. from NYU at the age of 27. Dr. Chien was presented with the “Outstanding Young Engineer of the Republic of China Award” and selected as one of the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the Republic of China Award” in the 1970s. In 1987 he became the first Minister of the Environmental Protection Administration, and later held several prominent positions in the government, such as the Minister of Transportation and Communications, Representative of the Taipei Representative Office in the UK, and Foreign Minister, etc. In 2007, Dr. Chien founded the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy (TAISE), raising public awareness on climate change.
Dr. Chien delivered an excellent PowerPoint Lecture for around an hour, with a Q & A in the end. President Lily Chiu presented a beautiful floral hollow-carving ceramic plate in appreciation to Dr. Chien, and also gave welcome gifts to the new members who attended the event, namely: Mrs. Linda Lin Chi Lee, Mrs. Mariia Poliankaia, spouse of the Representative of Russia, and Mrs. Christine Seilonen, spouse of the Representative of Finland Trading Office. The lecture was a big success, but our Executive Secretary Vivienne Shen gave us a word of caution: another typhoon is coming next week!!!
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