News--Welcome to National Chiayi University

　　An unveiling ceremony for “Remembrance Pavilion,” donated by Yang Fu-Cheng, a 19th-year senior alumnus of National Chia-yi Institute of Agriculture, NCYIA, who is aware that fewer and fewer young students nowadays are concerned with the concept of “honoring the teacher and respecting his teaching,” took place on Teachers’ Day. The ceremony was organized on the Sinmin campus of National Chiayi University, where the classrooms used to be located. The Pavilion is dedicated to Matsuzaki Teiji, a Japanese teacher of NCYIA, who had shown great care to his students, and made enormous contributions to the school and society of Taiwan. By donating the pavilion, he hoped to commemorate the educator’s spirit, and call the public’s attention to the significance of respecting teachers.

　　Hosted by NCYU President Chiou Yi-Yuan, the unveiling ceremony kicked off on the Sinmin campus on Sep. 28th at 10:00 a.m. Satoru Matsuzaki, the third son of Teiji Matsuzaki specially brought along his family from Japan to attend the unveiling ceremony, which was also joined by NCYU Former President Lee Ming-Jen, NCYU National Alumni Association Vice President Huang Ying-Yuan, senior alumni of NCYIA, and presidents of NCYU student associations. Brimming with warm ambience, the grand event unfolded in the torrential rain brought by Typhoon Dujuan.

　　“Remembrance Pavilion” was set up with funds of NT$1.5 million donated by Yang. The landscape around the pavilion was designed by Wang Po-Ching, assistant professor of the Department of Landscape Architecture, who has been commissioned by NCYU and led his students to carry out the project during the summer vacation. The resulting work is “Eternal Remembrance Park,” which showcases a stone monument written with “Eternal Remembrance,” donated by Yang in 2008, and plants such as Pinus parviflora and Taiwan Cherry donated by Su Yi-Ji, president of the NCYU National Alumni Association, and Shi Zheng-Long, general consultant of the Natural Environment Protection Association.

　　The 94-year-old Yang said with gratitude that Mr. Matsuzaki, who had taught at NCYIA during the Japanese colonial period, had been offering financial and spiritual support to poor Taiwanese kids, including him. After leaving NCYIA, Mr. Matsuzaki remained caring and supportive of them, even helping them with job referrals when they had a hard time finding jobs after graduation, until 1986, when he died in Taiwan.

　　Yang mentioned that the two lines of towering king coconut trees easy to spot on the Sinmin campus were grown from the seeds provided by Mr. Matsuzaki, who sowed and cared for the seeds with them. Until now, many elder NCYIA alumni still frequent their alma mater from time to time to see the coconut trees, reminiscing of their youth and the good old times spent with their beloved teacher.

　　According to the university, Teiji Matsuzaki moved to Taiwan with his parents at only two years old, and had been teaching forestry at NCYIA since 1930, before leaving the school in 1938. Despite the trend of military education, he educated his students in a free and loving way, which, in spite of his tenure of merely eight years, had won him tremendous respect and created lasting fond memories for the students. The example he set as a successful educator is one that may well be emulated by all younger teachers. During the decades that followed his employment at NCYIA, many students paid visits to his home in Taipei. And it is no exaggeration to say that the golden days of his life had bee dedicated to the students and society of Taiwan.