Alumni Stories | Benjamin Yue — Expanding International Perspectives and Seizing the Opportunities at USJ
Alumni Stories | Benjamin Yue — Expanding International Perspectives and Seizing the Opportunities at USJ
17
Jan
17/01/2024
Read about our latest story on Mr Benjamin Yue, Chief Advisor of the Executive Committee of Companhia de Electricidade de Macau S.A. (CEM) and an alumnus of the University of Saint Joseph.
Opportunity and Choice
In 2003, as an engineer at CEM (Companhia de Electricidade de Macau S.A.), Mr Benjamin Yue needed to learn various management skills in the course of his daily work. He was ready to choose between a number of preferred universities for his Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme, including considering studying in the Mainland and Hong Kong. After seeking the advice of several executives, they suggested the University of Saint Joseph (USJ), formerly known as the Institute Inter-Universitário de Macau (IIUM). One of the reasons for this recommendation was that, Macao being an international city, it would be useful to have a broader intellectual horizon, and since USJ students have a diverse background in languages and cultures, the international environment was also one of the factors taken into account in making the recommendation, so it was suggested that he should enrol at this institution.
In addition, in terms of the design of the curriculum, he felt that as an engineer who had grown up in Chinese culture, it was worthwhile for him to think about how to maintain an objective attitude or role in his work and how to have a comprehensive understanding of the issues when dealing with people from different cultural backgrounds. Meeting people from different countries on campus and learning from different experiences through exchanges and discussions in the classroom helps one to analyse problems objectively rather than looking at things from a single cultural perspective.
Learning and Career
Looking back on his time on campus, he remembers a class on international trade taught by a professor from the UK. The professor explained why it was important to study the subject from different perspectives, including the European context, and not just from the Chinese perspective, so that students could understand its importance. He thinks that the teaching perspective is relatively new. He is grateful that he made the right choice in enrolling at the IHEI in Macao at that time and that he has benefited a lot from it.
As for how he applies what he has learned to his career after graduation, he said that among his colleagues at work, there are people with engineering backgrounds, as well as people with different professional backgrounds, such as sociology, science, and so on. They have different ways of looking at things. Their views on issues are different from his own, and the teaching at USJ has helped him to better analyse different perspectives. This is because the internationalisation of business and society is an irreversible trend. Therefore, a multifaceted cultural perspective and the integration of different knowledge will be more beneficial to his leadership in the workplace.
Gratitude and Giving Back
For more than a decade, Mr Yue has been committed to supporting the development of USJ, including the scholarship programme. He is grateful for the knowledge and benefits he gained from his time at the University. As an alumnus, he is pleased to have made a small contribution to the University and will continue to support USJ’s and the Alumni Association.
Apart from supporting the Alumni Association, he also expressed his hope for the future of USJ, saying that every university has its own characteristics, and as a multicultural university, USJ, while playing to its own strengths, is also a model of harmony and tolerance among different countries. In particular, it has played a unique role in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, as well as in Europe. He hoped that future students would treasure the learning opportunities at the University of Saint Joseph and make full use of its international background and environment to lay a good foundation for their future development in society.
