Remark at the Opening Ceremony of ISUSW 2021

Hong-Jae Park
Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences
Western Sydney University

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity. It’s a really great pleasure to be able to see you all today. Here in Sydney, we are not allowed to leave home without essential reasons, so it’s wonderful to have a different, but very meaningful thing to do during the stay-at-home circumstances this afternoon.

Like all other speakers, I’d like to acknowledge Professor Gao Jianguo and Dr. Sun Yanyan, and congratulate them for all the work they have had to go through, …. and Dr. Sophie Tapparel, Professor Steven Ngai, Dr Joseph &Thampi, and all our student participants today.

As mentioned, the COVID-19 outbreak in Australia is growing more than two weeks now, and the tighter lockdown applies to everyone here in Sydney. We are ordered to stay home. Only leave your home if you have a reasonable excuse. If you do exercise, you must stay within 10 kms of home … You should not have any guests at home, and you should not go shopping more than once a day … Consequently, a lot of people are feeling tired and weary, and even overburdened and depressed … mental health has become a second pandemic within the COVID-9 pandemic right now ….

What have we learned and are learning from these lockdowns and the pandemic? Well, all health and social care experts emphasise the importance of being connected and stay connected … they also encourage people to reach out to others online, through social media, video chat, or by phone. This connectedness should be extended to, not only your family or local community members, but also international communities … why? Because the coronavirus has no discrimination across cultures and nations … Thus, this ISUSW conference today is the excellent example that demonstrates our resilience, solidarity and ability to overcome the challenges and problems created by COVID-19. This is an excellent opportunity for all of us to be connected with and reach out to each other!

Finally, I want to mention that Western Sydney University will continue to offer our full commitment and take responsibility to advance our well-connected ISUSW community particularly in these trying times of COVID-19 and beyond.

Thank you so much for having me!