Gaetan Siew , was elected President of the International Union of Architect during the UIA General Assembly which took place in Istanbul (Turkey), from 8 to 10 July 2005.
Mauritian architect Gaétan Siew, is the President of the International Union of Architect (UIA). Born in Mauritius in 1954, Gaétan Siew graduated from the Marseille School of Architecture in 1979. He is in private practice in Port Louis since 1981. His projects and realisations include tourist and commercial facilities, urban planning and redevelopment programmes in Mauritius, the Indian Ocean, France and India. Striking examples are his master plans for the international airport in Mauritius, for the Chinese neighbourhood in Port Louis and the terminal of the Seychelles international airport. Elected President of the Association of Mauritian Architects in 1985, he played an active part in the island's urban development and environment and heritage protection programmes. He is a member of the Economic and Social Council of Mauritius and member of the Government of Mauritius's Technical Committee on Engineering and Architectural Services at the WTO. On the international scene, he was member of the UIA Council from 1993 to 2002, and was elected first Vice-President of the Union, during the General Assembly in Berlin, in 2002. From 1998 to 2005 he was Secretary General of the African Union of Architects (AUA). Gaétan Siew has served as juror for several international architecture competitions. He has been a frequent speaker at international conferences worldwide.
(source:http://www.uia2008torino.org)
he International Union of Architects(UIA) was founded in Lausanne (Switzerland) on 28th June 1948, to unite the architects of the world without regard to nationality, race, religion, or architectural doctrine, and to federate their national organisations.
From the 27 delegations present at the founding assembly, the UIA has grown to encompass the key professional organisations of architects in 124 countries and territories, and now represents, through these organisations, more than 1,300,000 architects worldwide.
Over time, the UIA has become an accomplished non-governmental organisation, an incomparable professional network of architects that reaches all continents.
(Source: photo and articles from UIA official website, http://www.uia-architectes.org)
He is the Xiao family from Mauritius(毛里求斯), which is an island nation, off the coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 900 km from Madagascar. It is rare to hear news of Xiao family from the country. Wonder which part of China, did his ancestor come from, and how to write his name in Chinese? But from the name Gaetan Siew, he seems to be a Chinese, with the surname of Siew( Xiao). If he is a sino-mauritians or Mauritian Chinese, which form about 3% of the local population, his ancestor most probably is Hakka Xiao from Meixian, Kwangdong Province, China.
Extract from 在毛里求斯领略浓郁的客家风情http://tripdv.ce.cn.
在毛里求斯的四万多华人中，祖籍梅县的客家人占三分之二以上，其次是讲粤语的顺德和南海人。
毛里求斯首都路易港(Port Louis)有一条全是华人开的 商店与餐馆的街道，这就是著名的唐人街，又称为“非洲最大的华埠”。不少客家人住在这里。漫步唐人街，可以听到纯正的客家话，吃到地道的客家菜，客家话通 行无阻。假如你是客家人，用家乡话同华人聊天，他们一定会分外热情地接待你。异乡听乡音，使人感到格外亲切，仿佛置身于梅州的客家社会。
梅 县人于19世纪中叶开始大批移居毛里求斯，他们虽远离祖籍国，但重视亲情乡情，1874年在路易港西区参与创建了关帝庙神场，后改名为仁和旅馆、仁和公 司，1904年10月以仁和会馆名义正式向政府注册，此名沿用至今，它是毛国历史悠久的华人社团之一。会馆内挂有一些反映客家文化特点的对联，如“仁厚本 梅风，中外同凤占风起；和风敷异域，奂轮继美庆新居”；“仁义达乎华夷，以和为贵；嘉谋扬于中外，相应同声”，等等。1999年该会成立125周年之际， 毛国总统卡萨姆亲自为该会题词指出：“……我很了解仁和会馆的主要宗旨，即为了弘扬中华文化，开办中文报刊、中文学校，团结华人华裔，敬老助贫和促进毛中 友谊等等。”充分肯定了客家人对毛国所作的卓越贡献。仁和会馆还在关帝庙旁兴建了一座华人纪念碑，1992年4月揭幕时，总统亲临剪彩。1963年成立的 客属会馆也是客家人团体。著名的华侨领袖、梅县人邓军凯曾当选中国人大代表，曾任该国政府部长和多届路易港市长的陈国华、原华侨商会会长朱梅粦以及著名肿 瘤专家吴桓兴等都是祖籍梅县的客家人。
新华学校(1912年创办)、《中华日报》(1932年由《华民时报》改组而成)、《华侨 时报》(1953年由《华侨商报》与《中国时报》合并而成)和《镜报》(1975年创办)等也是客家人开办的。这两间报馆设备比较简陋，当时还用铅字排版，条件艰苦。但是他们靠着执著的弘扬中华文化的精神坚持办 报，令人肃然起敬。
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