To celebrate Halloween 2021 in the new normal fashion during the COVID19 pandemic, Walailak Center for International Affairs (CIA) hosted, in the afternoon of Thursday 28^th, 2021, the special online Halloween event, entitled “Sustainable Development Ghosts: Partnerships for the Goals,” which allowed Walailak international and Thai students to meet with hundreds of international peers from other partner overseas higher education institutes, including Tadulako University (UNTAD) and Universitas Negeri Semarang (UNNES), Indonesia. In total, during this 2021 Halloween event, there were 132 participants, jovially dressed up in Halloween costumes.

In this event, Asst. Prof. Dr. Patnarin Supakorn, Acting Director of Center for International Affairs, delivered a welcoming speech in which, besides an interesting historical background of Halloween, she, touching on the main theme of the 2021 Halloween event, also raised one of the United Nation’s significant global issues on SDG17 Partnerships for the Goals which hold significant the international collaborated acts to sustain today’s environment, society and economy for the next generations.

The event included a possibility of an individual’s trick or treat for CIA’s special Halloween sweets at WU Center of International Affairs (A limited number of visitors and the mask warning rule were mandated for the onsite visit.), online trick-or-treat quizzes and an online speech contest. Gifts were also prepared to be sent to homes of winning participants in the quizzes and in the speech contest on the young generation’s ideas regarding how significant “Partnerships for the Goals” is to the sustainable development.

CIA would like to extend our special appreciation to our invited speech judges from Tadulako University Ms. Magfirah., M.Ed (a lecturer in English Education Study Program, Teacher Training and Education Faculty) and Dr. Shubham Patak our international lecturer. 12 contestants joined the contest and all of them made great speeches on Partnerships for the Goals. CIA congratulated Mr. Nutchanon Imduang, School of Medicine, the speech winner, Miss Artira Maoti, School of Architecture and Design, the runner-up, Miss Inthiphon Bunyuen, School of Nursing and Miss Delta Shelvi Tannia, School of Allied Health Sciences, the third-place winners.

CIA’s 2021 Halloween “Sustainable Development Ghosts: Partnerships for the Goals” was a special cultural occasion that combined the fun of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day with an awareness-raising activities on one of the significant global agenda on the essence of international collaboration to create the inclusive world where no one is left behind environmentally, socially and economically.