Chan Soo Sen
Singapore
“In this way, we could generate, nurture and grow the sparks of creativity. But all these ideas will still need to have things like incubators and the various start-up support schemes in order to make them into reality. All these would need funding support.”
“The fact that children give parents some money to have a good time in casino shows how complacent we can be. Mr Chairman, I want to propose that we must be more aggressive in publicising the ills of gambling. Let us take the example of smoking. Real pictures of health hazards are shown on the boxes to deter people.”
“Thank you, Madam. I just want to say that the Minister did not quite answer my question about having a special Chinese language programme or, if necessary, set up a special Chinese language centre for those who are gifted in Chinese. Perhaps I did not make myself quite clear.”
“Hence, I propose that the Ministry of Education consider implementing a Special Chinese Elite programme. If necessary, establish a Special Chinese Language Centre and peg the standard to the highest level.”
“As the public sector is a major employer in Singapore, may I ask whether the public sector as an employer is willing to recognise the medical certificates issued by TCM practitioners and allow medical benefit claims for TCM treatment? If not now, then how about some time in the future when professional standards of TCM further improve?”
“I hope that in the next few years, more emphasis will be given to the care and support for the caregivers – how to offer them emotional support, how to give them counselling support, how to organise programmes to give them some relief from the daily chore of giving care so that at least they may have, say, two or three hours a day t…”
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“Mr Chairman, Sir, I certainly agree with Mr Gan Kim Yong that teachers are the cornerstone and the guarantee that our educational programmes would be implemented well in school. They play key roles in all our educational programmes. In my earlier response to questions on Chinese education, for example, you see how I had emphasised the important roles of the teachers. Yes, it is important to ensure that good people continue to join the Education Service and it is also important to ensure that the working conditions of the teachers who are in the service are well taken care of. We want them to have more time and energy to reflect on what they do, innovate, and try new methods. I am very pleased to report that over the last few years, we have been able to grow the ranks of our Education Service. We have been able to increase the number of teaching staff from 23,000 teachers in 2000 to 27,000 in 2004. It is a 17% increase and, we have achieved this without compromising on quality. In fact, if anything, the quality has gone up. In 2000, only 48% of the teachers recruited were graduates. In 2004, it was 74%. We continue to be rigorous in our selection and training of teachers. In fact, we have introduced a lot of other programmes to ensure that they keep up with the changes in times so that they could continue to teach and guide the students. Non-graduate teachers could take up degree programmes, for example, either full-time or part-time. We also have the Professional Development Leave Scheme (PDL) to allow graduate teachers to pursue post-graduate qualifications. There is also the Teacher Work Attachment (TWA) Programme to allow teachers to spend some time with industry and the private sector to know what is it like outside.”
“There are yet many schools with a lot of creative ideas, albeit not reported in the media. It does not mean that they are not doing it.”
“We will consider these three suggestions. Another one is on the examination framework. How do we make use of the time and space vacated from the relaxation of the curriculum? The Ministry will not micro-manage and tell the teachers how to make use of the extra time. Different schools, different students have different needs and different demands. The teachers know this better than the Ministry. Some schools may want to use more time to teach the prescribed texts, while some students may want to use the spare time to read newspapers and write reports. Mr Yeo mentioned that some teachers use the time to revise the Secondary 2 and 3 lessons. All these arrangements will depend on the needs of the students. Talking about relaxation of control, a person who has been tied up for a long period of time will probably be unable to walk properly when he is suddenly freed. But, after some warming up, he will be able to adjust himself and find his proper steps. So, not being able to walk properly initially does not mean that he cannot get back to walking properly in the future. After some warming up, he will walk well, and enjoy the freedom of movement. Members would have read the newspaper reports on how some of our teachers used creative ideas to encourage students to participate more actively in the learning process. Such spirit of innovation and creativity are what we want to encourage. So let us give them more space and time so that our teachers can bring out their creative talent for the good of our students. I am confident about our CL teachers. Those newspaper reports are examples that come to the ears of the newspapers. It is not exhaustive. There are many more such examples of creative teaching.”
“If Mr Ang is talking about schools offering Higher Chinese, I do not have a list of schools with me. I can let him have the list later. Talking about the Chinese elite class in primary schools, there is only one in Tao Nan School.”
“So, it is three years and three months. We had a lot of preparatory work to do, such as introducing teaching methods, developing teaching materials, developing the supplementary reading materials and training the teachers. These are important foundation work which we must ensure are properly done. So we need time. So give us some time. We understand the Member's keenness in wanting to start implementing the recommendations of the White Paper. The Ministry is also keen to do so. We do not want to be accused of having all talks and no action. But to rush without having properly done the vital preparatory work would have been irresponsible and unprofessional. Next is the question on the CL curriculum framework of pre-school education. If we do not have one, and since the Member is the Chairman of the Pre-School sub-committee, then he can take the opportunity to work out the framework. In his committee, there are principals of kindergartens and inspectors of school. If his sub-committee can fix the framework, it will be helpful for others. Third, on examinations. It is also within the scope of work that we have to do in the three-and-a-half years. We understand that examination formats determine what our teachers teach, and what our students learn. What to examine and what to learn - this is the crux of the matter that we are discussing. We have three years and three months. We will be gradually doing all the things that we have decided upon. We will discuss and consult the teachers and then make the necessary announcement.”
“This particular programme will continue, and we are confident that when people begin to understand that to be proficient in an additional language is like holding an additional passport, more would study Malay language, as in the Malay Special programme. We also have schools who, on their own initiative, have initiated some conversational Malay programmes for their pupils. We, in the Ministry of Education, support these initiatives on the part of the schools. As far as the civil service is concerned, the Civil Service College still offers basic conversational Malay course. Civil servants who need to study Malay can enrol in this course. Of course, there are also public officers whose jobs require them to be more proficient in the Malay language, such as some SAF or Ministry of Foreign Affairs officers. The Ministries have their own programmes for them to learn the Malay language. In other words, all the channels available for those who want to study Malay are already there. Finally, I need to respond to Mr Ang Mong Seng's point about the elite Chinese programme. (In Mandarin): This is a new initiative by Tao Nan School. We do not know how our students and parents would take to the programme. If the students spend more time learning Chinese, then they will have less time for English. The result could be that their standard of Chinese would be raised, probably at the expense of their standard of English being lowered. So let us see how it goes. More importantly, it depends on the parents. If the response is good, the Hokkien Huay Kuan has already said that they intend to extend the project to other Hokkien Huay Kuan schools. If other schools find this project a good idea, they may also conduct similar programmes. MOE is prepared to let them try these out.”
“The status of Chinese is so obvious that our students would want to learn Chinese, and the parents would encourage the students to learn Chinese, and to learn it well. (In English): Since I am unable to reply in Malay, perhaps I will respond to Mr Chiam's question about Bahasa Melayu in English. I did study Malay during those early days. After I joined the civil service, I also went to a Malay class. We agree with Mr Chiam that Malay language is important. It is an important regional language. But this has got to be seen in context. All the examples cited by Mr Chiam were during pre-independent days. The setting at that time was very different. Since then, English has become a working language and our bilingual policy requires all students to study English as well as their mother tongues. When we debated the White Paper on Chinese Education, the point that it is very difficult for students to master two languages is already established. In fact, the number of students who can master two languages effectively is very small. If, in addition to English and mother tongue, all students are made to study Malay, I fear the pressure on students, teachers and parents may become unbearable. But having said that, allowing students who are already doing well in English and mother tongue to study Malay as an elective subject is already available since the mid-80s. There is a Malay Special programme where students, who are within the top 30% and do very well in mother tongue as well as English, can opt for this special programme at Secondary 1, leading to an examination and qualification at 'O' level. The equivalent standard is Standard 2, which is slightly higher than Standard 1. There are about 300 students who are doing this subject.”
“They are the best people to know what the needs of the students are. They want to do their job well. They are all professionals. Therefore, if we give them more space and time, they will be able to use their ingenious ways to teach the students with materials which are more relevant to their daily lives, and it will enhance the students' interest in learning. Such teaching methods would be more effective. Mr Ang Mong Seng mentioned Higher Chinese. He expressed regret that the Chinese results were not taken into consideration for university admission. We had actually discussed this before. For university enrolment, it would have to be assessed on whether or not the student has the aptitude to take the course that he wants to pursue. Perhaps the university can stipulate that if students want to apply for admission to the Chinese Language Department, priority will be given to those who have scored well in Higher Chinese. But if their Chinese is very good and we give them four merit points to get into any faculty whose subjects of study have nothing to do with CL, then I think this will affect the enrolment in the university, and it will be regressive. In fact, the status of Chinese today is such that we need not go through entry requirement to attract students to learn Chinese. All parents know that Chinese Language is very important. When we are conducting the bi-cultural course, we did not expect some 800 students to apply for the 200 places. In the end, the schools tried their best to accommodate and accepted 300 students. So we can see that the students really know the importance of learning Chinese. We do not need entry requirement to induce the students to learn Chinese.”
“First, as Dr Ong Seh Hong has said, when we assess the standard of Chinese of our students, we should not just test whether they can memorise Zheng Qi Ke or Haixia Ke. It should not be based on how many words, phrases or idioms that you can memorise. The important thing is whether or not you have that confidence to use the Chinese language and spoken Mandarin, such as to converse, to read newspapers, and to write reports or file some applications to the relevant authorities. The teaching and learning of Chinese language must be down-to-earth. It must be relevant to our daily lives. I remember during my younger days when we were learning Chinese, it was a different story. We had 92 pieces of selected work to learn and these included Zheng Qi Ke and Xiang Yu Ben Ji where Haixia Ke came from. Our teacher told us to memorise these 92 chapters and the whole examination will be based on them. Today, our examination is not like that. It does not matter what chapters or what passages you have read. You will be examined on how you apply your knowledge of the language. When we cut down on the number of prescribed texts, so long as your practical application of the language is not affected, you will still be able to sit for the examination and get good results. There is therefore no question of cutting down on some prescribed texts, and CL standard is lowered. The curriculum is to define your study direction and objective. This objective need not be attained by studying the prescribed text. For example, if you read Jin Yong's kung fu novels, and if you can attain the expected outcome of teaching, it is a good thing. The important thing is that we want to give the teachers more free time so that they can put their creativity and ingenuity into action. They are in the frontline.”
“After that, 多读多写 - follow with reading and writing, and finally we hope that our students would 学习愉快, enjoy learning the Chinese language. With this maxim of 16 characters, I could sum up our strategy, that is, we want to listen more, speak more, effectively learning and be happy in our learning. In the not too distant future, and after our discussion with our teachers, we will announce the details. We have also formed a Committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning (CPCLL) to rally the strengths of the community so that we would be able to implement and realise all the solutions that were proposed in the White Paper. This Steering Committee comprises people from various quarters who are concerned with the Chinese language and, in fact, a number of our MPs are also members of the Committee. We have decided in our first meeting that we had done enough talking and it was time for us to get down to action. So we have started five taskforces. One taskforce is for reading and reading materials; the second is to promote writing of Chinese; the third concerns the media; the fourth is to promote cultural exchange, and the fifth is on pre-school Chinese Education. Mr Yeo Guat Kwang heads the taskforce for Chinese in pre-school education. Just now, he talked about the solution for this aspect. I think he could include the excellent suggestions he gave just now for the work of his taskforce. When you want to communicate with the players in this field, do remember what you said in Parliament today. Dr Ong Seh Hong and Mr Yeo Guat Kwang expressed concern over the teaching of Chinese language. They asked about the reduction of the text and some modules in the Chinese language. I think from this incident, there are a few things that we can learn.”
“For example, they let the students learn, first of all, the radicals and the basic strokes. And, at the same time, for example, the characters 人 ren (man), 从 cong (follow) and 众 zhong (public) all consist of the basic character 人, except that it appears once, twice and thrice respectively. Likewise, the characters 木 mu (wood), 林 lin (woods) and 森 seng (forest）. As a matter of fact, more often than not, the Chinese characters are formed by combining the radical and the basic strokes in fairly logical patterns. They also line up characters which look alike but are totally different in meaning. For example, 清 (clear)，情 (feeling) and 请 (invite). The right hand side is the same but they follow different radicals, hence giving different meanings. For us, who already know Chinese, this may not appear intriguing. But, during our school days, there was no such systematic learning, and we just have to swallow them hook, line and sinker, learn them all by heart first and discover the logic later. Then, there was memorisation and dictation to test how well we remembered them. All these are hard work. If we insist on all these in today's context, we risk losing a lot of interest in the learning of the Chinese language. If we were taught more systematically, perhaps my Chinese would have been better now. As Mr Yeo Guat Kwang has said, it was important for us to communicate with our teachers. I agree, and we are still in the process of doing so. Since we have not reached out to all teachers yet, I thought I just be general today in replying to Mr Yeo by giving him a maxim in 16 Chinese characters. First, we 多�?�多讲, develop proficiency in oral and aural skills first by listening more and speaking more. Secondly, we go for 有效认字, that is, recognise the characters effectively.”
“Mr Chairman, Sir, I shall speak first in Mandarin. (In Mandarin): Mr Chairman, Sir, I would like to thank Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, Mr Ang Mong Seng and Dr Ong Seh Hong for their support for the Chinese language pedagogy reform and the many good suggestions they have made. For many of the issues raised, we have already deliberated very extensively during the debate on the White Paper. So I do not intend to go through them all over again. I would just like to report on what we have done after the adoption of the White Paper. Although this reform would be fully implemented only in the year 2008, that is, four years from now, we have been following up intensively since the debate. Soon after the debate on the reform to the Chinese language pedagogy, we sent a MOE delegation of experts to Hong Kong and China to learn the teaching of Chinese language there. We discovered that from 1999, the concept of "recognise first and write later" has already been a main stream teaching strategy for CL in China and Hong Kong. We were surprised that in such traditional Chinese-speaking society where Chinese was read and written by everyone, they still consider it necessary to adopt this strategy in the teaching of Chinese to the young. I met some of the officials in China and they told me that it was very difficult for the children to learn Chinese using the ancient method. So, now, the new method of "recognising first and writing later" was to ensure that the students would be able to read at a younger age. The younger they start to learn, the younger they would be able to read the Chinese classics and story books. This is exactly the same argument we had when we debated the White Paper. There are also other points we could learn from PRC's approach in teaching CL.”
“Toask the Minister for Trade and Industry, in view of our fast expanding business network into the global economy, (a) how is his Ministry working out with the Ministry of Education in preparing our younger generation for a global career; and (b) how can his Ministry assist more local businessmen and entrepreneurs to get ahead in the global competition, especially in the areas of soft skills.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir,the number of applicants for the Bicultural Studies Programme [BSP(C)], "C" for "Chinese",has been encouraging, with 818 students applying for the programme. Thethree schools, Dunman High, Nanyang Girls High and Hwa Chong Institution eventually selected 305 students. Only 4% of those selected were foreign students. The intake for the BSP(C) exceeded the initial estimate of 200 when weplanned and announced the programme last year. MOE and the schools decided to expand the intake to just over 300 in view of the demand from qualified and interested students. The purpose of the BSP(C) is to nurture a core group of Singaporean students, and I underline the words "Singapore students",who are able to understand and engage China as well as the West with confidence. They will over time help reinforce our already strong links with China. To ensure the BSP(C) meets its objectives, however, it is important that the programme is not restricted to only Singaporean students alone. The inclusion of some foreign students, for example,those from the People's Republic of China, would enrich the programme. This would benefit the Singaporean students on the programme. It would not only enliven the formal learning that takes place under the programme, but also foster close interactions and bonds between the students. These bonds, that are formed in school, would add to the natural web of relationships between our two countries over time. YOUNGER GENERATION (Preparation for global career) The following Question stood in the name of Mdm Ho Geok Choo - 7.”
“As I have mentioned just now, no local students are denied an opportunity to enter into our universities for financial reasons alone. If they are able to gain enrolment into our universities, and they have financial problems, there are a lot of financial schemesto help them. If the Member knows of anybody, who is denied the opportunity to go to the university because of financial reasons, do bring it to my attention. I will take a personal interest in those cases and we intend to remain so, because we know that university education is veryimportant in ensuring that our investment in manpower continues to be high, and manpower being our only resources, we would have to ensure that the quality remains good. BICULTURAL STUDIES PROGRAMME 6. Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim asked the Minister for Education (a) whether there is a quota in the annual intake of local Singaporean students for the Bicultural Studies Programme; and (b) how will his Ministry ensure that a minimum number of local Singaporean students are admitted into the Programme each year.”
“As I have said, allowing forparents to use CPF for their children's local education is not the subject of this particular question. When the need arises, we would review it and I am sure the Member would be duly consulted. Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim: With the fee hike andthe effort oftrying to make Singapore into an educational hub and our local universities intoworld class universities, would that not commercialise our universities and make them exclusive, in the sense that they are excluding local students from the universities in their effort of trying to become world class? I feel that our universities have a national duty to educate. So would the Ministry consider reducingthe subsidy to the foreign students, not in one shot, but in steps, and subsequently, reducing the subsidy to the foreign students altogether and use this saving to subsidise our local students?”
“We believe that our local students are adequately subsidised and for those, as I have said, who are in need, there are study loans, bursaries and schemes like that where they could apply. So we believe that no students who have the merit are denied university education for financial reasons alone. In the light of this, we do not consider it necessary to increase the amount of subsidy to even the local students because there are already other packages to help them if they have financial problems. As to substantially increasing the fees for overseas students, I thought the hon. Member, Mr Zainudin, is worried about losing the competitive edge. Because the university would benefit from the presence of students from other places,to have a certain proportion of foreign students to be with us is beneficial to our university's quality of education. Mr Zainudin Nordin: Just a follow up to thequestion, Sir. If we were to consider allowingparents to use their CPF for foreign university that is located locally, would that not also result in our local university losing their competitive edge?”
“We would review this particular policy when it comes. Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim (Nominated Member): With the increase in the university fees,the foreign students only pay 10% more fees compared to our local students in the universities. From what I understand, foreign students at many overseas universities pay full fees. Would the Ministry consider letting the foreign students pay a higher fee so as to subsidise the local students more?”
“However, I do feel that this is a very important landmark in our Chinese curriculum and Chinese pedagogy. As we look at this new century, Chinese will have a lot of opportunities for us economically. So we have, first of all, to use the language according to our abilities; secondly, dare to be innovative, be brave to make self-criticism; thirdly, create more space for the use of Chinese; fourthly, raise the professionalism and boost the morale of our Chinese teachers; fifthly, let the use of Chinese touch the emotional and spiritual levels; sixthly, put in concerted and well-coordinated efforts among all the stakeholders; seventhly, be optimistic about the future of Chinese; and, eighthly, respect the feelings of the other communities. I hope that these "8 Dos" would help us succeed in the implementation of all the recommendations of this White Paper. VISIT OF DEPUTY SPEAKER, DR IBOLYA DAVID, OF THE HUNGARIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY (Presence in Gallery)”
“You can pick Chinese 'B' if you find the going too tough, or if you have the will and the ability, you can also choose to take Higher Chinese. From statistics, in fact, more than 300 additional students opted for Higher Chinese and only about 100 opted for Chinese 'B' when we relaxed the conditions for these options. So we relax both sides. More than double the students opted for Higher Chinese and not Chinese 'B'. Why? It is very obvious. Being good in Chinese and Mandarin can bring a lot of new opportunities. So, I am not at all pessimistic about opening up of the Chinese 'B' curriculum, but am most optimistic about the opening up of Higher Chinese and bicultural programmes. The eighth point. We must respect the feelings of other communities. When the Government puts so much emphasis on the problem of the Chinese Language, we have actually made some fellow countrymen in other communities feel worried. In fact, there was one email to the MOE asking, "Is Singapore going to be handed over to China? Or are they taking over us?" If I am a Singaporean from a non-Chinese community, I could have a perception that the Chinese population is already in the majority. Now suddenly the top Government leaders have put so much emphasis on Chinese. What is going to happen to me? Will multi-racialism change? So we must not forget that Singapore is a multi-racial, multi-religious society. One of the foundations of our success is our religious harmony. We must not hurt the feelings of our other communities just because we want to promote the learning of Chinese. The effect of this reform is very far-reaching. I would not say that it is more important than the New Literary Movement Dr Hu Shi has participated in.”
“Chinese can be used on the Internet. Even the westerners are eager to learn Chinese. I think, apart from English, Chinese is the second most popularly used language on the Internet. Why is it that people are still saying that this effort of the Government is redundant and of no use, and in the end it would die a natural death? I do not understand. What kind of logic is this? The opportunity for Chinese is here. It is flourishing. The problem is whether or not we have the confidence to capture it and to benefit from it. The purpose of this reform is to encourage our students to seize the opportunity that Chinese can give to us. I hope that all these pessimistic friends can change their mentality. If they can be more forward-looking, they will see that the prospect of Chinese in Singapore is bright and promising. In fact, we must understand that if we want people to respect us, we must, first of all, respect ourselves. If we want society to pay more attention to Chinese, we as members of the Chinese community must, first of all, pay more attention to Chinese. If we are so pessimistic about the future of Chinese, how can society be optimistic towards Chinese? Even the people outside Singapore are seizing the opportunity that Chinese can bring to them. If we are so pessimistic, we would lose the opportunity to them. It is said that if you are entrepreneurial, you see opportunities in every problem. But there are still people who keep on seeing problems in this great opportunity. Let us change this mentality, and let us see opportunities in problems. We will then face the problems in a much more positive manner. What we should do is to let the Chinese curriculum be more flexible. We are not only trying to relax the conditions for our students.”
“As the use of Chinese can help to share, ease, and solve problems, the readers will have more interest in learning Chinese. Sixthly, we must have concerted efforts. We do have some efforts among the Chinese community to encourage people to use Chinese and Mandarin. Unfortunately, it is at present quite fragmented. We have many small groups, some do this, some do that. Everybody does something, but all on a small-scale and piecemeal basis. Every organisation has its own target audience and network. Why do we not put them all together and work with a concerted effort? Let us have a few big ones! Do not unnecessarily duplicate the efforts. We can have a festival where some could hold recitals, musical concerts, poem recitation, dances, and what have you. Let a hundred flowers bloom! Seventhly, we must have confidence in the prospect of Chinese. Yesterday, Mr Ong Ah Heng said that many Chinese teachers still felt that they were "second-class" teachers, they did not get the respect they deserved, and when they pressurised their students for their homework, they were afraid that the parents would email to the Ministry and complain against them. I can give them the assurance. MOE will back teachers, so long as what they are doing is professionally correct. But it worries us when we read in the newspapers that some people are saying that Chinese is the language of the unsuccessful, Chinese has no value, and this is a low tide. I am very surprised! In fact, it pains me to see that people are still having this sort of lamentations. In fact, the opportunities open to Chinese and Mandarin now are unprecedented. During the Tang dynasty and Song dynasty, perhaps only 5% of the Chinese people would be literate. But now, Chinese is generally known by the people.”
“The JC and secondary school students write their own songs, compose their own music and present their own works on stage. These have been very successful, and quality of work has been high. I have attended three or four of such competitions. Originally, they held it once every two years. I encouraged them to do it every year, and they are now doing it annually. This is a good example. Singing is a kind of perceptual and intelligent activity. Yesterday, we talked about this "Popcorn Column" in Lianhe Zaobao, a page devoted to young people. Our young people are particularly interested in pop music. In fact, their compositions are quite good. Honestly speaking, if we want to promote the pop music industry in Singapore, I think the market prospect for Chinese pop songs is much better than for English pop songs. We can also revamp the traditional essay-writing contests. Can we make it touch emotion and spirit more? What if we allow the writers to choose their own topics and titles, to be more liberal in writing about the admiration for the opposite sex, about dissatisfaction with their teachers, and frustration with their parents. If they can write it in Chinese or can speak in Mandarin to express their inner feelings, naturally they will have good feelings about Chinese Language. They will have strong interests in the use of Chinese and Mandarin. We suggest that our Chinese newspapers can have a special page for the young people to write about their pains, their worries and their troubles in growing up. We can have a good counsellor to answer their questions. Other readers will share in such experiences they could empathise with. All will be engaged in emotional and spiritual levels using Chinese. It is like using others' experience as one's mirror.”
“The idea is Singaporean schools could send our pupils to their families so that they could have a feel of the way the Chinese live. I think this suggestion warrants serious consideration. Fourthly, we want to raise the professionalism of the teachers and to boost their morale. This is crucial. We agree with Dr Ong Seh Hong that the Ministry of Education should review the promotion prospects of the Chinese teachers so that the good Chinese teachers would have more chances of promotion. And if the teachers of the other subjects can teach Chinese, they should also be given the opportunity to teach Chinese. Then we would have more people teaching Chinese. We would also like to give prizes like the Lianhe Zaobao's award for outstanding Chinese teachers. I think all these endeavours would help to boost the morale or our Chinese teachers. We also hope that the Chinese community would also provide similar awards to give the Chinese teachers a shot in the arm. Maybe the Chinese teachers could collect some of their writings and publish them for the benefit of their students, and the general public. Maybe the Chinese community could support this. CPCLL would work with our partners to generate more ideas. Fifthly, we want the use of Chinese to touch the emotional and spiritual levels of our users. So we should organise activities that allow participants to feel emotionally and spiritually involved. In Singapore, we are too rational, and we take pride in being so. The result of being too rational is that we have no fun. If we can have more activities in Chinese that are rich in the X-factors, then we can attract more young people to participate. In fact, we do have some. For example, every year, St. Andrew's Junior College holds a "Chinese Songs Composing Contest".”
“No matter how the Government supports the use of Chinese, we must always take into consideration the feelings of our Malay and Tamil compatriots. No matter what happens, the Government must not go overboard at the expense of the other communities. But for the Chinese community organisations to promote Chinese, it is natural. So long as the promotions are done in ways that would not hurt the feelings of the other communities, the Chinese community could do a lot for themselves. We welcome the Chinese community's recent suggestion of setting up a special fund to create more space for the use of Chinese. CPCLL will liaise with the Special Fund Committee to see how we could complement each other to make the best out of it. In fact, we can create more spaces for the use of Chinese outside the school environment. For example, at the clan associations, we can have reading clubs to encourage people to read. We could encourage young people to organise toastmasters clubs, encouraging them to have public speaking or debates and we could tie up with the school activities to enhance the environment for reading. If the Chinese community wants to pioneer innovative methods of promoting the use of Chinese, MOE would be very grateful if the Chinese community organisations could share their success with us, and we can learn from them. Many Members had mentioned that the not-so-well-to-do families could not afford to send their children to China for their immersion classes. As Dr Chong Weng Chiew had mentioned, during our visit to a Chinese community organisation, they suggested that we should have this immersion programme in Singapore. We have many families who come from China.”
“I remember when I was in Primary 1, on the first day, two Chinese characters were written on the blackboard: kai xue (school opens), and we were told to copy these two characters 79 times each. In those days, kai xue were in the old traditional characters, not the simplified characters. There were many strokes in each character. It took me past midnight on the first day of P1 before I could finish writing them. The next day, we were told to write kai xue le (school opens already). The character ler is much easier to write. So I could sleep at 10 o'clock that night. But are we telling our children to do this nowadays? No. If we insist, we may be able to force them for a short while. But then they would have lost their interest. They would not know why they have to write all these. So we have to convince them. Otherwise, we would not be able to enhance their interest in learning the language. Thirdly, we must create an environment or space that is conducive to the use of Chinese. I would say that this is one of the key tasks of the CPCLL committee that I will be leading. To create more space for the use of Chinese, I think we cannot just depend on the Ministry of Education or the Government. We have to join hands with the other committees. Yesterday, Dr Amy Khor and Dr Ong Seh Hong asked whether or not we should use Chinese characters for sub-titling on our TV programmes. We have to work with the media. We want to look at this suggestion very seriously. On this point on the space for the use of Mandarin, we heard what Dr Gan See Khem said about what the Chinese community organisations, such as the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations, had contributed. This is very meaningful work.”
“But why is it that we have to say we must learn to read first and then write later? Because we want to sustain their interest in CL. We want them to read a lot of story books. And the biggest advantage of Chinese is that it has 5,000 years of civilisation. Hence there are 5,000 years of stories. And with these 5,000 years of stories, we could pick up many, many good ones. We want our children to start reading these books as early as possible. However, because they have to write all the words that they learn, we could only teach them about 300 characters each year. These students can only manage to read a story book by Primary 4 or Primary 5. We hope that by deferring the writing process, perhaps, every year, they can recognise 500-600 characters. Then, hopefully, by Primary 2, they could start reading story books in Chinese. Then they have two more years during their childhood to enjoy the story books. As we know, children pick up languages fastest when young, this would be two more critical years to cultivate their interest in the language. We are not saying that we learn to recognise first, but do not write. We are saying that we recognise first, and write later. In the beginning, of course, we want them to learn to write the strokes or maybe the radicals of the Chinese characters, although the Chinese characters are full of variations, they were formed by certain radicals together with some standard strokes. So if we know some typical radicals, we can combine with the words and then the order of the strokes will not be mistaken. The important thing is that you must have a strong foundation in the Chinese Language early and later on, writing will not be a problem.”
“If we do not adapt to the situation of today and, like Mr Seng Han Thong said, we can change to a new environment conducive to their learning of Chinese, just as Mencius' mother did when she moved her home three times to find a good learning environment for her son who later became a sage. Secondly, we must dare to be innovative and be brave to make self-criticism. Our situation is unique. In other countries, mother tongue is what the mothers speak. In Japan, the mother tongue is Japanese. In China, it is Chinese. But in Singapore, the mother tongue of a Singaporean Chinese is not necessarily Mandarin. We all know that some 50% of our students come from English-speaking families. So from birth, what they hear is English. Under such circumstances, they have difficulty mastering their mother tongue language. No other country has faced such a problem. So we have to use new methods, maybe paths that have not been taken by others. We have to try. We must dare to be innovative. We all know that there are risks involved. As Assoc. Prof. Low Seow Chay has asked, do we stop doing just because there is risk? But we must also be brave enough to make amendments. If we make a mistake, we correct it and we must not be afraid of comments by the Opposition parties. Now, we want to change the Chinese curriculum and the pedagogy. We do not say that we want to change it overnight. We do not want to be reckless, but then we must be courageous when there is a need to change. As many Members have said, there are risks involved. We cannot just copy blindly from China. We are very clear that the language environment of our children is different from that in China. In Singapore, when our children go outside, they do not see so many Chinese characters as the children see in China.”
“But today, if we say you have to learn Chinese the old way, you can say, "I will take English instead." If we say our bilingual policy is such that if you do not pass your Chinese, you cannot go to the university, many may migrate to the West, and we will lose some good talents. This is the reality. We have to face it. I do not deny that in learning a language, we have to put in a lot of effort. But we must let our children realise why is it that they have to put in these efforts. If they are convinced, they will willingly do it. If they are not sure why they have to work so hard, then faced with so many alternative subjects, they would wonder, "Why waste time on Chinese?" When we were preparing this White Paper, we communicated with a lot of people in the Chinese community and they told us that even their children or grandchildren were finding it very difficult to learn Chinese. They want them to continue learning Chinese and they want to create the environment for them to learn Chinese well. But if we use the old method to teach the younger generation of Singaporeans to learn Chinese, they will not be interested. We tried for years. It is not as if we have not tried. We asked them to read the old classics, the students were turned off. Eventually, they said, "All right, you want me to study, I will study for your sake. But if I don't have to do it, I would not study Chinese." Many of my friends and I are Chinese educated. We love Chinese. But our children are in a different situation.”
“I attended the funeral wake of the late President Ong Teng Cheong. There were a lot of wreaths, each with some writing on it. Among all the writings, the one that really stood out was on the wreath presented by the Chinese Embassy in Singapore. It read, "An old friend of the Chinese people." It was so simple and plain. Even a primary school student could understand and even write it! You do not have to quote all sorts of classical expressions. "An old friend of the people of China" - so simple, yet so touching! The message is conveyed across, simple and clear. When Deng Xiaoping passed away, of course, there were also lots and lots of wreaths and scrolls. The best written one had only four characters on it, "Xiaoping zou hao", ie, Xiaoping, go peacefully. This is something even our primary school students can read and write, yet again it is so appropriate, so touching. So we do not need to feel uncomfortable just because our children are learning fewer words. If they could use these simple words to carry across profound feelings and messages, that would be what really counts. If our requirement today is not like what was expected of the writers in the old days, why do we want to force our children to learn so many idioms, so much so that they feel that it is meaningless, no value, and eventually lose interest in Chinese? Do not forget that during the old days, in the rural society, if you did not study, what was your alternative? You had to work on the field. No matter how difficult it is, learning Chinese is definitely easier than working on the field. If you do not believe me, just try and pick up a hoe and dig a hole in the ground. The incentive, or disincentive, is so strong that everyone aimed to become a scholar.”
“(1) Use our ability to evaluate the level of language proficiency; (2) Dare to innovate, be brave to make self-criticism; (3) Create space conducive to the use of the Chinese Language; (4) Enhance the professionalism and boost the morale of our teachers; (5) Conduct more activities which touch participants at emotional and spiritual levels; (6) Work hand-in-hand in close coordination with one another; (7) Be confident of the prospect of the Chinese Language; (8) Respect the feelings of the other races. First, we must use the ability to use the language to evaluate the standard of the language. In ancient China, only about 5% of the people were literate. This is not assuming we are members of this small group of elites. Since there are so few of us who know the language, we have to use in such a profound way to create an entry barrier so that other people cannot come in. If I write in a very profound and sophisticated manner, I can be deemed to be more educated than you are! So, these few writers will go on writing in a more and more profound and sophisticated manner, and does not care much about whether others could understand what they were writing about. Hence during our younger days, whenever we had to study the Chinese classics, we had to put in a lot of efforts. But, does this help to promote universal education for all? No. Do we want universal CL education amongst Chinese Singaporeans? Yes. So we must not let the old thinking influence us. Do we still want to write CL in a very profound language to express ourselves? No. Let me illustrate. We all know that it is the Chinese custom for a wreath to be sent to the bereaved family whenever someone we know passes away. The language used on the wreath can be very flowery but set-piece.”
“There was a scholar, Dr Hu Shi, who wrote an article "Wenxue Gailiang Chuyi" ("My Humble Opinion on Literature Reform") on the "Xin Qingnian" (New Youth) magazine advocating the "8 Nos". He listed out eight points that writers should observe when writing their articles: (1) There should be substance in the writing; (2) Do not imitate the ancients; (3) Be particular about the grammar; (4) Do not pine and whine without cause; (5) Do away with hackneyed and stereotyped expressions; (6) Do not use allusions; (7) Do not be particularly concerned with antithesis; (8) Do not avoid popular form of characters and common sayings. Towards the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Chinese language was undergoing a transitional period. Dr Hu Shi and his company rode on the trend and advocated the use of bai hua wen (modern or vernacular Chinese), resulting in a transition from wen yan wen (ancient or literal Chinese) to bai hua wen (modern or vernacular Chinese). In this Chinese Language and pedagogy reform, we are not going to carry out a reform to the Chinese Language. While Hu Shi came out with the "8 Nos" , that is, the eight things we should not do, we do not want to be so negative. Let us be more positive. Let us talk about things we want, rather than things we do not want. I am proposing the "8 Dos" with the hope that it will help to implement our reform.”
“We want everybody to seize the opportunities arising from this new environment, and we encourage our younger generation of Singaporeans to learn Chinese - and learn it well. This is the main purpose for this Chinese Language Curriculum and Pedagogy Reform. I am aware of the concern of the Chinese community on the declining standard of Chinese in Singapore. Let us first take a look at the history of China. China has a civilisation that stretches over more than 5,000 years. Throughout the 5,000 years, many beautiful poetries and literary masterworks were produced. But, we must not forget that these were done by just a handful of poets and writers. They were the elite, the absolute minority among the people. In those days, maybe about 90-95% were illiterate and at most 5-10% of the people could appreciate, not to mention compose such masterworks. It was not until the last century or so, when China was defeated by the then major powers in the world, that the intellects in China decided that they had to promote universal education for the people. The Chinese term for education is jiao yu (teach and nurture). Teach and nurture, this is what education is all about. It is of paramount importance. But is it possible to educate the entire nation of people and make everyone literate? It is not easy. Towards the end of the Qing Dynasty, and into the founding of the Republic of China, the Chinese intellects then felt that they had to simplify the language to facilitate universal education. They promoted the switch from wen yan wen (classical or literal Chinese) to bai hua wen (modern or vernacular Chinese).”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank all my parliamentary colleagues for giving us so many precious suggestions on this reform. As Adviser to this Review Committee and also the Chairman of the Committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning (CPCLL), I can assure Members that we will carefully consider all their suggestions. We would also consider the suggestion by Mr Low Thia Khiang, but I would like him to ponder over what Mr Seng has said just now. If we are not sincere about our bilingual policy, there will not be this debate today. If, in the early days, had Mr Lee Kuan Yew not insisted on the bilingual policy, perhaps our standard of English may be higher but we would have lost our Chinese today. I think this is the crux of what he said in 1975. To me, I give myself 60 marks for my Chinese and for my English, I give myself 50 marks. So if I add these two, I do not know how much I am worth. But at least, I could make use of the two languages. In China, I could speak in Mandarin; in England, I could speak in English. Like me, many Singaporeans can turn west and speak to the westerners in English; and then turn east and speak to the Chinese, to the Malays and the Tamils in mother tongues. This has been our competitive advantage. Frankly speaking, the economy is a force that will motivate us to learn a language. In the early days, I kept on struggling to learn English. Did I really love English? Not really. I learned it because of its economic value. And now that the economic value of Chinese has gone up, many parents have realised it and they start encouraging their children to learn Chinese. There are changes in the strategic reality, and so we have to adapt to these changes.”
“Of course, it depends on specific cases. Before OBLS, on the average, it takes about four weeks. After OBLS, on the average, it takes about two weeks. Column No : 1252 BILLS INTRODUCED Column No : 1252 PARKING PLACES (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Parking Places Act (Chapter 214 of the 1996 Revised Edition)", presented by the Minister for State for Finance (Mrs Lim Hwee Hua); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. Column No : 1253 TELECOMMUNICATIONS (AMENDMENT) BILL "to amend the Telecommunications Act (Chapter 323 of the 2000 Revised Edition) and to make a related amendment to the Broadcasting Act (Chapter 28 of the 2003 Revised Edition)", presented by the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (Dr Lee Boon Yang); read the First time; to be read a Second time on the next available sitting of Parliament, and to be printed. Column No : 1253 Column No : 1253 REVISED CHINESE LANGUAGE CURRICULUM 1.52 pm”
“Iwould acceptMr Zainudin's pointgenerally. But I would want to say that there are certain areas of assessment that we are actively exploring the possible use of IT. One of them is actually in the area of oral examination. Nowadays, there are computers which can recognise pronunciation and voices. A natural question iswhether suchcapabilities can be used to help in theassessment for oral examination, especially those relatively objective types of oral examination. I am not talking about, say, free flow conversation. Oral examinations involvingmultiple choice or reading from a fixed passage could conceivably be assessed by computer.This is one area that we are actively looking into. I would also want to say that IT in teaching goes beyond just examinations. IT allows students to practise a certain skill repeatedly in order to improve. For example, students can do repeated practice ofmathematics, or repeated practiceof reading ofpassages. A computer is actuallyvery patient. You can make the same mistake many times. The computerswill patientlycorrect it for you.These features are already available in our computer laboratories.Hence,the use of IT in education is manifold. It goes beyond assessment. And I think our children are benefiting from these capabilities. MINISTRY OF MANPOWER (Implementation of four-day work week and job sharing) 5. Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Minister for Manpower (a) if he will update the House on the newly announced four-day work week and job sharing that his Ministry has implemented in its own set up; and (b) what are some of the guidelines that have been drawn up to assist corporations to better identify operations that can support a four-day work week.”
“Opening of computer laboratories in schools after school hours or during weekends are decisions that can be taken by the schools. The Ministry does not have a directive to direct the schools to open their computer facilitiesat certain hours. But I am confident that if it is for the good of the students, the schools will make those facilities available. As for the study thatthe Memberasked for,I do not have the information with me. But we canget certain indications on the penetration rate of IT in families. I think yesterday, during the Second Reading of one of the Bills,it was mentioned thatmore than half of our families now have access to Internet. So if thereis access to Internet,they must have access to computers. But I think these are not the people that she is concerned about. She is more concerned about the people who are really not able to afford having a computer at home for the use of their children. As I have said earlier, there are various groups who have schemesthat try to cater to the needs of these children. And as far as I know, the provision currently is adequate.”
“As I said, if the students do not have a computer at home,there are other channels to help them, such as the community self-help groups.Our schoolshave also been helping students to getin touch with the various channels. In certain instances, the schools may approach some charitable organisations to make available additional resources. All these are being done.”
“If we are introducing the use of computer in an examination, we must, firstly,make sure that all students have access to computer at that examination.There isthis issue of IT divide between the students who have and whodo not have a computer. So,for the time being, the use of computer in examinations is confinedto computer-related subjects, like the subjects that I have listed during my oralanswer just now. To the extent thatcomputer becomes more accessible and more affordable, there will be a wider use of computer in examinations.”
“Community centres and community clubsare not under the care of the Ministry of Education. But suffice it to say, we also have other voluntary organisations, like the community self-help groups, MENDAKI, CDAC,SINDA as well asthe Eurasian Association, which do have schemesto allow the students to have access to computers. Theyinvolve many volunteers to help, for example, to service old computers. Computers made available through such channels, pluscomputer facilities available in schools have,for the time being, beenadequate to caterto our students.”
“That is why the Ministry introduces IT in a relatively cautious manner. We only introduce IT that has good education application. Also, thetechnology introduced has got to be mature and also affordable. For students who are unable to afford their own computers,wearrange for them to make use of the facilities in school, for example, in a computer laboratory. We also have certain schools which introduced their ownIT projects. For example, Crescent Girls' School introduced IT teaching programme using the tablet PC.In this particular case,the schoolhadconsulted all stakeholders, especiallythe parents. Nearly allagreed tobuytablet PCs for their children. In the case of the few who were unable to afford, the school was able toarrange for the tablet PCs to be loaned to them. So the school went all outto make sure that students do not lose out because they were unableto afford the PCs.So just to assure the Member that affordability and availability of computers weretaken into consideration before IT projects were introduced.”
“Mr Chia also asked whether allowing telcos and service providers to tie down existing customers through the use of contracts and high termination fees would result in inefficiencies and poor service standards. As part of commercial practice, BASPs set minimum contract periods and termination fees to ensure a reasonable return on the cost of new customer acquisitions, like cost of a "free" or subsidised modem, gifts or discounts. There is no evidence that such practices have compromised quality of service and service standards have been good. For example, since 2003, their network availability has been generally above 99% and their service activation time from the date of receipt of an application has been generally less than five days. Nevertheless, IDA will continue to monitor the situation and where the need arises, IDA will consider additional measures to remove any anti-competitive actions. 3.00 pm”
“IDA will be making radio frequency spectrum available for the deployment of wireless broadband technologies and is working with the industry to pilot several wireless broadband services which would promise higher speed at lower cost. If successful, these new technologies can be deployed to enhance competitiveness of our broadband market. Second, IDA has put in place measures to overcome the lack of effective competition in infrastructure such as facilitating the introduction of wholesale broadband access services. IDA's ruling to require SingTel to offer its Local Leased Circuits to Facilities Based Operators at a discount should further reduce the cost of service providers who rely heavily on LLCs to provide telecom services to end users. These cost savings may then be passed on to end users. IDA will continue to explore other options, including both developmental and pro-competition measures, to encourage broadband development. Mr Chia also asked if both price and speed of broadband services would impede Singapore's development into an international and regional information hub. While broadband costs and speed are considerations, there are other important factors like international and regional connectivity, prices of other infocomm services, intellectual property protection and trade links with other countries that contribute to our hub status. Singapore fares well in all these areas. For example, we have 21 Tbps submarine cable capacity and over 13 Gbps direct connectivity to more than 20 countries. We were also ranked top in Asia for Intellectual Property Rights Protection.”
“Mr Chia mentioned that there are jurisdications where access speeds are significantly higher than Singapore's and prices are lower. We must be mindful comparisons may not be "apple to apple" and there may be other charges such as separate line rental charges along with the broadband access charges. The underlying cost structure also varies from place to place and each country has a different market size, usage profile and competition from alternatives. Compared to Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and China cited by Mr Chia, Singapore operators have the smallest user base to recover costs from. Also, unlike Korea and Japan where users access local-language content hosted locally, the majority of Internet traffic in Singapore is to access content hosted outside Singapore and this comes at a higher cost. Lastly, with relatively low fixed line rates, the substitution of broadband for dial-up access is not as compelling for some users, unlike the case in the other countries. A point to note also is that aggressive price competition taking place in other markets may not be sustainable. For example, according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit in April, major broadband access service providers (BASPs) in Korea were facing financial difficulty due to aggressive price cutting. Nevertheless, IDA will continue to press on in its efforts to promote sustainable broadband adoption on several fronts. First, to encourage greater competition, IDA is supporting technical trials in alternative broadband technologies that can lower deployment cost and increase access speeds.”
“Actually we did not invite applications and, therefore, there is no closing date as such. But it happened that the two institutions looked at the opportunities. I think both loved the campus, and bearing in mind that it was part of the joint-campus in the past, both came out with this idea. So we are evaluating it and see what is the best way of allocating it. BROADBAND ACCESS IN SINGAPORE (Speed and charges) 16. Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (a) why Singapore's broadband excess speed is up to 20 times slower and why charges are up to four times higher than those in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China; (b) will these factors impede Singapore's development into an international and regional information hub; and (c) by allowing telcos and service providers to tie down existing customers through the use of contracts and high termination fees, will this result in inefficiencies and poor service standards in the industry. The Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts (Dr Balaji Sadasivan) (for the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts): The broadband market in Singapore is making good progress. Broadband adoption is rising and the household penetration rate has increased from 27% in June 2003 to 38% in June 2004. Prices have also fallen. Since 2001, residential broadband prices for unlimited access plans have fallen by up to 67%. There are also low cost packages for novice users with low usage. Our broadband access speeds have gone up and consumers now have a choice of services with speeds of up to 3 Mbps for cable modem access. We estimate that about 40% of broadband subscribers in Singapore are on access speeds of at least 1.5 Mbps.”
“Sir, currently we have only received proposals from these two institutions. Assuming we do not receive anything else before a decision is made, then that is most likely to be the situation.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, the Singapore Management University (SMU) would be moving out of the Bukit Timah campus to its new city campus in January 2006. The URA has rezoned part of the Bukit Timah campus as an extended site for the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The remaining Bukit Timah campus site, not rezoned for park use, is currently zoned for educational and institution use in the Masterplan 2003. The site can be used by institutions, including education institutions in the medium term. And since this is a very, very good site, the Ministry has now received proposals from both the NUS and NTU to use the Bukit Timah campus when SMU moves to its new city campus. We are now seriously reviewing and evaluating their proposals. We are in serious discussion with them. We hope to arrive at a decision before the end of the year.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I thought Mr Chandra Mohan's question was of a student parliament or equivalent. The answer is that we have done quite a lot, which can be considered as equivalent. But, when you talk about a students' parliament, "parliament" connotes certain things. When you pass resolution, there must be some follow up. I think there should be only one Parliament in the land, and that is this House. So to engage the students in the discussion of politics, national issues, and to come up with ideas of their own, that is one thing. We have various channels of doing it. But, to start a students' parliament, I do not think so. BUKIT TIMAH CAMPUS (Future use) 15. Mr Chandra Mohan K Nair asked the Minister for Education (a) what is the future use of the site of the Bukit Timah campus currently under the Singapore Management University; and (b) will the Government allow the National University of Singapore to use this site as one of its campuses and, if so, when.”
“Likewise for our ITE students, the ITE Student Seminar is held biennially. Each Seminar is organised with a theme where political leaders and prominent corporate leaders from both the private and public sectors are invited to speak to the students. The students are given opportunities to engage the speakers, as well as interact amongst themselves, exchanging views and making presentations on Government policies and current affairs of Singapore. Outside of our schools, our students get involved in other channels to discuss the issues of the day, or to contribute their ideas. A good example is Channel I's "I-contact" programme, which got students to exchange ideas with Ministers on issues that matter to them. The Ministry of Education will continue to review the various programmes and channels through which we can encourage our students to engage and play a responsible role in school as well as the community.”
“Sir, the Ministry of Education encourages students to engage their minds in current affairs. In fact, we consider this as part of education. There are many opportunities and platforms in our schools for them to discuss and debate national and international issues. First, as part of the school curriculum itself, such as in History and Social Studies classes and the General Paper for junior college students. Some schools in addition also conduct lessons in Parliament style to engage their students, who play roles as Members of Parliament. For example, Dunman High School and Victoria School organise a yearly Moot Parliament for their Secondary 3 students to simulate the debate of national issues and the tabling of Bills. The Ministry also organises the annual Pre-University Seminar for 500 or so students from all our junior colleges and centralised institutes over a period of six days. The seminar provides an important opportunity for students to discuss national issues of importance, to engage Ministers, as well as industry and community leaders, and to throw up new ideas of their own. In our polytechnics and universities too, there are more channels for such exposure to national issues. The Polytechnic Forum is organised every year where student leaders from all five polytechnics come together to discuss national issues such as the Remaking of Singapore. In our universities, students can participate in a wide range of student organisations or attend seminars on national issues. In NTU, for example, there is a range of societies such as the Current Affairs Society, United Nations Student Association, and the Students' Feedback Unit. In NUS, they have the Political Science Society, where students debate national issues of the day.”