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B4 | Insight The Sunday Times | Sunday, February 18, 2018 Sunday, February 18, 2018 | The Sunday Times Insight | B5 An evolving Singapore Chinese identity selves down. (For instance), are we saying that we are not confident of A rising China brings our own culture, and we need to rely on the CCC?” Journey But Dr Neo Peng Fu, 56, the Singa- porean director of CI-NTU, believes new cultural anxieties that the Chinese influence can strengthen Chinese Singaporeans’ ethnic identity if handled properly. Prof Kuo agrees, saying: “If you objectively look at what China has achieved, it can also lead to a sense to the of pride, or at least a (greater) sense of identity because of our cultural affinity with them.” After all, it is difficult to draw a clear line between Singaporean Chi- nese culture and the greater Chi- nese culture, says Dr Neo. While his Yuen Sin institute offers classes in ink paint- West – ing, for example, Singapore also has a rich heritage of such paint- ings done in the local Nanyang When poet Alvin Pang, 45, flipped style. “So would you say that this is through Chinese teaching material our culture or their culture? It’s not being used at his 12-year-old daugh- so black and white.” ter’s school last year, he was sur- prised to see “ba sha” – the local THE KEY IS ENGAGEMENT and now, Chinese term for market, similar to Still, some may raise their eye- the Malay “pasar” – replaced by brows at the presence of the Confu- “shi chang”, the term that is used in cius Institute here. But Dr Neo be- mainland China. lieves that actively engaging China “We have our own flavour of the is a far better approach than being culture and language. I’m very dis- confrontational or ignoring devel- turbed to see it disappearing, be- opments. CI-NTU, he adds, has au- cause it belongs to us,” says Mr tonomy over how it runs and de- the East Pang, a member of the Promote signs programmes, and 80 per cent Mandarin Council. of its operating expenses is funded As China’s economic star rises, from its own revenue. Singapore’s business and cultural Parliamentary Secretary for Cul- ties with it have also deepened, ture, Community and Youth Baey leading to more Singaporeans Yam Keng, who has researched adopting elements of its culture China’s cultural diplomacy, says en- that are not common here. gaging with a globalising China can But that has also triggered new allow it and the rest of the world to anxieties among Singaporeans like better understand Singapore’s mul- Mr Pang, who fear this could dilute tilingual, multicultural context. the unique Chinese culture found Local jazz singer Nathan in multicultural Singapore. Others Hartono’s participation in popular fear that deepening ties and a sense Chinese variety show Sing! China in of cultural affinity between the two 2016, for example, has shed light in countries could splinter the loyal- China on the cultural background ties of Chinese Singaporeans and of Singaporeans. Mr Baey says al- draw them closer to the mainland. though younger Singaporeans For the past five years, China has speak Mandarin and sing Chinese been Singapore’s top trading part- Dr Neo Peng Fu, the Singaporean director of the Confucius Institute at NTU, songs, the way they process their ner, according to International En- with pre-school material featuring content that is locally relevant, designed by thoughts and express themselves is A translation class in progress at Dunman High School. A longstanding concern about SAP schools is whether they tend to become exclusive bubbles – as they admit only students who take Chinese as their mother tongue. SAP schools have sought to terprise Singapore. It is also the the institute’s teaching resource team. ST PHOTO: LEE JIA WEN still predominantly in English. address these concerns. DHS, for example, has made a concerted push to provide opportunities for students to engage meaningfully with other racial communities and better understand Singapore’s multicultural context. ST PHOTO: LEE JIA WEN largest destination market for Sin- Trainee lawyer Clement Lin, 26, gapore’s foreign investments, to- who spent 2016 on a work-study talling $123.5 billion in 2016. are “rapidly gaining momentum” poreans connect with the Singa- stint in Shanghai, says while he Among students, China is an in- here. Last year, Chinese variety porean identity. Over four in five of used to regard Chinese nationals in SAP schools: Adapting to new realities creasingly popular destination. At shows dominated seven spots on the 1,000-plus Chinese survey re- Singapore as “culturally distinct”, the National University of Singa- its top 10 list of most-watched pro- spondents in a study on ethnic iden- his time in China made him realise pore (NUS), the number who grammes on channel Hub E City. tity by the Institute of Policy Stud- the differences are not as clear-cut. headed there annually for work- Last month, China announced a ies (IPS) and Channel News Asia “The city had a growing middle Lawyer Michael Chia, 46, with his parents, Madam Yee Sook Meng, 79, and Mr study stints, exchanges and other relaxation of visa rules that will al- last November said they either iden- class that was starting to resemble With English being Singapore’s lin- past president of Hwa Chong Junior ment where the Chinese language sibly leaves them better off than if BENEFICIAL on social media and ask me what it Chia Kee Chong, 79, at their home in Woodlands. ST PHOTO: JONATHAN CHOO short-term programmes more than low foreigners of Chinese origin to tified more with their Singaporean Singaporeans in the sense they are gua franca today, the linguistic land- College Alumni Association – miss and culture are emphasised have they had studied in a different envi- means. Common misconceptions doubled to about 400 as of last Au- apply for visas valid for multiple en- identity or with both their ethnic very comfortable with their own scape of SAP schools – set up in the Mandarin-speaking environ- become all the more important in ronment,” he says. Each time I speak with can be addressed this way,” she says. gust from 2012. At the Singapore tries over five years, up from one and Singaporean identity. lifestyles, and they also chase after 1979, before the eventual demise of ment of the schools they grew up in. today’s context. A longstanding concern about these alumni who In response to queries from In- When lawyer Michael Chia, 46, was a student at Management University (SMU), 20 year previously. This move, ana- At the opening of the Singapore the same things as us. In terms of vernacular schools in the 1980s – “The language gives you a nostal- Dr Hon Chiew Weng, 61, who SAP schools is whether they tend to sight about whether the role of Hua Yi Secondary School in the 1980s, its main per cent of students who go to lysts have said, is so that Beijing can Chinese Cultural Centre (SCCC) how we view the world, it felt like has undergone a seismic shift from gic, sentimental feeling,” says Mr retired last year as principal of HCI become exclusive bubbles – as they work in China, they SAP schools should be relooked, language of instruction had just switched from Asian universities on semester ex- tap the non-mainland ethnic last year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien we were converging.” when Mandarin was the dominant Lin. But he remains proud of how after 35 years, says that the issue of admit only students who take Chi- Ministry of Education deputy Chinese to English. changes studied in China in 2015, Chinese outside China for support Loong noted that more than 50 He thinks such interactions can language among the students. his alma mater – now known as English-speaking students “ap- nese as their mother tongue. SAP always thank the director-general of education (cur- This was in contrast with the experience of his compared with 9 per cent in 2012. in its bid to realise its potential as a years after independence, Singa- dispel the sense of mistrust be- At Dunman High School (DHS), Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) – con- pears to be a problem, but it’s not a schools have sought to address school for making riculum) Sng Chern Wei says they father, an alumnus of Nanyang University, or Meanwhile, China has been at- new superpower. poreans can speak of a Singaporean tween citizens of the two countries one of the 26 SAP (Special Assis- tinues to retain its Chinese values problem at all”. these concerns. “continue to play an important Nantah, which, in his time, was prized by the tempting to pull at the “cultural “The China factor looms larger Chinese culture, just as how there that he sometimes sees played out tance Plan) schools here which al- and traditions, such as marking While students may seldom use DHS, for example, has made a con- Higher Chinese role in delivering a quality bicul- Chinese-speaking community as the only heartstrings” of overseas Chinese, and larger, particularly with the is a Singaporean Malay culture and online. “There is a lot of misunder- low students to pursue both Eng- major cultural festivals like the the Chinese language in school, it certed push to provide opportuni- compulsory. tural education premised on Chinese-language tertiary institution outside China. says SMU associate professor Eu- change in policy towards overseas a Singaporean Indian culture. standing, and some Singaporeans lish and Chinese as first languages – Mid-Autumn Festival. gives them a strong foundation ties for students to engage meaning- strong national education and char- But in 1980, Nantah became history after it was gene Tan, who has written papers Chinese,” notes NTU Emeritus Pro- He also sketched out a definition may have a bit of a superiority com- and which preserve the heritage Others, such as mother-of-three Is- later in life, he says.

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