Two champions have emerged from the Singapore finals for 9th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students! Deserving of our applause, these two youths are: Ng Jun Da from Nanyang Polytechnic, 19 & Lin Qin Jin from National University of Singapore, 21. With compelling performances, Jun Da narrated a campus romance and Qin Jin brought audiences into the streets of Shanxi.
The Singapore finals for 9th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students was held on the afternoon of 4 June 2010. Guest-of-honour was Ms Ellen Lee, MP for Sembawang GRC. Other distinguished guests included China’s Ambassador to Singapore, Mr. Wei Wei, and Business China board director, Mr Hee Theng Fong.
Following stages 1 and 2 of the competition, which consisted of an online quiz and a video submission of oratorical & talent performances, the Singapore finals saw 9 outstanding youths competing against each other “live” in their knowledge and skills in Chinese culture.
There are two rounds in the Singapore leg of the competition, the first being a forum and the second, a talent showcase. The forum round is a format in the competition. To add interactive and fun elements to the competition, the dialogue round was introduced to replace previous year’s speech round. This dialogue challenged contestants to express their ideas in a coherent manner on the spot. The contestants were separated in two groups to discuss two topics: “Charming Chinese, Splendid Expo” and “My views on Singapore’s Chinese Language Education”. Contestants expressed their views with spontaneity and enthusiasm.
During the talent showcase, the contestants presented a variety of performances, ranging from poetry recital, dance, singing and more.
Ng Jun Da and Lin Qin Jin both scored the highest in their performances for the forum round and the talent showcase.
Jun Da won over the judges with his poetry recital, a medley of three love poems. Presented through a skit setting, it portrayed the story of one who secretly admires a girl, and ends up heartbroken. Having been in various similar competitions in the past, he is no stranger to the stage. He said that past performances usually involves him standing on the spot in front of a mic stand. As such, he decided to get creative to enhance theatrics.
Inspired by last year’s winner, Anna Lim, who did “Kuai Ban”, a traditional Chinese bamboo clapper performance where rhymed verses are recited in a form of a rap, Qin Jin decided to pick up this skill. Putting this skill to use good use, she presented “Kuai Ban” performance, “Shaanxi Delights”. With confidence and zest, she rapped about the local delights from Shaanxi, China. Lin Qin Jin said that the culture behind the language motivates her interest for Chinese, because the language offers versatile and creative ways of expression, such as opera and “Kuai Ban”.
As first place winners, both Jun Da & Qin Jin received $800 cash & $3000 worth of vouchers respectively. Second place winners receive $500 cash & $3000 worth of vouchers and third place winners receive $300 cash.
The Singapore leg of the 9th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition has come to an end, but it also marks the start of a journey for Jun Da and Qin Jin. We would like to wish them all the best as they proceed to the grand finals in China to compete against more than 600 contestants from all around the world.
The 9th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign College Students (Singapore 2010) is jointly organised by NTU’s Confucius Institute and Business China. Through this competition, Business China hopes to cultivate bilingual & bicultural talents and at the same time, offer an opportunity for them to showcase their talents on the international stage.
Be moved by the performances of the 1st place winners. Watch video clips here.