China-Quotient Youth Forum 2013: Create or Integrate? Leveraging on Bilingualism and Biculturalism
Business China collaborated with National University of Singapore’s Office of the Vice President (University and Global Relations) and Department of Chinese Studies to jointly organise China-Quotient Youth Forum 2013. The Forum, held on 9 October, attracted some 350 tertiary students and was graced by Guest-of-Honour Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Senior Minister of State for Trade, Industry and National Development, and guest keynote speaker Mr Eric Pan (潘昊), Founder and CEO of Seeed Studio.
The Forum, with the theme of ‘Create or Integrate? Leveraging on Bilingualism and Biculturalism’ aimed to motivate Singaporean youths to capitalise on their multilingual and multicultural populace for a head start in their future careers.
SMS Lee Yi Shyan demonstrated his bilingual prowess by delivering his speech entirely in Mandarin. He raised several thought-provoking points regarding Singaporeans’ ability to play a critical role in an increasingly competitive global marketplace where China is growing in importance. He actively interacted with the audience and challenged them to think of Singapore’s unique value proposition, in the face of China’s impending rise. SMS Lee also expressed his concern as to whether Singaporean youths continued to improve themselves once they complete their years of education.
Guest speaker Mr Eric Pan – reported as one of the top 30 entrepreneurs under the age of 30 by Forbes China – remarked that this is his first time in Singapore and he is extremely impressed by the garden city. In his engaging speech, Mr Pan shared his motivations for his career choice and equated his entrepreneurial experience to a cycling journey where, beyond the glamour of winning, getting lost and enduring hardship is part of the process. Mr Pan also gave potential entrepreneurs a gentle warning, reminding them that the journey might be lonely, as an entrepreneur needs to explore unbeaten paths and be a trailblazer.
In the lively panel discussion, both SMS Lee and Mr Pan gave timely advice on the pains and gains of becoming an entrepreneur in today’s context and how entrepreneurism can be complemented by bilingualism and biculturalism. SMS Lee candidly shared his personal experience of learning English by attending a phonetics course and urged Singapore youths to persevere when learning a language. When asked how he coped in times when he felt like giving up, Mr Pan elicited laughter from the audience when he declared he could not answer the question as he has never thought of giving up.
Chen Lin from Ngee Ann Polytechnic felt she has learnt a lot from the forum. She said, “This Forum organised by Business China is a great opportunity for students to interact and learn from an esteemed senior minister and a renowned entrepreneur. I gained much insight from the dialogue and a more in-depth understanding about China.” She was also particularly inspired by Eric Pan’s comment that the thought of giving up has never crossed his mind.
Yang Yu Cheng, an exchange student from Peking University expressed that he is glad to have attended the Forum. He said, “It was an eye-opening experience to see the audience actively interacting with the speakers and witness Singapore youths’ interest in entrepreneurship and bilingualism.”
Mr Chua Thian Poh, Chairman of Business China and Ms Low Yen Ling, Parliamentary Secretary for Ministry of Social and Family Development, and Business China Board Director, also attended the Forum to interact with aspiring youths.