Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Home Affairs,
Business China Board of Directors Mr Tan Ser Ping, Mr Zhong Sheng Jian,
Business China Go East Committee Members,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and gentlemen,
- Good evening. I am delighted to be here to join all of you to celebrate this very important milestone, the 10th anniversary of Business China Youth Chapter or BCYC as we affectionately call it.
- Over the last decade or so, BCYC has been working closely with Business China. First, we have been actively promoting bilingualism and biculturalism among youths, young students and young working professionals. Second, through our effort, we have been steadfastly cultivating and establishing a pool of Singapore-China-savvy youths. And third, leveraging on the dynamism of young China-savvy and China-ready Singaporeans to create and expand Business China’s Singapore-China network together.
- Looking back, BCYC had a modest beginning but nonetheless an important one and it started in 2010 when 2 youths had the idea to set up a youth wing for Business China.They pitched their idea and convinced the management, the then CEO of Business China, Mrs Josephine Teo. And thereafter, we can all say its history. We are very proud of what we have achieved today. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Minister Teo for her blessings back then. Let’s put our hands together to thank Minister Josephine Teo.
- Throughout the years, BCYC has grown from strength to strength and has devoted itself to equipping youths with various skills to help our young Singaporeans be China-savvy and China-ready. To that end, BCYC had organised and initiated 122 events, 12 Learning Journeys to China, and the inaugural Business China Youth Forum 2019 which was attended by over 180 youths. To date, BCYC has grown to become a 200 member-strong group, and it has reached out to over 20,000 youths. Out of the 50,000 youths which Business China has reached out to altogether in total over the past decade or so, BCYC easily accounts for 40% of them. This is an indication of how significant BCYC is in our grand plan.
- Looking ahead, there is still much for us to do. We must continue to stay true to our mission. BCYC will continue to evolve our approach to stay relevant. China is rapidly developing and evolving; and we must evolve together as well. Therefore, BCYC’s role will be an ever important one. As we evolve our approach, we must remain true to our mission, and that is to continue to cultivate bilingual, bicultural and definitely Singapore-China savvy young people, so that we can help to strengthen Singapore’s position as a cultural and economic bridge linking the world and China. As such, I hope that we will continue to work together to achieve 3 key objectives to strengthen and deepen the relationship that we share. First, to build trustworthy networks between Singapore and China. Second, to nurture Singapore-China-savvy talents. Third, to promote deep and wide-ranging exchanges between Singapore and China.
- We accomplish these through our Learning Journeys to China. In June this year, some youths visited Hangzhou where they visited corporations and interacted with Singaporeans working and studying in China. In December, another group of youths will be embarking on an 8-day long learning journey to the Greater Bay Area.
- This year we also launched the “Business China-Bank of China Internship Programme” where 10 outstanding students were selected from the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Management University to participate in the Internship Program They spent 2 months in Bank of China’s branch in Singapore and 1 month in Shanghai. The programme aims to provide a platform of cultural exchanges between Singapore and China for Singaporean youths, as well as to offer young Singaporeans the opportunity to be exposed to Chinese working culture and business know-how via internship placements. With that, Business China hopes to nurture a generation of China-ready young Singaporeans through the provision of early and hands-on experience related to the Chinese market. Please allow me to now say a few words in Mandarin.
- 今天是通商中国青年组十周年庆。过去十年，通商中国致力培育新中通人才，十年来风雨无阻，灌溉了无数秧苗，旨在造就一批双语双文化的中流砥柱，搭建联系中国与世界各地文化和经济的桥梁。在中国逐步走向全球化、区域化的大背景下，新中两国的合作领域和范畴也逐渐扩大，特别是在“一带一路”沿线国家以及东南亚市 场方面，两国的合作更是日益加深。而在协助中国企业“走出去” 以及全球化的过程当中，“新中通”青年人才其实扮演着不可或缺的重要角色。
- 作为国之栋梁，两国青年间有效的交流与互动必能成为双边关系中强而有力的润滑剂。为此，通商中国将宣布两个新项目: 一、通商中国暑期学校奖学金的启动； 二、通商中国与新加坡中华总商会合作谅解备忘录的签署，以巩固通商中国在青年人才培育方面的努力。
- 通商中国暑期学校奖学金将为更多新加坡同学提供到中国大学进行暑期学校学习的机会。相较于为期较长的实习计划以及市面上的短期浸濡学习之旅，为期约一个月的暑期学校学习除了让新加坡青年到中国学习，也为他们提供了一个与国际学生交流的平台。我们相信这个项目不仅可以让新加坡青年深入了解中国，帮助他们建立友谊和人脉，也可以拓展他们的国际视野，让他们从中了解和掌握新 加坡的优势和挑战，以及新加坡在中国和国际事务中所扮演的角色。
- 今晚，通商中国也将与新加坡中华总商一起签署一项合作谅解备忘录，进一步深化、加强双方的合作。未来，我们双方将在培育新中通人才,包括对新加坡年轻一代的栽培工作进行更全方位合作。我们也将通过双方的活动平台以及会员间的交流学习，推广新加坡华商文化、增进新加坡青年们对中国经济、商贸和文化等方面的了解。同时，通商中国和总商会也将共同推广与支持双方所主办的旗舰项目，比如：通商中国实习计划、通商中国青年论坛，以及中华总商会一些列重要的文化、商务等活动。
- 站在通商中国青年组成立十周年新的历史起点上，我希望青年们能积土而为山，积水而为海1，在不断的自我积累和挑战中也做到博学之，审问之，慎思之，明辨之，笃行之2，把通商中国青年组提升到一个全新的水平。我也希望未来通商中国和通商中国青年组通过更紧密无间的合作，接触更广泛的青年社群，特别是那些来自英语背景学校，有着同样的兴趣进一步了解中国的新加坡年轻人。我相信在大家的共同努力下，这个目标一定可以达成!
- 在此，我祝愿通商中国青年组 10 周年快乐！也祝愿在座的各位有个愉快的夜晚!
- 谢谢!