JJ Lin encouraged students to upkeep their bilingual-bicultural competency and pursue their dreams
The China-Quotient Student Forum 2015 held on 25 February saw JJ Lin return to his alma mater, St Andrew’s Junior College (SAJC) and spoke to some 1,000 Singapore teenage students from more than 20 Junior Colleges, IP Schools, Polytechnics, Universities and other Institutes of Higher Learnings (IHLs), about “Daring to Dream, Acing with Bilingualism and Biculturalism”.
The Forum is jointly organised by Business China and SAJC. Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office & Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, and Business China Board Member, Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong, graced the event as the Guest-of-Honour.
Speaking in fluent Mandarin, JJ, the former Anglo-Chinese School and SAJC student shared heartfelt anecdotes from his school days, as being the odd one out who spoke Mandarin in school. He also spoke about how being bilingual has been instrumental in building his music career in China and Taiwan over the past 11 years. His fluency in both English and Mandarin allowed him to communicate effectively with partners from around the world. JJ further urged students to upkeep their bilingual-bicultural capability to maintain their competitiveness in this increasingly globalised world.
Aside from that, JJ also encouraged students to embrace and pursue their dreams despite difficult journeys. He shared three obstacles in which he had to overcome from his personal experience; firstly, unfavourable external factors, secondly, handling failure and thirdly, handling success.
Thereafter, the question and answer segment was met with great enthusiasm from the floor with streams of students eagerly posting questions to JJ. The Forum then concluded with JJ’s ‘live’ rendition of the theme song he composed for Chingay 2015, entitled “Dreams”. He also invited fellow schoolmate and long-time buddy from SAJC, music producer Mr Hong Junyang on stage to join in a short jamming session with him.
A man with many hats, JJ Lin is known in the Chinese entertainment industry as an award winning Singaporean singer songwriter. In 2014, he received the Business China Young Achiever Award for his commitment towards bringing joy, dignity and hope to the communities in China and Singapore, and connecting the world with his music. He was also hailed for being an exemplary role model in furthering Singapore-China relations.
This highly interactive forum also showcased SAJC’s traditional excellence in the area of cultural pursuits with a 10-minute bicultural showcase featuring performances by current SAJC students. The SAJC dance troupe moved to a remix of JJ’s songs; while Wong Yu Ting, a finalist in 2013 Campus Superstar and current SAJC J2 student, sang “Only to you” (只对你说), a popular hit composed and written by JJ in 2006.
Guest-of-Honour MOS Sam Tan highlighted in his special address the importance of being bilingual and bicultural. He said, “In Singapore, we have an ecology for multiracial-multicultural inclusivity and development, and this is our advantage. We not only have a chance to learn more about other cultures, we also have the opportunity to be fluent in at least two languages. We should continue to capitalise on this advantage, expand our horizon; and create unlimited value with limited resources.”
Principal of St Andrew’s Junior College, Mrs Lee Bee Yann, said in her welcome remarks that, “With his natural talent and affinity towards music, coupled with hardwork and perseverance, JJ strived for his dreams and reaped the fruits of his labour today. I think he really is the best person to share about the advantages of being bilingual and bicultural and how that has helped launch his dreams and music career.”
Business China Chairman Mr Chua Thian Poh, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Education, guests from the local music community and Business China members also attended the Forum.