For the 100 students who turned up at Shaw Lido, attending the Business China Student Members Gathering on 4th February means more than get together, it was also to celebrate the Chinese heritage. This was the first time Business China organised the Student Members’ Gathering during Chinese New Year, providing a platform for the student members to celebrate the festive joy together and mingle with fellow like-minded youths.
Business China is committed to nurturing bilingual and bi-cultural Singaporean youths. Through this event, we have provided a bilingual platform and incorporated pop-culture elements, to stimulate the youths’ interest on Chinese Language as well as to raise their China-quotient.
That morning, as early as 9am, student members started streaming into Shaw Lido. Emcees of the event were Chang Zi Ying and Yeow Kai Ling, both were Business China Youth Chapter (BCYC) members and effectively bilingual, switching between English and Mandarin seamlessly, and enticing the audience with their fun-loving nature.
“Does anybody know what special occasion is 4th of February?” the emcees asked.
“It’s 10 days before Valentines’ Day!”
“It’s the 13th day of the lunar calendar!” The answers came rapidly.
“These answers are all correct, but we also want to let you know that this special day is also the beginning of Spring!” Zi Ying and Kai Ling took this opportunity to share more information about the Lunar New Year with the student members.
Other BCYC members were also there to support their friends, they shared the stage by giving insights on their experience and take-away from the “China Learning Journey” which was held last December.
Up next was the exciting quiz-time. Many of the participants were first-timer at Business China event, so it was a get-to-know Business China session for them as the quiz questions were based on its mission and past events. The youths earned themselves a limited edition Business China thumb drive by answering quiz questions related to Business China correctly.
Besides providing a bilingual platform for the student members to interact, there was also a free movie screening of Chinese movie “The Great Magician”, which provided philosophical insights into love and politics.
Currently a second year student in Nanyang Technological University, majoring in Aerospace engineering, Chen Zhen Yang said,” I never knew about Business China until a friend introduced it to me. When I heard about the Student Members Gathering, my friend and I signed up without hesitation. I hope to connect with like-minded youth who are interested with Chinese culture and also to understand more about the contemporary China.”