The kind of Chinese elite we need
The idea of nurturing the Chinese elite has been hotly debated in the press. It is understood that the Government leaders raised this issue with two main objectives: a) The elite are to meet the practical needs of our economy as our trade and industry have expanded to the Chinese speaking areas in East Asia and; b) The elite are required in order to carry on and develop Chinese culture and traditions in our society. The Chinese-educated generally welcome this idea and the young bilingual generation also supports it. But, there are some, albeit a small number in my opinion, who have expressed contrary views. This can be seen clearly from a letter contributed by a reader in the Straits Times on May 26.From my experience with people from different educational background, I can surmise that the writer is English-educated. She may not be too familiar with the Chinese language and culture, and probably has little understanding of the history of our education system and the changes in our language policies. I understand her concerns and shall attempt to allay her fears with the following:Firstly, the kind of Chinese elite we have in mind is definitely not chauvinistic. We cannot accept any form of chauvinism, be it Chinese or English. We expect our Chinese elite to be proficient not only in both Chinese and English, and possess a depth of knowledge of both Eastern and Western cultures, but also have a good knowledge of and respect for the cultures of the minority races. In the field of learning, they should not be narrow-minded Chinese specialists, but broad-minded people who are knowledgeable about other fields of learning as well. More importantly, they ought to have a broad cultural vision and a world view. The outstanding graduates of our SAP schools and other secondary schools, after receiving specialised training in tertiary institutions, can become the ideal Chinese elite who are certainly no Chinese chauvinists.Secondly, those of us who are Chinese-educated are fully aware that although Chinese is the largest ethnic group in Singapore, we are a multi-racial, multi-cultural nation, and our future Singaporean culture will never be purely Chinese. Like a fabric woven with a diversity of colourful strands of threads, our society contains rich cultural heritage which hails from Europe, China, India and the Malay world. We live in a community where different cultures interact, we absorb and learn from one another's fine traditions. In our perception, our future society will not be a melting pot dominated by a particular culture, but a potpourri in which all different cultures can be preserved and developed fully.Finally, I might add that I believe that the Chinese elite can only be successful and continue to develop when they are nurtured in the above-mentioned way and in the context of our modern Singapore. 我们所需要的华文精英刘蕙霞近日政府领导人多次提出本国须栽培华文精英，主要目的有二：配合当前经济需求与培养华族文化传承人。对于这个概念，华文教育者都普遍赞同，年轻的双语一代，据我所知，也深感到有这种必要。只是，有一小部分人持相反的意见。这种反对之声，反映在《海峡时报》5月26日一位读者的来函中。共2页，当前第1页12
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