Singapore Government Supports Chinese Community Organizations to Attract New Blood and Cultivate Successors

Many clan associations in Singapore face the problems of a generation gap and insufficient resources. The government will support Chinese community organizations in launching a brand-new youth community leader training program to encourage societies to bring in new blood and renew themselves.

According to Lianhe Zaobao, on the 17th, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong affirmed the contributions of the Chinese community to the nation-building process in his Chinese speech at the National Day Rally, and pledged that the government would strengthen cooperation with Chinese community organizations.

Singapore’s Minister for National Development, Desmond Lee, was appointed as the chairman of the Chinese Community Liaison Group in May. Lawrence Wong said that Desmond Lee and his team have started work, visiting various societies and clan associations, and learned that many face a generational gap and resource shortages.

In addition to affirming the contributions of the Chinese community, Lawrence Wong also thanked Chinese language teachers for their hard work in the process of nation building. "They have worked tirelessly and cultivated generations of community pillars."

To mark Singapore’s 60th anniversary, the Chinese Media Group has planned a series of teacher appreciation events and will hold a grand banquet for a thousand teachers on September 6th, paying tribute to dedicated Chinese language teachers and other teachers who used Chinese to teach subjects like math, science, history, and geography during the nation-building years.

Lawrence Wong said that in the early days of nation-building, the Chinese community injected Southeast Asian characteristics into local textbooks to replace teaching materials from China and Hong Kong. This played an important role in nurturing a local identity among Singaporean Chinese.

"This has had a great impact on Singapore's post-independence development—not only helping us build our own cultural confidence and identity, but also prompting the Chinese community to support multicultural and multiracial policies."