Wanted: China-savvy civil servants

By Goh Chin Lian, The Straits Times, Jul 26, 2009

Miss Tan Bao Jia has stayed with a family in Nanjing and sat for a language examination in Sichuan.

She tasted these intimate slices of life in China as a student in Dunman High's bicultural programme.

For the next four years, Miss Tan, 19, will experience vastly more of China as an economics undergraduate at Peking University.

Yesterday, the young Singaporean was one of 10 winners of the Public Service Commission's (PSC) new China scholarship.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the PSC scholarship awards ceremony that Singapore must send more scholars to China who can then better understand the Chinese world.

He also announced a new overseas development programme to nurture China-savvy public servants.

This allows fresh school leavers and mid-career professionals to work for three to nine months in Singapore government offices in China or companies there.

They will return to do China-related work in the public service.

The focus on China is a recognition of its influence in the world and its relevance to Singapore, said the Prime Minister.

Bilateral ties are strong. Many Singapore companies operate all over the country.

Mr Lee said: "We need people who can understand the Chinese...be comfortable in their milieu, be able to read how they think, how they act."

These public servants should know some people in China personally and tap these ties for "mutual benefit", he added.

While the PSC has sent scholars to China since 1993, the numbers have been small.

But the effort to build bicultural and bilingual talent in secondary schools has been successful, noted Mr Lee.

Eight of the 10 China scholars rose from these programmes.

The 10 will spend four years as undergraduates in China, then pursue a master's degree anywhere in the world for two years.

Mr Lee gave out PSC scholarships to a record 87 students.

Of these, 38 will pursue their studies in Britain, and 24 in the United States.

The rest will study in China, Japan and Singapore.

In his speech at the Shangri-La Hotel, Mr Lee reminded the young people of Singapore's early scho-lars, who contributed vitally to the growth of the fledgling nation.

They transformed the economy, housed the nation, integrated the races, and more.

The new scholarship holders, too, can play a big part in totally transforming Singapore, he indicated.

So he urged them to experience the world – be it bonding with classmates from other nations or interning at firms during vacations.

They will gain different perspectives and fresh ideas to make Singapore better, he said.

Ms Tan, meanwhile, said she hoped to gain new understanding of Chinese ways, which include the use of guanxi or personal connections.

Singapore's links to China were also on the mind of China-born scholar Cao Lei, 21, who left Xian for Singapore 10 years ago.

She will study natural science at Britain's Cambridge University.

At her PSC scholarship interview in May, she told the panel that both China and Singapore are home to her.

"I believe both sides can benefit each other," said Ms Cao, who became a Singapore citizen last month and wants to be a new bridge.