Mr Lee Yi Shyan at the River Valley High School 50th Anniversary Dinner

SPEECH BY MR LEE YI SHYAN, MINISTER OF STATE, MINISTRY OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT RIVER VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL 50TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER ON 8 SEPTEMBER 2006, RAFFLES CONVENTION CENTRE

Mr Leck Kim Koon

Chairman, School Advisory Committee

Miss Ek Soo Ben

Principal

Mr Derek Tan

President, River Valley Alumni

Mdm Prisca Ong

President, RV Parent-Teacher Association

Teachers, Parents, Members of Alumni, Boys and Girls

Good evening,

It is my pleasure and honor to join you in celebrating River Valley’s 50th Anniversary. This occasion is a special one, as it gives us the opportunity to honor those who have contributed to education and the development of our youths using River Valley as a platform.

Education – the best investment we can make

Education is a subject that is close to the hearts of everyone. It is a subject that everyone has a view on as it has a profound impact on our lives. Each one of us has a child, a niece or nephew or grandchild in school, and most of us have played some part in either shaping Singapore’s education policies or in shaping the direction that River Valley has taken in its 50-year history. Education also shapes how we think, how we interact with one another and our attitude towards life.

Education has been a cornerstone for our economic development. In Singapore, we have consistently spent an average of 4% of our GDP on education. This is arguably one of the highest level of educational spending in the world. We constantly upgrade school facilities and invest heavily in the training of our teachers. We do so to ensure that our students are equipped for the fast changing and sometimes bewildering world once they leave the school system.

A Relevant Mission

To help its students prepare themselves to fit into society, RV has focused its mission on developing a community of achievers, rooted in tradition yet equipped for the future. RV’s mission is “to nurture bilingual, independent learners with integrity and a sense of tradition so as to produce useful citizens and leaders, ready to face the challenges of a changing world and to contribute significantly to society". I find this vision most apt and relevant. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, it is your emphasis on bilingual education. Secondly, it is your goal to develop leaders. I can identify with these two emphases and I would like to share with you some observations from my years of working with Singapore businesses to grow, domestically and internationally.

Bilingual Emphasis

First, bilingual education. Amongst the many areas in which RV has excelled in, I think RV should be proud of her bilingual tradition. For many years, RV has produced many bilingual talents who are now making meaningful contributions in our society in various capacities. Some well known personalities include Dr Chua Chee Lay who was the Chinese language tutor to Minister Mentor Lee; Mdm You Jin, a well-known local writer and teacher in Pioneer Junior College, as well as Mr Cai Sheng Jiang who is the Deputy Chief Editor of the recently-launched Chinese newspaper “My Paper”.

Going forward, bilingual graduates will be in even greater demand, both locally and globally, spurred in large part by the rapid rise of China. After 25 years of liberalization and market reform, China has catapulted itself to be the world’s 4th largest economy with a GDP of US$2 trillion. As the market potential of China is unlocked, there will be many business opportunities for Singapore firms. To understand how business is done in China, to acquire market insights, build relationships, in short, to succeed in China, one has to have a strong mastery of the Chinese language.

Apart from the economic motivation to master the Chinese language, we must also realize that as China succeeds economically, she will also re-exert culturally. After all, China is a civilization with a rich history dating as far back as 5,000 years. In this 21st century, new icons of Chinese culture will soon take their place on the world’s stage, especially pop culture, just like the popular 哈日and 韩流fads. Chinese songs, movies, books, art, and online games are spreading on the Internet. They will become as ubiquitous as Hollywood. In short, China will achieve a modern-day renaissance – a replay of the splendor of her culture and civilization of the yesteryears. Both economically and culturally, China will be a very powerful country on the world stage in the years to come.

These are realities that have not gone unnoticed. According to China’s Ministry of Education, there were more than 140,000 foreign students studying in Chinese schools in 2005 – a 27 per cent jump from 2004.TIME magazine recently reported that even the famous Eton College in the UK has about half of its students opting to learn Chinese. In addition, well-known universities in the US and UK are also opening campuses in China.

If foreigners are catching on to the importance of mastering the Chinese language in order to be part of China’s rise, we being ethnically Chinese should also capitalize on our natural advantage to master the language. I think what we need is to create a “larger environment” (大环境) for learning Chinese. The whole idea is to make the language come alive, beyond the classroom, into public places, social gatherings and business meetings. To succeed, we need the cooperation of parents, teachers, the media and the society at large.

To this end, I am very happy to note that River Valley High School is in the forefront of developing such a learning environment for its students. It is rolling out its Bicultural Studies Program (Chinese) from next year (check). Anchored in Chinese Studies and Chinese Culture, the programme is developed with a global perspective in mind, where the students will acquire an appreciation of the role that language and culture play in society. BCP students will study Higher Chinese, be involved in translation work, as well as read Chinese classic and contemporary literature that cover a wide range of essays, plays, novels and poetry”. Beyond RV’s innovative curriculum, RV also intends to implement extended immersion programs for its BCS students. By immersing themselves among native speakers, I have no doubt that your students will make even more remarkable progress in learning good and standard Mandarin.

I think River Valley is on the right track. For our students to master a language well, they must have a personal interest in the language and culture. Our students should not just study for the sake of passing exams, or else, they will not go far. As such, I would like to encourage the school to build up the interest of the students in Chinese culture, by involving them in the production of plays and musicals, or letting them try their hand at painting or calligraphy. In this way, building up their interest in Chinese culture could also act as motivation for them to master the language at a higher level.

Last Saturday, at Prof Chew Cheng Hai’s 65th birthday, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said: “We must aim to have 3 per cent, if possible 5 per cent, of our Chinese bilingualists with a high command of Chinese to do business in China and service PRC Chinese companies in Singapore. Most difficult of all is to have that 0.1 per cent who must learn higher Chinese to teach the teachers. They are the guardians of the Chinese language in Singapore. They have to develop and transmit the language to the next generation”.

I know River Valley along with other SAP schools will take Minister Mentor’s challenge seriously. River Valley’s students come from the top 3 to 5 per cent of each PSLE cohort, and how effectively bilingual or bicultural your students are today will also determine how bilingual or bicultural we will be as a nation tomorrow.

Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders

Now let me move on to the second point about developing leaders for tomorrow. As Singapore economy transforms itself into a knowledge-based economy, we will have to increasingly compete in the first league. To do so, we will need committed leaders with the vision, to steer Singapore forward.

宋朝的范仲淹说：“先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐“ 正好说明了有识之士应有的抱负和“牺牲小我和完成大我“的精神。I hope students in River Valley will, in your study of Singapore history and current affairs, understand the vulnerabilities of Singapore as a nation state and what it takes for Singapore to sustain its economic competitiveness, yet remaining a place which we can call home, a place where many will want to live, work and play. We need leaders who can 居安思危, always look ahead into the horizon, yet at the same time, look after its people. These leadership qualities can be developed when in school, in River Valley. I hope many of you would start to think how you want to contribute to the society. 做一个有抱负的年轻人。

In conclusion, let me wish the RV family every success in reaching greater heights and being at the forefront in taking on new challenges. Happy 50th Anniversary。Happy Birthday!