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.
我們所需要的華文精英
劉蕙霞
近日政府領導人多次提出本國須栽培華文精英，主要目的有二：配合當前經濟需求與培養華族文化傳承人。對於這個概念，華文教育者都普遍贊同，年輕的雙語一代，據我所知，也深感到有這種必要。只是，有一小部分人持相反的意見。這種反對之聲，反映在《海峽時報》5月26日一位讀者的來函中。
我對華、英兩種語文背景的人都熟悉，照我的推測，發表這意見的人，大概是受英文教育者，她對華族語言和文化隔膜，對本國教育過去的歷史發展與語文政策的改變，瞭解不深，因此對華文精英的概念產生誤解。爲了排除她的疑慮，我作下列兩項解釋：
一、我們構想中的華文精英絕非是沙文主義者，我們的社會，不能讓任何一種沙文主義存在，不管它是華文還是英文沙文主義。因此華文精英不但是精通華英兩語文，並洞悉東西文化，並且也須認識與尊重本國少數民族的文化。在學識方面，他們不是狹隘的華文專才，而是廣泛地熟悉其他學術領域，並具有廣闊的文化視野與世界觀。特選中學與其他中學栽培出來的優秀學生，經過大專特別專門訓練後，該可能成爲這個模式的精英，而不是狹窄的具有偏見的華文沙文主義者。
二、具有華文教育背景的人，也清楚明瞭，我們是多元民族、多元文化的社會，將來我們的文化，不可能是單純的中華文化，雖然華族人數佔大多數。我們有着源遠流長的不同種族的文化遺產，來自西歐、中國、印度及馬來世界，它們在互相交流、互相吸取優點，將來我們的社會不是“大熔爐”式的被某一文化控制的社會，而是“百花香壺”式的把各種文化遺產維持與發揚起來。因此，我們在贊成或栽培華文精英的同時，也強烈認爲，馬來及印度精英也該栽培，至於英文精英，英文是我們的主導與共同語言，英文精英老早在我們當中存在了，繼續栽培年輕一代的英文精英，是理所當然的。
最後，我相信，只有在符合上述的模式與環境下栽培出來的華文精英，才能在現代的新加坡產生和生存下來。
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.
我們所需要的華文精英
劉蕙霞
近日政府領導人多次提出本國須栽培華文精英，主要目的有二：配合當前經濟需求與培養華族文化傳承人。對於這個概念，華文教育者都普遍贊同，年輕的雙語一代，據我所知，也深感到有這種必要。只是，有一小部分人持相反的意見。這種反對之聲，反映在《海峽時報》5月26日一位讀者的來函中。