Need to 'look beyond Chinese-educated candidates'
By Cassandra Chew
DPM Wong said the PAP will field fewer Chinese-educated candidates over time due to party renewal, but the Government will take into account the concerns of the Mandarin-speaking community in its policies. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
OVER time, as the People's Action Party (PAP) renews its ranks with younger candidates, it will field fewer Chinese-educated ones, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said yesterday.
But he assured the Mandarin-speaking community that the Government will still take into account their concerns in its policies.
'We will make sure that whatever decision we will make will be in the national interest and, of course, having due regard to our cultural heritage and our roots and the need to ensure that we can continue to understand our culture and tradition.
'The need for the bilingual policy will still remain,' he said.
The party is not against fielding Chinese-educated candidates, he added, but must look beyond them for party renewal.
'We must look for young people who can represent the aspirations of the whole segment of society and also of a significant group of young people,' said Mr Wong.
He noted that since the introduction of the bilingual policy in 1965, younger generations of Singaporeans have been educated in English and learnt their mother tongue as a subject, whether it was Chinese, Malay or Tamil.
'Because of the education system, increasingly you'd find that there are not many who are completely proficient Chinese speakers - except those who are exceptional, who... go to Chinese schools or universities in other countries, or they have a special interest in the language and continue to work at the Chinese language,' he said.
Mr Wong was responding to a question on whether the PAP's new slate of candidates will be able to replace outgoing MPs with a Chinese background.
The Straits Times reported yesterday that three such MPs have confirmed their retirement from politics with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong over the past week.
They are Hong Kah GRC MP Ang Mong Seng, 61; Joo Chiat MP Chan Soo Sen, 55; and Marine Parade GRC MP Ong Seh Hong, 48.
The party also still fields candidates who are fluent in Mandarin, such as Mr Baey Yam Keng of Tanjong Pagar GRC, and some others introduced as candidates this week, he added.
All five Chinese candidates introduced this week delivered prepared opening remarks in both English and Mandarin.
Only two, however, were fluent enough to field questions in Mandarin.
The two were Mr Ong Ye Kung, 41, an assistant secretary-general of the labour movement National Trades Union Congress, and Mr Steve Tan, 38, an executive secretary of Young NTUC.
Yesterday, Mr Tan, who is active in the xinyao or local Chinese folk-pop scene, described himself as not just bilingual, but also bicultural.
'I have a deep emotional attachment to the Chinese culture,' he said.
By Cassandra Chew
DPM Wong said the PAP will field fewer Chinese-educated candidates over time due to party renewal, but the Government will take into account the concerns of the Mandarin-speaking community in its policies. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
OVER time, as the People's Action Party (PAP) renews its ranks with younger candidates, it will field fewer Chinese-educated ones, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said yesterday.
But he assured the Mandarin-speaking community that the Government will still take into account their concerns in its policies.
'We will make sure that whatever decision we will make will be in the national interest and, of course, having due regard to our cultural heritage and our roots and the need to ensure that we can continue to understand our culture and tradition.
'The need for the bilingual policy will still remain,' he said.
The party is not against fielding Chinese-educated candidates, he added, but must look beyond them for party renewal.
'We must look for young people who can represent the aspirations of the whole segment of society and also of a significant group of young people,' said Mr Wong.
He noted that since the introduction of the bilingual policy in 1965, younger generations of Singaporeans have been educated in English and learnt their mother tongue as a subject, whether it was Chinese, Malay or Tamil.
'Because of the education system, increasingly you'd find that there are not many who are completely proficient Chinese speakers - except those who are exceptional, who... go to Chinese schools or universities in other countries, or they have a special interest in the language and continue to work at the Chinese language,' he said.
Mr Wong was responding to a question on whether the PAP's new slate of candidates will be able to replace outgoing MPs with a Chinese background.
The Straits Times reported yesterday that three such MPs have confirmed their retirement from politics with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong over the past week.
They are Hong Kah GRC MP Ang Mong Seng, 61; Joo Chiat MP Chan Soo Sen, 55; and Marine Parade GRC MP Ong Seh Hong, 48.
The party also still fields candidates who are fluent in Mandarin, such as Mr Baey Yam Keng of Tanjong Pagar GRC, and some others introduced as candidates this week, he added.
All five Chinese candidates introduced this week delivered prepared opening remarks in both English and Mandarin.
Only two, however, were fluent enough to field questions in Mandarin.
The two were Mr Ong Ye Kung, 41, an assistant secretary-general of the labour movement National Trades Union Congress, and Mr Steve Tan, 38, an executive secretary of Young NTUC.
Yesterday, Mr Tan, who is active in the xinyao or local Chinese folk-pop scene, described himself as not just bilingual, but also bicultural.
'I have a deep emotional attachment to the Chinese culture,' he said.
