Mediacorp Chinese editorial chief takes over as chairman of Promote Mandarin Council
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Mr Chua Chim Kang, 52, has taken over as chairman for the term starting on Aug 1, 2018, and ending on July 2020.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHUA CHIM KANG
Toh Ting Wei
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SINGAPORE - The current head of Chinese editorial content at Mediacorp and former editor of evening daily Lianhe Wanbao has been appointed chairman of the Promote Mandarin Council.
In a statement on Wednesday evening (Aug 29), the council said that Mr Chua Chim Kang, 52, has taken over as chairman for the term starting on Aug 1 and ending on July 2020.
Mr Chua replaces Mr Seow Choke Meng, 69, who has been at the helm for the past seven years.
In addition, 11 new members were added to the council. These members replaced 10 other outgoing members.
Among new members added to the council are Mr Andy Hoon, the chief executive of Kim San Leng (F&B) Group, and Madam Heng Boey Hong, director of mother tongue languages, curriculum planning and development at Ministry of Education.
Mr Chua, who took on his role at Mediacorp in March, told The Straits Times: "I love the language, I am a writer, I have worked in the media for the past 18 years.
"When I was called upon to pick up the challenge, I saw this as a responsibility and a challenge."
He said that he will look to promote easy and fun ways of learning Mandarin. He added that that the new council will finalise its direction for his term before the end of this year.
The council will meet up together next month for an internal workshop, before Mr Chua calls for a meeting to map out the council's direction.
"It's good that the council members come from different backgrounds, and have different ideas. We will need to go through a session to understand our expectations, and it's good for me to listen to them before we decide how to move forward," he said.
The council said in its statement that former chairman, Mr Seow, is a strong advocate of bilingualism and biculturalism, and lauded his contributions during his tenure.
The initiatives Mr Seow had launched with his team included the Parent-Child Talent Competition in 2013. The event provides opportunities for parents to bond with their children while learning and speaking Mandarin.
Mr Seow and his team also launched an annual public speaking competition last year, which encourages young Mandarin speakers between the age of 13 and 18 to express themselves creatively through public speaking.
Mr Seow said: "It was a very exciting and meaningful journey for the council and me. We set out to do something with the aim of encouraging Chinese Singaporeans to speak more Mandarin.
"I would say we achieved to some extent the things we set out to do."
