Multicultural exchanges crucial for integration, says PM Lee

He highlights Hwa Chong Institution's efforts to expose its students to different cultures

(From left) Hwa Chong alumnus and artist Lee Kow Fong, popularly known as Ah Guo, showing his watercolour illustrations to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Hwa Chong Institution principal Pang Choon How. Guests enjoying a toast at the school's 100t
Attendees enjoying the fireworks display at Hwa Chong Institution's 100th anniversary celebration at its campus in Bukit Timah last night. More than 12,000 alumni, staff and students attended the event. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
(From left) Hwa Chong alumnus and artist Lee Kow Fong, popularly known as Ah Guo, showing his watercolour illustrations to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Hwa Chong Institution principal Pang Choon How. Guests enjoying a toast at the school's 100t
Guests enjoying a toast at the school's 100th anniversary gala dinner last night. Many alumni had flown back from abroad specially to celebrate their alma mater's centenary. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG
(From left) Hwa Chong alumnus and artist Lee Kow Fong, popularly known as Ah Guo, showing his watercolour illustrations to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Hwa Chong Institution principal Pang Choon How. Guests enjoying a toast at the school's 100t
(From left) Hwa Chong alumnus and artist Lee Kow Fong, popularly known as Ah Guo, showing his watercolour illustrations to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Hwa Chong Institution principal Pang Choon How. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

Hwa Chong Institution may be steeped in Chinese history and language, but the school has taken steps to ensure its students are exposed to different cultures, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

He underlined the importance of having multicultural exchanges in a speech last evening to some 12,000 alumni, staff and students at the school's 100th anniversary gala dinner, held at its campus in Bukit Timah.

"Maintaining such multicultural exchanges is critical to promoting cohesion and integration in our society," PM Lee said in Mandarin.

Hwa Chong, a Special Assistance Plan (SAP) school, has few non-Chinese students. The school has, however, striven to give students the opportunity to mix with peers of different races and backgrounds through various activities, he noted.

For instance, the school partners ITE College West to organise a joint overseas community involvement programme trip, during which students from both schools work and live together.

Besides Hwa Chong, every school should promote the spirit of openness and tolerance because it helps preserve the foundation of Singapore's multiracial and multicultural society, PM Lee added.

"At the same time, we should also strengthen the teaching of mother tongues, enrich the heritage of our society, and further consolidate our country's multiracial, multicultural national identity."

Speaking in both Mandarin and English, he traced Hwa Chong's history, and said it is very much intertwined with Singapore's.

The school, which started with around 70 students in a small building in Niven Road in the Selegie area, has witnessed and participated in many pivotal events, he said, from World War II to the fight for independence from the British in the 1950s and separation from Malaysia in 1965.

For instance, many Chinese students - including those from Hwa Chong - joined anti-colonial protests after World War II.

On the one hand, they were inspired by a movement happening in the world, he noted. On the other, some felt they had been treated unfairly under the colonial system, and wished to rise up against it.

"In the turbulent 1950s and 1960s, Hwa Chong provided the back-drop for anti-colonial and anti-government struggles, and many students were affected by left-leaning thinking," PM Lee said. "It was a time of turbulence."

Enrolment in Chinese-language schools dwindled in the 1970s, as English schools grew in popularity. Nine SAP schools were thus introduced in 1979 to preserve the traditional Chinese school cultural environment.

Hwa Chong was one of the nine. Today, the school is recognised for its high academic performance and bilingual alumni, PM Lee said.

He added that the school has to make a concerted effort on three fronts to continue thriving as an educational institution.

First, it must uphold high academic achievements, even as it continues to emphasise all-rounded education and the cultivation of character and values.

Second, it has a "special responsibility" as a SAP school to promote Chinese traditional culture, values and heritage, and to help students to master their mother tongue.

"This was the reason Mr Lee Kuan Yew introduced SAP schools in 1979. He wanted to revive the spirit of the old Chinese middle schools," he said, adding these schools had "emphasised character development, seriousness of purpose and the spirit of community".

Third, Hwa Chong students must "understand the context of our society, and their own responsibilities within it", PM Lee said. "You must know how Singapore society works, identify with fellow Singaporeans of all races and religions and feel a responsibility for your fellow citizens.

"You need to feel a calling to participate in community and national affairs, to contribute to the society and system that has nurtured you, and to take on leadership roles to help take Singapore forward."

Concluding in Mandarin, PM Lee noted that Hwa Chong is celebrating its 100th anniversary and Singapore, its bicentennial.

The road ahead is full of trials and tribulations, he said.

But citing the school's motto for continuous improvement, he said the country will continue to flourish if it adopts that same approach.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 22, 2019, with the headline Multicultural exchanges crucial for integration, says PM Lee. Subscribe