Speeches
Speech by RAdm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, at the Campfire Ceremony, 3rd Nan Hua International Summer Camp on Thursday 10 July 2008, at 7.35pm at Nan Hua High School
Dr Foo Suan Fong, Principal, Nan Hua High School
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Campers and Teachers,
Good evening.
I am happy to join you at this campfire. Judging by your broad smiles, I can see that you have enjoyed yourselves tremendously. I am certain that participating in this camp has given you opportunities to build strong friendships, understand other cultures and, for our overseas friends, get a taste of what is uniquely Singaporean. To see our friends from other countries standing among our own people, I am reminded of a beautiful and dazzling mosaic.
The Globalised World Stage
As the theme “Mosaic—Joining Cultures, Shaping Futures” suggests, I am sure that this summer camp has provided you, the participants with ample opportunities to learn about each other’s cultures and explore how you can prepare yourselves for a future of countless possibilities. All of you represent the current globalised reality that we are living in. With time and cost-effective modes of transport, satellite communication and the internet, we have become increasingly interconnected. In turn, we see a social reality where there is an increasing desire to hook up with and learn from those far removed from our own immediate environment.
That is why schools in many countries have forged international partnerships to promote the exchange of ideas and learning. Our schools have used international collaborations to good effect and our students benefit from exchange and twinning programmes, overseas learning trips and collaborations on research projects. The experiences gained from these interactions with their counterparts who have different experiences and perspectives broaden the horizons of our young, creating for them learning opportunities outside the classroom and enabling them to understand the world as it is.
The Nan Hua High Platform
Nan Hua High is an example of such a school. Throughout a good part of the school year, the school hosts visitors from foreign schools and institutes of learning. I am heartened to hear that in the first quarter of this year alone, Nan Hua High has received more than 300 guests from various countries. Even as many come to learn from Nan Hua High, I believe the school has also been enriched by their exchanges with their foreign guests.
The Summer Camp
For Nan Hua High, a key programme for forging international links is the Nan Hua International Summer Camp, of which you are all a part. In this third run, you have been enjoying well-designed interactive activities and learning journeys. To understand Singapore better, you have heard local entrepreneurs share their success stories, visited a HDB heartland and competed in an adventure race through our cultural and shopping hotspots. To help you build bonds, you have tried your hand at a dragon boat race, batik printing and now stand as one at this campfire.
As you play host to your friends from the region, I hope that the various activities have helped our own young people develop a stronger sense of cohesiveness, heightened cultural awareness, and deeper roots to Singapore. I also hope that our foreign participants have gained much from this intercultural exchange, and have acquired a keener understanding of Singapore’s economic, social and multicultural uniqueness.
More importantly, I trust that all of you have formed firm friendships with one another and I hope that you will maintain and develop your ties beyond the summer camp. The strong bonds that you build through this camp will stand you in good stead as you become leaders of the new global future. Your enduring friendships will help you develop a common understanding and cohesiveness as you take on leadership roles as adults. Surely, this augurs well for our future.
On this note, I wish you a memorable and fun-filled campfire!
Thank you