Minister Chee Hong Tat at the Hokkien Huay Kuan 20th Anniversary of BiCEP

新加坡福建会馆会长 蔡其生先生
国会同僚 蔡引舟先生
各位福建会馆理事、属校校长
老师们、校友们以及热心本地华社文教的来宾们
各位同学

大家下午好！

非常高兴出席新加坡福建会馆“双文化华文优选课程”成立20周年的庆典，和大家一起见证这个非常有意义的里程碑。

刚才我们参观了录音课，看到很多校友，他们重温学生时代，一起录音，好像回到了他们小学的时候。这也让我再次感受到，好的教育不仅仅教会学生知识，更会留下珍贵的回忆，陪伴他们成长，让他们在成长的过程中，打下好的基础。

“双文化华文优选课程” Bi-Cultural Chinese Elective Programme，简称 “BiCEP” 。这样的课程，让我们的学生在轻松愉快的学习过程中，很自然地掌握双语能力，提升跨文化素养。

新加坡是亚洲的一部分，我们吸收了东方的文化传统、价值观和美德，我们也借鉴了西方的制度和经验。但我们不能忘记，我们是一个东方社会、亚洲社会。我们学习西方的经验和科技，与此同时，我们有着东方处事待人的价值观。我们之所以要重视并学习母语，是因为这能让我们更好地认识到我们自己文化的根。

英语是我们多元种族社会的共同语言，我们在政府部门和商业场合都使用英语沟通。但我们不仅要学好英语，与世界其他国家接轨、经商，并与不同族群的国人沟通，每个族群也必须重视并学习自己的母语。因为母语承载着我们的文化、价值观和历史，是我们的根，也是我们文化认同的重要基础。

双语是新加坡的一个优势，它不仅是一种语言能力，更是一把认识世界的钥匙。这正是我们建国一代领导人的远见，他们使双语成为我国教育制度体系的一个重要基石。

早在20年前，福建会馆有类似的前瞻性考量，意识到双语和跨文化教育的重要性，率先设立双文化华语优选课程。会馆最初在五所属会小学试行，帮助学生认识新加坡华族文化，理解中华文化，欣赏不同文化之间的异同，真正做到有福同享。

如今，当年参加第一批课程的小学生已经毕业步入职场，他们在不同领域发挥所长。我刚才和几位校友聊天时，很高兴听他们分享多年来的经历：有的成为电台主持人，有的曾在万态野生动物世界（Mandai Wildlife Reserve）策划以华语进行的活动，有的投身艺术，也有的投身于公共服务以及金融领域。虽然领域不同，但他们都反映，自己不仅通过课程打好双语基础、对文化有更深的理解，也拓展他们的思维和视野。

当年通过福建会馆、校长和老师们的努力耕耘、当年所播下的种子，如今已在不同领域开花结果，以各自的方式贡献社会，这正是教育最珍贵的成果，也是会馆20年来坚持耕耘最好的回报。

“十年树木，百年树人”，这份成果，离不开会馆的远见与坚持，也离不开历任校长的大力推动与支持，以及老师们多年来的悉心栽培和默默付出。因为有您的努力，才能让一代又一代学生从中受益，因为有您的付出，当年的学生现在能在不同领域为国家和社会做出贡献。让我们以热烈的掌声再次感谢我们的校长们和老师们！

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, in the spirit of bilingualism and biculturalism, please allow me to say a few words in English.

I am delighted to join all of you today to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the Bi-Cultural Chinese Elective Programme (BiCEP).

Bilingualism has always been one of Singapore’s greatest strengths. It might not have been the easiest policy to implement - Mr Lee Kuan Yew has also shared his own experience learning Mandarin in his book. Why then did he and our pioneer generation of leaders firmly believe in the importance of a bilingual education. This is because they know that we need English to be able to connect Singapore with the rest of the world and to do business with the rest of the world. We are also a multicultural and multiracial society - we need English as a common language so that different groups of Singaporeans with different ethnic backgrounds can communicate effectively with one another.

But at the same time, if we only know English and don’t know our mother tongue, it is not adequate, because we are missing something. And this is why a bilingual education is so important, because we want to achieve the best of both worlds for our young people and our students. We learn English well, and at the same time, learn our Mother Tongue well – because our Mother Tongue is a link that connects us to our cultural roots and identity.

Singapore may be a cosmopolitan city, and in many aspects, our operating system, our laws and our ability to adopt the latest technologies, we are not so different from many other Western societies. Nonetheless, we must be clear that we are not a Western society. Singapore is and will be an Asian society.  

This is something that brings to the floor the importance of having a good understanding of our Mother Tongue languages and our sense of identity. Our Mother Tongue plays an important role in strengthening our roots, persevering our cultural heritage and nurturing our sense of self-identity.

Think about it like a tree. If you want a tree to grow big and strong, you need deep roots that are firmly anchored in the ground. And that is what a sense of rootedness and identity mean to me. The stronger our roots are, the further we can extend our branches and the bigger the tree can grow. If we want Singapore to be open and connected to the world, if we want Singapore to continue to be an international cosmopolitan city, then all the more, we must pay attention to preserving our cultural identity and our roots. That is what will give us that sense of rootedness and self-confidence, knowing who we are as a team.

Learning a language is about much more than learning about the vocabulary and grammar. It is also a key to open doors to understanding different cultures, appreciating diverse perspectives and navigating an increasingly interconnected world with confidence.

Over the past 20 years, BiCEP has grown from a pilot programme in five primary schools into an initiative that has benefited many more students across Singapore. As Mr Thomas Chua mentioned earlier in his speech, we hope that this programme can be extended to many other schools, like-minded partners, that want their students to benefit. Hokkien Huay Kuan will be very happy to work with them, to see how we can encourage more students to be able to benefit from such a programme.

We are also very happy to see how cohorts of alumni, former batches of students, are now contributing to society in their respective domains. I see this as a testament of the programme’s impact.

For that, I want to express on behalf of our students, a big thank you to our educators, our principals and our teachers, for your many years of dedication and hard work, for imparting knowledge, and more importantly, values to our students.  

最后，我要再次感谢福建会馆，我也要恭喜所有得奖者，谢谢你们一路以来的努力与贡献。我也祝愿“双文化华文优选课程“在未来继续蓬勃发展，让更多学生从中受益。

谢谢大家！