Youth Must See China Beyond Its Major Cities, S'pore Beyond Its Chinese Majority, Says Chan

Two Nations Must Have a Deep Understanding of Each Other to Fuel Cooperation: Minister

- Gabrielle Chan

Young people in Singapore need to understand China beyond its major cities and not assume that it is monolithic, while students from China should also appreciate Singapore not just as a Chinese-majority society, said Education Minister Chan Chun Sing.

"It is only when our youth spend the time and effort to truly understand one another in depth that we will plant the seeds for future cooperation, never making the assumptions that we are similar," he said. "But even though we are different, that does not mean we cannot work together."

In fact, it is because of the countries' differences that they each bring unique strengths to the partnership.

Speaking at the Singapore-China Global Young Leaders forum on Feb 6, Mr Chan said: "Both China and Singapore, in all our cooperation projects, from economics to security and beyond, bring our different perspectives, and do it with mutual respect and a deep understanding of each other's needs and problems.

"It is on that basis that I look forward to the youth of this generation continuing to carry the flame of mutual cooperation in the years to come."