SUPPORT FOR AND CONCERNS OVER ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTS WITH CHINA

2.31 pm

Mdm Claire Chiang See Ngoh (Nominated Member): (In Mandarin): An article appearing on the 20th of August issue of the Yazhou Zhoukan (Chinese version of Asiaweek) ended with this conclusion: "The fast and continuing growth of China's economy will change the economic structure of Asia, and end the era dominated by the four dragons and conclude the leadership roles played by America and Japan in directing the economy of Asia." In other words, China has now become the new leader in the economic fast train in Asia and will affect the growth and prosperity of the region in definite ways.

In view of these trends, our top leadership, including Ministers, senior civil servants and business leaders had led many delegations to China to explore new opportunities. The Minister for Trade and Industry, BG George Yeo also made a call to Singaporeans to hurry up and join the ride on this fast-tracked economic train to China. This call has generated a lot of discussions. But to take the ride, you must first buy the tickets for the train. Can you secure the tickets? Can you afford it? From where could you purchase the tickets? Where is the embarkation point and where is the destination point?

If we look at the small and medium enterprises, do we have the economic robustness and potential to be aggressive players in the Chinese market? As the Chinese market is dynamic and complex, are our Singaporeans savvy enough to identify the way to go? Even if they have the guts to give China a try, many do not know how to adopt the next step. We all know that this kind of venture into China is a very difficult and arduous one and many give up half-way.

Although our forefathers migrated to Singapore from China, the generations after them have changed. The new generation of Singaporeans are not familiar with the background, culture, history, law and systems of China. At the operation level, China first entered a business relationship on the basis of human sentiments, followed by reason, then secured by laws. Singaporeans are the exact opposite. Recently, a young reader was reported in the newspaper to have openly expressed contempt of China and denied his own cultural identity. This shows that a segment of our young people are short-sighted in perspective. This incident led to another question which was subsequently raised by many: Will the following generations of Chinese in Singapore become culturally "rootless" in their total acceptance of western influence? If this might have been the result of coping with political, economic and ethnic forces beyond the control of the government and any racial group, then how can this destiny help us now to identify a group of entrepreneurs willing and daring to break into the China market?

We have been promoting bilingualism in Singapore. Yet, our standard of Chinese is way below that in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. This is evident from the poor performance of our students in the inter-varsity debates and essay-writing contests held recently. Under our present education system, Chinese is only a second language and it has not been given adequate emphasis. Our students study Chinese just to pass the examination, and once the examination is over, they simply discard the little Chinese that they have studied. As a result, our students are not able to read newspapers and magazines and it explains why the standard of Chinese among our students is low.

Even though language is not an absolute barrier against investment opportunity in China, it is nevertheless an important bridging factor in relationship- building. Because Chinese is one of the five official languages of the United Nations, it is incumbent on us to make it a policy to improve our standard and ability to speak Chinese internationally so that we can compete internationally. For example, when Deputy Prime Minister BG Lee went to China, he was able to cite Chinese poems from the Tang Dynasty, and it left an excellent impression on the officials and people of China. We should be able to establish better understanding and communication with the Chinese using the Chinese language which is our mother tongue.

If we are clear about this need, is it time now to revitalise our search for cultural roots, seriously review and reform our bilingual strategy, and have a comprehensive overhaul of our bilingual policy? There is a famous Chinese saying to the effect that for a workman to do his work well, he must first sharpen his tools. In the last few years, the political, business and worker sectors had worked in partnership to search for new economic measures. I would like to propose five measures, which are not strictly economic in nature, which in the short-run are immediately implementable, and in the long-run, form the foundation prerequisites in coping with the continuing Chinese economic challenge.

I would urge our Ministers and senior civil servants to speak in Mandarin when interviewed by the Chinese media, particularly when it is to be telecast over the Chinese-language television channels. All along, the promotion of Mandarin in the Speak Mandarin campaigns has been focused on the private sector. It is time for the Ministers to take the lead through various activities such as singing, speaking and other activities. I notice that in this House, the vast majority of speeches are made in English. Outside this House, we are talking about bilingualism. Why is it that inside this House, we are not practising bilingualism? We must have people on the top take the lead in practising bilingualism in this House. As the Chinese saying goes, "if people in power champion a cause, there will be many followers indeed." I am not playing up Chinese chauvinism by stressing the importance of the Chinese language. I am English-educated. But since young, I have not abandoned my interest in reading and studying Chinese and have never found it to have in any way diluted my sense of being a multi-cultural Singaporean, or my relationship with the other ethnic groups.

When you are facing the economic reality of a huge market of 1.3 billion people in China, we have to come to grips with the destiny and work harder at the Chinese language. When addressing the gathering of World Chinese entrepreneurs in Nanjing recently, the Chinese Premier Zhu Rong Zi said, "To help develop the Chinese economy, we need professionals in all sectors, specialists who thoroughly understand the working of the international market, and who also understand the traditional culture of China." (Lianhe Zaobao, September 20). His pronouncements are worth our serious scrutiny and reflection.

Secondly, I propose that we set up a professional translation bureau to provide batches of translators and interpreters equipped with the different language competence to assist the business community in successfully managing business discussions. I was told that many Singaporeans in China are incapable of reading Chinese documents and reports or taking notes in Chinese.

Thirdly, I propose that we create a pro-Chinese economic strategy by starting first with our young persons. I hope the future generations of our students would be given more opportunities to take part in exchange programmes with foreign countries, including China. We must send students and teachers at all levels to visit China so that we should not be seen as being arrogant and harbouring the mindset of "we are better than you". I hope that in our Budget next year, we should have more funds allocated to enable more students and teachers to visit China. At the same time, I hope more resources can be poured into setting up Chinese-language Internet stations, to encourage those who are Internet users to also use the Chinese Internet stations to access the enormous virtual and real marketplace dominated by the Chinese language.

Fourthly, we should form a special information resource department to enhance our understanding on doing business in China and assist Singapore businessmen overcome the initial anxiety in their venture into the Chinese market.

Fifthly, we should compile case studies of earlier pioneers and investors in the Chinese market and hear their experiences and observations. As a Chinese saying goes, after we have done our homework, we are prepared and fear no consequences. By knowing the differences between China and ourselves, we are more able to win the battles. Upon knowing the differences, we have to learn the ways to manage them - this becomes a required lesson that must be learnt before anyone marches on to China.

A few years ago, I wrote Stepping Out, stories of our pioneers who came from China to seek for their livelihood in Singapore. This time round, we should be talking about Going Back. Our pioneers once said, "By stepping out, we will find a livelihood. Today, we must say, "Let's go back and find new ways."

When my brother learnt that I was moving this motion in Parliament, he wrote me a letter and urged me to share his experience with this House. He said that when he first went to mainland China in 1989, he came across many difficulties, experienced many setbacks, and witnessed a lot of irrational happenings. However, he insisted on doing things the proper way, rather than going through the "backdoor". As a result, he commanded the respect of the local government and relevant authorities and received strong support from them. After many years of perseverance and hard work, through communication and understanding with the various quarters, everything seems to be smooth and ready for him now, and he has attained certain achievements in his endeavour. As such, he feels the best opportunity for our local SMEs is in China. They can use mainland China as the production base, and develop their products and receive orders in Singapore. However, he reminds would-be investors to China that China would not roll out its red carpet to receive the investors, but it would provide all kinds of facilities to them.

Many foreign investors go into China but are unable to adapt to the Chinese environment and they often go in with prejudices. They also come to the wrong conclusion that they are just not compatible with the Chinese environment. He also said that many people, Singaporeans included, feel that the Chinese are lazy and incapable. I think this is all a misunderstanding. Now the Chinese, especially the young ones, are full of drive. They are responsible, they are hardworking and they can think and adapt to changes. They all want to change themselves, change their environment. With the liberalisation of the media, ideological changes are taking place in China and the young people in China are able to accept new ideas from outside China.

All that I have mentioned just now should not be confined to the Chinese Singaporeans. As far as possible, we should also bring up our Indian and Malay compatriots as well, so that together we can go into the China market and take a ride together, so that we can do our best in the China market. With cooperation among the various ethnic groups, we can also achieve higher level objectives in other non-Chinese speaking territories, like the west, the Indian and Muslim worlds.

The event on September 11 brought to us a traumatic turning point, reminding us once again of the importance of political stability and multi-ethnic harmony. This moment we must specially cherish in gratitude the prosperity which this government has provided for us in the last 36 years.

With 36 years of arduous nation-building effort behind us, the Singapore national identity is beginning to take root. We can stand firm on our multi-cultural legacies, and by integrating the wisdom of the Asian cultures and the creativity of the western culture, we can shape the winners for this millennium. This process does not need to depend only on the State. Community agencies, including the business groups and organisations as well as clan associations, can all play a part in building the bridges in promoting Singapore and Chinese business development and cultural understanding.

I am anxious to move this motion on the Chinese challenge in this House because I feel that we cannot dismiss China any longer. If we can hurry up and ride on this economic train to China, we are closer to taking that small little bite in the huge economic pie and find the new pathways of livelihood and business route for Singaporeans. If we do not hurry now and embark on this exploration, then we shall soon become irrelevant and by the time we realise our destiny, I think it will be too late.

In facing this uncertain and economic landscape, we should all work together to have a single heartbeat and achieve our prosperity.

The Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry (Mr Peter Chen): Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Mdm Chiang for raising some very pertinent issues about China and her urgent call.

I agree that we need to raise awareness among Singaporean business leaders, the younger generation and also the students about the many opportunities and the importance of China, and also provide avenues for information exchange and networking to facilitate our companies' ventures in China.

China is emerging as a major economic power. In the last 20 years, its GDP grew 9.7% per annum and in the 1990s alone, at 10% per annum. Few other countries in the world have achieved such impressive growth over this period. While there are potential risks that may slow down China's growth, analysts forecast that China's real GDP will continue to grow at about 8% for the next 10 years.

Singapore already enjoys strong and growing bilateral economic relations with China. Bilateral trade grew at a robust rate of 15% per annum in the last decade, and China is currently Singapore's seventh largest trading partner. In 1997, China became Singapore's top investment destination in cumulative terms. Today, Singapore is also China's fifth largest foreign investor. But let me add, however, that the experiences of our businessmen in China have been mixed. In the early days, not a few were cheated. Even now, not everyone actually makes money. It is therefore important that Singapore investors go into the China market with their eyes wide open and learn both from the happy and unhappy experiences of others.

The Trade Development Board (TDB) is the lead agency promoting external trade and investments, including companies' market expansion efforts into China. However, recognising that our engagement of China requires a concerted effort by many different Government agencies, MTI will set up an International Business Division (IBD) next month. For a start, IBD will focus on China alone, and play the important role of coordinating efforts and reviewing progress across the various agencies. It is important for our businessmen operating in China to do so on the basis of deep knowledge.

Let me address Mdm Chiang's suggestions, which can be broadly classified into two categories: first, disseminating of information and, second, facilitating companies' efforts to tap on the many opportunities in China. On the first point, Singapore needs to be aware of the tremendous changes that have taken place, and continue to take place in China. It is important for us to deepen our knowledge of China and understand the opportunities and also the pitfalls.

To facilitate the sharing of good and bad experiences among Singapore businesses, TDB will set up Network China. As the name implies, this will serve as a platform for networking among businessmen. The aim is to encourage businessmen to share their experiences and knowledge on China, and shorten the learning curve for other Singapore companies. In addition, this platform will also create opportunities for collaboration among Singapore businessmen entering China as well as for partnering Chinese companies for other markets. Apart from Singapore companies, Network China will also involve MNCs and the various Chambers of Commerce and Industries, including the Malay and Indian Chambers. Mdm Chiang's point is well taken.

The Singapore Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China will be set up by our businessmen who are now in China by the end of this year. Headquartered in Beijing, the Chamber will also have extensions in key cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Dalian later on. I am confident that this private sector driven effort will provide a useful platform to sieve on-the-ground market intelligence for dissemination back to Singapore through Network China. Such a grouping also creates opportunities for Singapore businessmen based in China to network with one another. In this way, they can learn from one another, and assimilate more easily into the new environment, both business-wise and socially.

To help raise Singaporeans' awareness about business opportunities in China, TDB will set up a China Business Information Centre (CBIC) in Singapore. Besides serving as a first-stop centre to handle China business information inquiry services, the Centre will conduct market studies, collect market information and disseminate the information to Singapore companies.

Mdm Chiang made a very good suggestion of providing information on the web. TDB will follow up on this and to add depth to its existing portal to reach a large audience in a timely fashion. But information by itself is not enough. Converting it into knowledge is much more difficult. Singaporeans have a reputation in China as straight dealers, but that also means that we get taken advantage of sometimes. In a different way, some too may have lost a little of their innocence. We must make sure that our good reputation translates into an asset, and not a liability.

We note Mdm Chiang's suggestion that we have to create a conducive environment for Singapore students to learn Chinese, and also to improve the facility for the language. The Ministry of Education strongly encourages students to study their mother tongue for as long as possible and to as high a level as they are capable of. We currently have 10 Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools offering Higher Chinese at the secondary level and three Junior Colleges offering the Chinese language elective programme. At the university level, NUS and NTU will introduce a bonus points scheme for admission to selected courses of the Chinese language and Chinese Studies Course from academic year 2002/2003.

The Ministry of Education also offers teaching scholarships tenable in China, and our local universities already have exchange programmes for Singaporeans to spend some time in a Chinese university. Besides, Singaporeans have the opportunity to interact with many Chinese students pursuing their MBAs here in Singapore.

Beyond a better grasp of the Chinese language, as has been emphasised repeatedly, it is also necessary to understand China better. For a start, seven officers from the economic agencies under the Firefly programme will be sent to Tsinghua University and Fudan University this October. They will pursue an International MBA. An immersion into China and in understanding the business culture will equip our economic officials to better formulate policies to deepen economic linkages with China. In due course, we hope we can also create a corps of officers who are steeped in both the language and culture.

Beyond knowing China better, we also need to facilitate Singapore companies' entry into, and subsequent expansion in the Chinese market. To do so, TDB is looking into expanding its network of offices in China. TDB is also looking at ways to provide more and better services to help companies in their initial foray and subsequent expansion in China. Details will be announced at a later stage when finalised.

Last year, TDB led 10 missions to China to explore trade and investment opportunities, and TDB will continue to spearhead business missions to China. These missions are useful for SMEs that are less likely to explore overseas markets by themselves. To achieve greater synergy and results, the missions will take on a stronger industry focus leveraging on Singapore's strengths, or a market exploration focus to help Singapore companies explore new emerging areas in China. Some of these have been, and will continue to be, jointly organised with Chambers of Commerce and Industry associations. It is good that in most business delegations, there is now a good mix of veterans and freshies.

China is growing by leaps and bounds. Singapore needs to focus on industry clusters where we have strengths, and penetrate regions where these strengths are valued. Our companies will need to constantly upgrade their technology and management skills, or risk being left behind by the Chinese, or by foreign competitors in China. However, we must also recognise that China is a difficult market with a complex operating environment and, unless one understands this fact, it is easier to lose money there than to make money.

Question put, and agreed to.

Resolved,

That Parliament do now adjourn.

Adjourned accordingly at Three Minutes to Three o'clock pm to a date to be fixed.