Lien Fellows Night 2025 Celebrates 18 Years of Fostering Singapore-China Ties

On the evening of 28 October 2025, the exquisite Lien Villa once again opened its doors to welcome distinguished guests and scholars for the annual Lien Ying Chow Legacy Fellowship (LYCLF) Lien Fellows Night. The gathering, rooted in the legacy of the late Dr Lien Ying Chow, marked another milestone in the 18-year history of the LYCLF, celebrating both continuity and renewal in the valued ties that connect academic and professional exchanges between Singapore and China.

The event was graced by Mr Lim Chee Onn, Chairman of the LYCLF; Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Council Member of the LYCLF and NTU Board Member; Professor Lam Khin Yong, Vice President (Industry) at NTU; Professor Liu Hong, Executive Director of the LYCLF, Associate Vice President (International), and Director (Research & Executive Education) of NCPA.

Nearly 40 Lien Fellows from both Singapore and China, spanning from previous cohorts to the newly selected 2025 Fellows, gathered to renew friendships and strengthen their networks. Notable attendees included Professor Lu Jun, NTU-TCTF Visiting Professor and Deputy Director of the School of Government at Peking University; Professor Wang Jue, Director of NCPA; and Mr Hu Rong, Senior Assistant Director of NCPA.

In his address, Professor Liu Hong shared updates on the LYCLF’s recent developments and introduced the new cohort of Lien Fellows from both China and Singapore. To date, there are over 150 Lien Fellows, and the LYCLF program has evolved into a distinguished platform for high-level exchanges, bringing together outstanding leaders from various governmental agencies, enterprises, universities, and research institutes in both countries.

The annual Lien Fellows Night serves not only as a welcoming ceremony for new fellows but also as an important opportunity for alumni to reconnect and for participants to deepen bilateral understanding through dialogue and collaboration. The 2025 Lien Fellows from China are currently participating in the Singapore Induction Programme, while their Singaporean counterparts recently completed a similar course at Renmin University of China.

This reciprocal curriculum, which combines classroom learning with immersive field visits, provides a deeper appreciation of each other’s governance systems, development paths, and societal contexts. In the coming year, each Lien Fellow will conduct an independent research project to produce a special report within their respective professional domains, combining comparative insights with practical value to contribute to the economic prosperity and social progress of their respective communities.