​A rising China brings new cultural anxieties

The Sunday Times, page B4

As China’s economic star rises, Singapore’s business and cultural ties with it have also deepened, leading to more Singaporeans adopting elements of its culture that are not common here. The enrolment of courses at the Confucius Institute at NTU (CI-NTU) has grown to close to 7,000 a year from around 200 in 2007, and it is one of more than 500 such institutes around the world. NTU Emeritus Prof Eddie Kuo said the China factor looms larger and larger, particularly with the change in policy towards overseas Chinese. Dr Neo Peng Fu, the Singaporean director of CI-NTU, said the Chinese influence can strengthen Chinese Singaporeans’ ethnic identity if handled properly.