Undergraduates in Singapore and China spent the summer learning about each other’s homeland
Youths with cross-cultural experiences are able to build better rapport with people from different backgrounds. That was part of the thinking behind the Sino-Singapore Undergraduate Exchange (SSUE), a cultural exchange programme initiated in 2002 by ESM Goh Chok Tong (then-Singapore’s Prime Minister) and Mr Hu Jintao (then-Vice President of the People’s Republic of China).
A Government-to-Government initiative co-administered by the Ministries of Education in both Singapore and China, SSUE takes place yearly, with Singaporean and Chinese students taking turns to visit one another’s countries.
The programme marked its 16th iteration in 2019 and remains an excellent avenue for participating students to broaden their horizons about the vast capabilities of collaborating and networking in today’s globalised world.
The Singapore Management University (SMU) joined the programme in 2006 and 144 students have taken part in the SSUE to date. Besides being a part of students’ “journey of transformative education at SMU to become global-ready graduates/citizens of tomorrow,” the programme also helps SMU deepen relations with existing leading Chinese partner universities and cultivate ties with potential ones to explore and initiate new collaborations”, says Tan Sook, Head (Greater China), International Office (IO).
Enriching dive into Chinese culture
This year’s SSUE kicked off in June, when SMU’s team of 11 undergraduates comprising Year One to Year Four students from the Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB), School of Accountancy (SOA), School of Information Systems (SIS), and School of Social Sciences (SOSS) headed to four universities in China’s Chengdu and Changsha cities.
They were part of a 50-strong Singapore Universities delegation led by Tan, which also consisted of students from the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore University of Technology and Design.
During the visit, the students engaged in campus tours hosted by the four participating Chinese universities - Sichuan University (SCU), the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), Hunan University (HU) and Hunan Normal University (HNU). Other than being the audience of illuminating lectures on China’s history, culture, politics and modern economy, there were also fluid discourse and cordial interactions between students of both countries on a wide array of interesting topics.
SMU’s participants found the experience immensely rewarding. Third-year Business student Phoebe Tan said the experience opened her eyes and mind to China and helped her connect with the country and its people in a deeper level than before. “I found myself becoming more appreciative of, as well as more empathetic towards people from a different country and culture; which I now consciously practise in my daily interactions, she said.
Striking explorations in Singapore
The Chinese students’ reciprocal visit to Singapore took place in August. They were received by their Singaporean counterparts and their visit began with a welcome ceremony hosted by Professor Ong Siow Heng, Dean of International Affairs, followed by a spirited performance presented by Samba Masala, SMU’s own Brazillian Percussion band.
Highlights of their trip included a visit to SMU’s Business Innovations Generator campus lab, where they learnt about the university’s efforts in innovation and entrepreneurship through a presentation delivered by speakers from the Institute and Innovation and Enterprise (IIE).
Questions abounded as these students were enthusiastic audiences of Associate Professor Forrest Zhang’s talk on the economic and social implications for countries and regions under China’s Belt and Road initiative. Associate Professor of Corporate Communication (Practice) Yeo Su Lin from LKCSB also shared many interesting tidbits regarding Social Media Communication.
Apart from walking tours in Bras Basah and Bugis that gave them a taste of SMU’s unique “University in a City” experience, the itinerary also included a visit to MediaCorp at 1 Stars Avenue. While there, the student visitors toured the integrated newsrooms with state-of-the-art broadcast technologies and gained a better understanding, as well as partook in a simulation, of the process of quality and timely content production. Through these tours, these students walked away with a deeper appreciation for Singapore’s cultural and media landscapes.
With the rise of technology and increased connectivity in the world in recent years, there has been a higher chance for students to participate in various cross-cultural programmes, and engage with people who may share different ideologies. Participants of such programmes would also have the opportunity to extend their future network overseas by developing friendships and enduring bonds with peers from the Chinese universities.
