罗杰斯女儿秀中文

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　　The student of Nanyang Primary School recited a not-so-well- known poem on wind by Li Qiao, a Chinese poet who lived in the 7th and 8th centuries during the ancient Tang dynasty in China.

　　While it is anything but uncommon³ for young Chinese language learners to recite ancient poems, Happy spoke⁴ the language with a fluency⁵ that could even be the envy of many native speakers.

　　She won a big round of applause from her Singaporean audience, most of whom are Chinese descendants.

　　"I actually did not learn it. I just picked it up listening to native speakers since I was born," the little girl said in Chinese in response to a question from her father.

　　Her 5-year-old sister Baby Bee did equally well, singing nursery rhymes in Chinese, with a lovely sigh at the end.

　　Heng Swee Keat, Singapore's education minister, said at the event on Wednesday that it might the best promotion⁶ of the city state's bilingual education when Rogers brought his two little daughters, who have been attending local schools.

　　Rogers said he hired a Chinese-speaking governess for Happy when she was born. The Rogers had moved to Singapore later so that their daughters could be bilingual.

　　"In my view, the best skills that I can give to our children, born in 2003 and 2008, is to speak fluent mandarin -- and I think they qualify so far -- and to know Asia, not just that they will be able to speak mandarin, they have to know Asia as far as I am concerned. They certainly have to know China. We spend as much time as we can in China," he said.

　　"To be honest, it does give me a bit of pressure to sit the exams in Singapore. But isn't there the Chinese saying that 'you don't achieve much without pressure'? I think the tests have been helpful in keeping me moving. My mother is also telling me that I should have a competitive edge at university if I have the strong fundamentals now," Happy said in Chinese.

　　Singapore has adopted a policy of encouraging bilingual education. The students are asked to, apart from English as the official working language, learn their respective tongues as a second language.

　　The inaugural⁷ China-Quotient Teachers' Forum⁸ was jointly⁹ organized by Business China and the Pioneer Junior College to help teachers understand the forces and factors shaping the rise of China and its relevance¹⁰ to Singapore. An educators' resources package on China for teachers and students of upper secondary and pre-university level was also launched Wednesday.

　　Business China is a non-profit organization launched in 2007 by then Minister Mentor¹¹ Lee Kuan Yew¹² and Chinese Premier¹³ Wen Jiabao to nurture¹⁴ bilingual and bicultural talents and develop a cultural and economic bridge linking the world and China.

　　Rogers said he expected Singapore to have a competitive advantage in the future with its population fluent in both English and Chinese.

　　He said that China does, and will have its own problems, but that he is confident that it will continue to make progresses.

　　The legend investor said he first visited China on motorcycle in 1984 and has made numerous visits to the country ever since.

　　"Since 1984, I have realized that, as an American, everything that I had been taught about China was inaccurate," he said.

　　Heng also recounted his personal experience of getting to know China and how he was impressed by China's response to the Southeast Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 and the recent global financial crisis.

　　China has been learning fast from the others, he said, adding that he is confident that China shall be able to overcome its numerous challenges, including environmental degradation¹⁵.

　　Rogers said he saw potentials for Singapore's water sector¹⁶ in China, given that China is facing a water issue while Singapore has been one of the international water research centers.

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