Welcome Message

Gan Kim Yong (Minister for Manpower, Singapore)

Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Manpower, Singapore
"The Singapore Government places much emphasis on the Chinese education for our nation. It provides multiple avenues for Singaporeans to learn Chinese, and strongly advocates the use of Mandarin among Chinese Singaporeans. The Confucius Institute plays the role of the key organisation driving the push for the teaching of Chinese language and promoting Chinese culture. It works in tandem with the government's policies to facilitate the multidisciplinary Chinese teachings in Singapore. It also acts as a platform for international exchanges in promoting Chinese language and culture. Confucius Institute helps to elevate the level of Chinese language and culture in Singapore, as well as provides more opportunities for Chinese teachers in Singapore to study the Chinese language in depth. It also bridges the study of Chinese culture, arts and language within the South East Asia region and beyond.

I have the faith that Confucius Institute will contribute significantly to the promotion of Chinese language and culture in Singapore, the ASEAN region and beyond."

Dr Su Guaning, President of Nanyang Technological University

"NTU has extensive collaboration in education and research with the West, particularly the United States, but we also have special strengths in Asia. Many of our academia from the School of Humanities & Social Sciences, National Institute of Education and Centre for Chinese Language and Culture are bilingual and multi-cultural and have an in-depth knowledge and appreciation of Asia, especially China. We are pleased that NTU is part of Singapore's first Confucius Institute and we are given the opportunity to lend our expertise towards promoting Chinese language and culture in Singapore and beyond".

The Office of Chinese Language Council International

"After assessing and evaluating more than 10 Singapore educational institutions, the Office of Chinese Language Council International has selected Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to be its partnering university. We believe and envisage that the Confucius Institute, Nanyang Technological University (CI-NTU) will bring forth excellence in all aspects of the Chinese cultural and language. Together with College of International Education, Shandong University, we will bring the Chinese culture to a higher level in Singapore and the region, deepen the Sino-Singapore collaboration in the education arena, and promote the Chinese language to the world".

 Dr Zhan Tao, Former President of Shandong University

"Other than China, Singapore is the country that has the highest percentage of Chinese population in the world, coupled with her government's strong support on the Chinese language and her strategic geographical location to radiate to the surrounding South-East Asia region, Singapore is the ideal place (to set up CI-NTU). This joint setup between Shandong University and Nanyang Technological University will be the starting point for further academic collaboration in an all-round manner, for example, research and development (which is one of NTU's key strengths) in the area of bio-sciences and engineering, etc. This Sino-Singapore cooperation also aligns to Shandong University's drive to increase cultural and academic exchanges and cooperation with overseas universities in the recent years and to raise its standards in the international arena".