PUBLIC relations consultant Lim Chwen Yiing, 30, whose job has placed her in Beijing for the past seven months, is homesick.

Laksa and conversations in Singlish are what she misses, and they are what she will get when an Overseas Singapore Club is set up in the Chinese capital later this year, The Straits Times reported.

Two more such clubs will also be set up in Shanghai and Xiamen, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said at a dinner with 200 businessmen at the Singapore National Museum last Saturday.

Similar clubs were set up in Australia’s Sydney and Melbourne last September, and one will open in London this month.

DPM Wong said such clubs will link overseas citizens to home. He noted that close to 150,000 Singaporeans were now working or studying abroad.

Of that, over 1,000 are in Beijing, and over 5,000 in Shanghai.

The clubs will be located in hotels operated by Singaporeans. When up and running, they will be where Singapore newspapers and magazines can be read, and Singapore food served.

Miss Lim told The Straits Times: “When you are here for a year or so, it is refreshing to hang out with Singaporeans.”

Ms Lim Chen Yi, another public affairs consultant in Beijing, suggested that the club draw up a list of Singaporeans who can orientate the newcomers to the city, show them the culture and take them around.

In his dinner speech, DPM Wong also stressed the importance of developing bilingual and bi-cultural talents.

He praised overseas Singaporeans who, through their success stories, were inspiring young Singaporeans to learn Chinese.

The dinner was organised by Business China, a group which aims to bridge China and Singapore culturally and economically.

Courtesy of My Paper, February 11, 2008

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