WANT to work successfully in China? Bring with you skills the Chinese do not have, said Mr Lee Kuan Yew last night.

These can be an intimate knowledge of and links with parts of the world that matter to China, such as South-east Asia and Western countries like America, he said.

Minister Mentor Lee was responding to a question from Nanyang Technological University undergraduate Lin Wei Qi, who interned in Shanghai for six months last year and was interested to work in China again after graduating next year.

She asked: "Other than bilingual and bicultural skills, what else do I need?"

Mr Lee replied in Mandarin that skills in language and culture would not be sufficient. For example, there is little point having Chinese-language abilities as good as those of the Chinese nationals when there is no shortage of people there with mastery in the language.

As an example of the value that Singaporeans can bring to China, he noted that at least 30 per cent of Singaporeans have had exposure to Western countries, while only 0.01 per cent of the Chinese have.

"They don't have your background. You bring something of value."

Responding later to another question on whether Singapore should aim to develop an environment that is "more Chinese" than today's in order to stay relevant to China, Mr Lee argued that one advantage that Singapore has over China is precisely that it is English-speaking.

This has enabled it to understand the world, making it a useful intermediary between China and the West.

For example, when former German chancellor Helmut Kohl wanted to know more about China, he would often talk to Mr Lee.

"Singapore has got to where it is by emphasising English," he said.

While China's political leaders can speak to American leaders, they cannot do so on a more intimate basis, he said.

In any case, Mr Lee added, Singapore cannot be like China since its ethnic composition and geographical location are different from China's.

Singapore's biggest trading partners are Malaysia and the United States, he noted. China trade accounts for only a fifth of its Gross Domestic Product.

"Singapore cannot be a China. For one thing, we are in the tropics, surrounded by South-east Asia," he said.

Earlier, asking his audience to bear with him while he switched from speaking in English to speaking in Mandarin, Mr Lee said that if his command of English was an A, his command of Chinese merited at best a C or D.

Courtesy of The Straits Times, 30 December 2009

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