Recent News
01-09-2012: The BBC - More firms seek Mandarin speakers
As China continues to enjoy the global economic spotlight, firms in an increasing number of international industries are seeking to hire multilingual managers who are able to speak Mandarin. As a result, students and professionals across the globe are scrambling to learn Chinese -- a skill that in today's economic climate will give them a crucial edge over the competition. In a recent report, the BBC takes a look at how such trends are reshaping Malaysia:
Will China's rise shape Malaysian Chinese community? [excerpt]
30 December 2011 By Jennifer Pak | BBC News, Penang
As the Chinese economy opens up, Malaysian Chinese act as a bridge because many are educated in the United States or Britain but they can also understand the Chinese language and culture, says Lim Cheah Chooi.
His engineering firm, Unimech Group Berhad, has production factories in China, but he employs Malaysian or Singaporean Chinese at the middle management level.
This is something you see even among local Chinese companies who export to the West, says Mr Lim.
"How many people can say they speak Mandarin, multiple Chinese dialects, Malay and English? Most Malaysian Chinese can," he says.
This advantage is maintained because of Malaysia's multilingual education system. Ethnic Chinese and Indians can choose to study at the primary level in their mother tongue.
With the rise of China, more and more people, including non-Chinese, want to learn Mandarin, says Yong Yeow Khoon, CEO of the Chinese-language newspaper Guang Ming Daily in Penang, who is also a board member at an independent Chinese school.
The number of non-Chinese in Chinese vernacular schools is estimated to have grown to over 60,000 over the last three decades.
Even the Malay prime minister has sent his son to learn Mandarin at the Beijing Foreign Studies University.
Optimists point to this as a sign of increasing acceptance of Chinese culture by the Malay community.
Read full article here.
The Chinese Language Institute
As China continues to enjoy the global economic spotlight, firms in an increasing number of international industries are seeking to hire multilingual managers who are able to speak Mandarin. As a result, students and professionals across the globe are scrambling to learn Chinese -- a skill that in today's economic climate will give them a crucial edge over the competition. In a recent report, the BBC takes a look at how such trends are reshaping Malaysia:
Will China's rise shape Malaysian Chinese community? [excerpt]
30 December 2011 By Jennifer Pak | BBC News, Penang
As the Chinese economy opens up, Malaysian Chinese act as a bridge because many are educated in the United States or Britain but they can also understand the Chinese language and culture, says Lim Cheah Chooi.
His engineering firm, Unimech Group Berhad, has production factories in China, but he employs Malaysian or Singaporean Chinese at the middle management level.
This is something you see even among local Chinese companies who export to the West, says Mr Lim.
"How many people can say they speak Mandarin, multiple Chinese dialects, Malay and English? Most Malaysian Chinese can," he says.
This advantage is maintained because of Malaysia's multilingual education system. Ethnic Chinese and Indians can choose to study at the primary level in their mother tongue.
With the rise of China, more and more people, including non-Chinese, want to learn Mandarin, says Yong Yeow Khoon, CEO of the Chinese-language newspaper Guang Ming Daily in Penang, who is also a board member at an independent Chinese school.
The number of non-Chinese in Chinese vernacular schools is estimated to have grown to over 60,000 over the last three decades.
Even the Malay prime minister has sent his son to learn Mandarin at the Beijing Foreign Studies University.
Optimists point to this as a sign of increasing acceptance of Chinese culture by the Malay community.
Read full article here.
The Chinese Language Institute
