SINGAPORE: English-educated Nicholas Soh's curiosity in Chinese history was piqued after watching his then-primary school daughter study Chinese proverbs.

Fast-forward 20 years, and Mr Soh, now 57, beat competitors such as a Chinese-language teacher and a Chinese magazine editor, to take home the grand prize of more than S$10,000 from The Chinese Challenge Grand Final television show. The prize included S$5,000 worth of NTUC vouchers and S$4,000 cash.

The two-hour challenge, which is part of this year's Speak Mandarin Campaign, aired on MediaCorp's Channel 8 on Sunday night. It was launched on March 30 with a 12-week online quiz to showcase Chinese language and culture. Six of the top 100 contestants were selected for Sunday's final. A total of 15,000 people participated online.

Mr Soh, who was the oldest finalist, told TODAY: "I come from an age where teaching Mandarin as a second language in an English school carried little priority. I didn't even know how to write Chinese characters with the proper sequence of strokes."

He started learning about Chinese history by reading the English translations of Chinese historian Sima Qian's Historical Records, and has now started on the original version.

Mr Soh said Chinese-language videos, songs, newspapers and even comics have helped him improve his Mandarin. He effortlessly switches between English and Mandarin during the interview, although the pilot admits to hardly speaking Mandarin on a normal day.

Unfortunately, his daughter, who now lives in New York, has "given back" her Mandarin, he added. Hoping his win will inspire young people – especially his 11-year-old grand-nephew – to pick up the language, Mr Soh suggested using Chinese karaoke songs to interest them.

Or, they could play online games related to Chinese history, said another contestant, 15-year-old Sun Yu. The consolation prize-winner was the youngest of the six finalists.

"I'm young so I don't have as much knowledge as (the other finalists), but I just wanted to gain experience and learn," he told TODAY, "I came out learning much more."

In spite of his age, the Raffles Institution student was reading Chinese classics, such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, while he was in Secondary 1.

Another consolation prize winner, Mr Patrick Gan, 28, advised those learning the language to "start by listening". "You need to be familiar with the language and you need to use it, then you will grow confident."


- TODAY/so