Catholic High students produce books to promote Chinese language
Catholic High students have produced a set of illustrated Chinese books, titled Growing Up Years, which feature stories about values. Photo: Toh Ee Ming
SINGAPORE — To promote the use of Chinese language among children, some students from Catholic High have produced a set of illustrated Chinese books that feature stories about values.
Titled Growing Up Years, the set of 12 picture books was launched today (Oct 13) at the school’s 80th Anniversary Founder’s Day Dinner at Fairmont Hotel by old boy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. All primary schools have received a set. Catholic High principal Soh Lai Leng said the books were part of the school’s efforts to “promote reading of Chinese books among younger children and to make the learning of the Chinese Language fun and meaningful”.
In March, Catholic High’s Year 2 secondary students were tasked to write short stories under the guidance of their teachers, and the best works were selected for publication. The selected stories revolve around the themes of friendship, filial piety and perseverance.
Next month, Catholic High students will conduct guided reading of the books for primary school children. “Through this process, our students take pride in their work, and they’ve taken a greater interest and initiative in the learning of the Chinese language,” said Ms Carol Chong, 28, one of the Chinese language teachers at Catholic High.
Mdm Lam Tze Kim, 41, the school’s head of department in Chinese, added: “For students nowadays, it’s always a challenge to learn Chinese ... If they don’t get comfortable with using it on an everyday basis, it may become a foreign language to them.”
In his speech at the launch, Mr Lee, who wrote the prologue for the books, noted Catholic High’s emphasis on values and character development. “This is something we want schools all over Singapore to do more of, so that our students will not only be book-smart, but will grow up to be citizens of good character who contribute to society,” he said.
Mr Lee also spoke about why his parents had enrolled him in the school when he was young. He said he was surprised when his parents chose Catholic High. Drawing laughter from the 1,800-strong audience — which included the school’s alumni, former principals and teachers — Mr Lee said: “Being a Chinese-medium school, it’s known for its high standards of both English and Chinese, and its strict discipline ... And being a Catholic mission school, my parents were confident they wouldn’t have to worry about left-wing activists disrupting classes ... They felt I would be quite safe!”
