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Ang Yi Lin, an international student from Singapore, stands in front of the library at Peking University. (Photo: Yuri Imamura) After a hard day studying international politics at Peking University, Valerie Ang Yi Lin kicks back in a cafe. Ang Yi Lin, 23, a Singaporean of Chinese descent, attended a school for Singaporean Chinese from an early age, which explains her fluent Mandarin. Despite this, she admits hardly knowing anything about China before coming to Peking University. But as China’s economy booms, the “motherland” is catching the attention of ethnic Chinese such as Ang, who were raised elsewhere. In the past, the West was the most popular destination for Singaporeans studying abroad. However, in 2005, when Ang was in her third year at junior high school, a “Bicultural Studies Program” was added to the Singapore curriculum, teaching Chinese culture, history, politics and economics. The Singapore government also began handing out scholarships to encourage young people to study in China. With China developing at a breakneck pace, the aim was to raise a generation of Chinese-literate citizens who could contribute to Singapore’s future. The same year saw 20 Singaporean Chinese heading off to study in Beijing. By 2006, this number had increased fivefold. Singaporeans receive a Western–style education, so Ang says people of her generation tend to have the same outlook as young people in the West. | 
