I REFER to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's appeal to Chinese Singaporeans to learn and speak more Mandarin. I am a Singaporean working and living in Shenzhen, China with my family, and I fully share his concerns.

Working in China has opened my eyes and made me realise how blessed we are in Singapore and the challenges that lie ahead for our next generation.

There are many things in China that are probably not quite up to international standards yet and coming to Shenzhen has been a bit of a hardship posting for us.

During my first week in Shenzhen, I went out for my run and clocked my fastest 5km ever. I was jumping over spit and dog's poo all the time that my feet were hardly touching the ground. I felt thankful for our 'Keep Singapore Clean' and 'No Spitting' campaigns and the heavy fines imposed.

But I would not exchange this 'hardship' experience for anything else. There is so much dynamism and drive in this place. People are so eager to learn and improve. Almost all my staff members are taking some kind of course, from English to MBAs, at their own expense, to improve themselves.

I heard schools broadcasting Christmas carols through their PA system in the middle of March. Initially, I thought they must be crazy. Then I realised they were doing it for a purpose - so that their students could learn English through simple songs.

In Singapore, we are blessed with a good government and enjoy a standard of living equal to many industrialised nations. And we are beginning to take things for granted.

I used to think we have an advantage because we speak both English and Mandarin and can be the link between China and the West. Since coming to China, my perception has totally changed. More and more Chinese nationals are learning to speak English. While I try to communicate to my staff in Mandarin, they all want to talk to me in English. Give them another 10 or 15 years, any little language advantage we have will be gone unless we do something about it now.

Singaporeans must take up MM Lee's challenge to master Mandarin; just as Chinese nationals are trying to get their tongues around English.

Patrick Tan

This article was first published in The Straits Times.