Universities in Singapore, an academic hotbed in Southeast Asia, are increasing cooperationwith China, a move that insiders say reflects the global shift to the rising economic power.
Singapore Management University, or SMU for short, one of six colleges in the city-state,signed 13 agreements on academic cooperation and exchange with five Chinese partners inApril, including Tsinghua University in Beijing and Fudan University in Shanghai.
"We've seen that China, as a rising economic power, has attracted worldwide attention," saidArnoud De Meyer, president of SMU. "I feel obligated to provide more opportunities for ourstudents to interact with students in China. They're going to work together after graduation."
Chen Jining, president of Tsinghua University, agreed that globalization is important for thedevelopment of modern universities.
"A hundred years ago, Tsinghua, as a prep school for overseas universities, sent studentsabroad to learn advanced technology," Chen said at a news conference in April. "Now talentedyouths from all over the world gather at Tsinghua to learn and understand China."
In the agreement with Tsinghua, SMU and the Chinese college's economic and managementschool will exchange five to 10 students each year. Faculties from both sides will also worktogether to research and solve pragmatic problems.
SMU, which has about 8,000 students, was established only in 2000 but has already built agood international reputation for research, teaching and the quality of its graduates.
To reach further goals, De Meyer is adamant that students must be offered internationalopportunities.
As many as 84 percent of SMU's graduates in 2013 have overseas experience, either throughstudent-exchange programs or internships.
"We want them to learn about overseas markets through staying abroad," De Meyer said,adding that the same goes for faculty cooperation.
Amy Wan, a 28-year-old Singaporean, works as front office manager at the Hilton Hotel inKunshan, Jiangsu province. She first gained an understanding about Chinese culture, economyand business environment from a China Business Study Mission at SMU, which culminated in atwo-week field trip to the Pearl River Delta region in 2007 to visit local and internationalcompanies. The following year she took part in a three-month internship in Shanghai.
"The immersion program made me more exposed to China," Wan said. "Having opportunities asa student to understand China helped to pave the way to being open to working and livinghere."
According to De Meyer, SMU hosts about 700 exchange students a year from all over theworld, while 15 percent of its undergraduates are from overseas.
Chinese students generally account for a large proportion of international students inSingapore.
Pang Yang Hoong, vice-provost in charge of undergraduate study at SMU, said the majority ofits international students are from China, and she encouraged more young Chinese to studythere.
"We've seen many of our students chose study-abroad programs in the United States andEurope in the past," she said. "Many had been to China as tourists, but spent less timestudying or working here.
"I hope the agreements we signed this time will allow more of our students to be able to study inChina."
Pang added that tourists only scratch the surface of the country, but exchange students havemore opportunities to interact with locals to enrich their vision and become globalized.
Singapore, as a mature and small country, can provide management experience to Chineseprovincial officials, and universities may be the best place to do it, suggested Annie Koh, vice-president of SMU. The college has previously provided short-term training to governmentemployees in Sichuan province.
"Singapore is not a big country," she said. "Our management experience may be suitable forprovinces."
Xu Liping, deputy director of China's Center for South Asian Studies, said he believed thestrengthening of Sino-Singaporean ties through universities is a growing trend.
"Singaporean universities want to cooperate with China, catching a ride on its economicgrowth," Xu said.
作为东南亚学术的中心，新加坡的大学试图加强与中国的合作。内部人士称这一变化反映了全球战略向中国这一正在崛起的经济体的转移。
新加坡管理大学(简称新大)，在四月里与中国的五所著名高等院校，包括清华和复旦，签订了十三个个框架性的合作协议。
新加坡大学校长迪枚晔说，“我们看到，中国作为一个快速发展并且正在崛起的经济体吸引了全世界的注意。我作为校长有责任为学生提供更多的与中国学生交流的机会。毕业后他们也许会成为同事。”
清华大学(招生办)校长陈吉宁在四月的一次新闻发布会上公开表示国际合作对于一个现代大学的发展来说尤为重要。
“一百年前，清华作为留美预备校，送了很多学生出国去学习当时先进的科学技术。现在来自全世界的有志青年集聚清华来学习中国了解中国。”
在与清华大学签订的合作计划中，新大与清华经济管理学院每年会有五至十名交换学生。两校的教师学者也将加强合作旨在解决更多的现实问题。
新大，作为有8000名学生的年轻高校，创建于2000年。历史虽短，但新大却在十几年间迅速建立起了良好的国际声望。
为了更好的发展，迪枚晔校长认为应该给予学生更多的国际交流的机会。
在2013年的毕业生中，高达百分之八十四的学生都有过海外经验，无论是通过学生交流项目或者是海外实习的机会。
“我们希望他们能够通过在海外学习的机会去了解海外广阔的市场，”迪枚晔校长说，他也同意在教师的成长中，国际合作同样至关重要。
28岁的Amy Wan是江苏省昆山花桥希尔顿逸林酒店的Front Office经理。作为一名新加坡人，她最初的对于中国文化，经济和商业环境的深入了解来自于新大《中国商业学习目标》这门课。作为这门课的一部分，Amy在2007年的时候到珠江三角洲进行了为期两周的课业田野调查，参观了当地的和国际的企业。Amy在2008年又一次来到上海进行了为期3个月的实习。
“田野调查让我更充分的接触到中国的社会。在学生时代有机会去了解中国为我后来到中国工作和生活提供了很多便利，”她说。
迪枚晔校长说新大每年有大约700名来自世界各地的国际学生。在新大的本科生中，有百分之十五都是国际学生。
中国学生在新加坡大学的国际学生中占了很大的比重。
新大的主管本科生的副教务长房映芬博士表示，在新大中国学生占了国际学生很大的比例。她还鼓励更多的中国年轻人到新大学习。
“在过去，我们看到很多新大的学生会选择去美国或者欧洲进行短期交流学习项目。而更多的学生选择去中国旅行了解这个国家，而不是去那里学习或者工作。我希望这些协议会让更多的新大学生有机会去中国学习。”房教授说。
她还认为一个旅行者只能很浅显的了解一个国家，但是交流学生却拥有更多的与当地学生交流的机会，会让学生的眼界更为开阔从而变得更加国际化。
新大的金融学副教授许茵妮博士认为新加坡作为一个成熟而体量不大的国家可以为中国的一些省级政府提供很好的管理模式。而大学就是让官员们接收管理培训的最佳场所。目前，新大为四川政府官员提供了培训机会。
“新加坡不是一个大的国家。我们的管理模式也许很适合中国的省级政府。”许博士称。
中国社会科学院亚洲与太平洋研究所东南亚研究中心副主任许利平认为，扩大中新高校间的合作是加强中新两国合作的一个趋势。
“新加坡的高校希望通过加强合作来搭上中国经济发展的快车”，他如是说。