prime news 쐽 THE STRAITS TIMES MONDAY, APRIL 27 2009 PAGE A5
China, Taiwan
7.59
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minute before
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High-powered team to help immigrants fit in
BY JEREMY AU YONG
THE line-up of the National Integration
Council, unveiled yesterday, shows a
high-powered team that includes five
full Cabinet ministers, an acting minister
and a senior minister of state.
The 20-man council is headed by the
Minister for Community Development,
Youth and Sports, Dr Vivian
Balakrishnan, who gave the list of mem-
bers during a community walkabout.
The others are private sector repre-
sentatives, grassroots leaders, communi-
ty leaders, media professionals and aca-
demics.
The council, announced in February,
was formed to help new immigrants here
to integrate.
Last year, about 20,513 foreigners
BY BRYAN
VAN DER BEEK
PHOTOJOURNALIST
took up citizenship in Singapore while
79,167 became permanent residents.
These figures are an increase of about 20
per cent over the previous year.
Speaking to reporters, Dr
Balakrishnan said a deliberate decision
was made to have the majority of the
team come from the “people sector”.
“Right now, too many of our initia-
tives are top-down, government initia-
tives or government programmes.
“I want to encourage a bottoms-up ap-
proach so that in schools, in companies,
in the media and in all the other natural
areas where people meet and interact,
they’ll think about programmes or
projects which they can launch to give
people the opportunity to meet.”
The main thrust of the measures will
be to promote mutual trust and foster a
It’s 30 minutes before the
Singapore Zoo opens. Standing
waist deep in water, keeper
Nawawi Ali makes sure the glass
viewing panes of the proboscis
monkey enclosure are clean, so
visitors can get the best viewing
experience.
common sense of belonging.
He said: “We need to build a sense of
understanding that, look, you may not
have been born in Singapore but you
have chosen out of your free will to com-
mit to Singapore. And once you’ve made
the decision, it’s like marriage. You are
now part of the family.”
His advice to new citizens on the best
way to fit in: Volunteer.
“The best way to build trust is...to
contribute your services,” he said.
No specific programmes have been
drawn up as the council has yet to hold
its first meeting.
The other ministers on the council are
Minister for the Environment and Water
Resources Yaacob Ibrahim, labour chief
Lim Swee Say, Law Minister K. Shanmu-
gam, Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong,
ink financial
alliance pact
Deal to pave way for
flow of financial
services across strait
BY HO AI LI
TAIWAN CORRESPONDENT
TAIPEI: Former foes China and Taiwan
inked a much-anticipated pact yesterday
to pave the way for the flow of financial
services across the Taiwan Strait, as they
take another step towards normalising
economic ties.
The financial cooperation deal was the
highlight of the cross-strait talks in the
eastern Chinese city of Nanjing – the
third round since the two sides resumed
dialogue last June after nearly nine years.
Acting Minister for Information, Commu-
nications and the Arts Lui Tuck Yew and
Senior Minister of State (Education and
National Development) Grace Fu.
The community leaders and media rep-
resentatives include Eurasian Associa-
tion president Edward D’Silva, Tian Fu
Club president Tony Du, Darul Arqam
Singapore president Muhd Faiz Edwin Ig-
natious, Tabla! editor Pradeep Paul and
Lianhe Zaobao senior executive editor
Goh Sin Teck.
Others include National University of
Singapore sociology professor Stella
Quah and Nanyang Technological Univer-
sity president Su Guaning, Ms Anisa Has-
san, from matchmaking agency It’s Just
Lunch, Standard Chartered banker Vis
Shankar and Mr Thomas Tay, vice-presi-
dent for the NTUC central committee.
Under the framework agreement, Chi-
na and Taiwan would set up a currency
clearing and supervisory system in prepa-
ration for financial institutions from each
side to set up branches on the other side.
Taiwan’s top cross-strait envoy, Mr
Chiang Pin-kung, and his Chinese counter-
part, Mr Chen Yunlin, also signed two oth-
er pacts on cooperation in fighting crime,
and upgrading existing charter flights to
scheduled ones. The frequency of flights
will be raised from 108 to 270 return trips
a week, and new routes will be launched
between Taiwan and six mainland cities.
Against the backdrop of the global fi-
nancial meltdown, both sides also pledged
in a joint statement to encourage Chinese
investments in Taiwan. While Taiwan has
invested an estimated US$100 billion
(S$150 billion) on the mainland, Chinese
investment in Taiwan is largely restricted.
Related guidelines are expected to be an-
nounced at a later date.
“As the current global financial crisis
has deeply affected both sides, mutual
support is especially meaningful since we
are in the same boat,” said Mr Chiang,
head of Taiwan’s semi-official Straits Ex-
change Foundation (SEF).
Mr Chen, who heads the Association
for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait
(Arats), struck a similar tone. Boosting eco-
nomic cooperation would help both sides
ride out the global recession, he said.
“The mainland will buy more products
from Taiwan and send more tourists to the
island, while encouraging more Taiwan en-
terprises to set up on the mainland to
maintain stable development,” he added.
With the latest agreements, which will
take effect within 60 days, China and Tai-
wan have signed a total of nine pacts
since the SEF and Arats resumed talks.
China and Taiwan split amid civil war
in 1949. But ties have improved since Tai-
wan President Ma Ying-jeou, who had
campaigned on a platform of engagement
with China, took office last May.
hoaili@sph.com.sg
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