My heartiest congratulations to JUGAS on your 50th anniversary!
Singapore and Japan enjoy warm bilateral relations and close cooperation in many areas, including education. The Japanese Government has been supportive of the teaching of the Japanese language at the Ministry of Education Language Centre (MOELC) through the offering of refresher courses for our Japanese language teachers. Our MOELC students have also participated in annual immersion trips to Japan, and gained valuable insights into Japanese culture and its people. Numerous Memoranda of Understanding have been signed between our Institutes of Higher Learning and Japanese institutions, organisations and companies, offering our students the opportunity to engage in academic exchanges and internships in Japan, as well as to pursue joint programmes and research collaborations with their Japanese peers.
COVID-19 has disrupted many of our face-to-face exchanges this year. But it has not diminished our desire to learn and interact with each other. We have risen to the occasion, innovated and found new ways to support our students’ learning. While some programmes have had to be postponed, our students have continued to benefit from the pre-departure preparatory programmes organised by JUGAS, which adopted a hybrid physical-and-online model for the first time. The strong support rendered by JUGAS in facilitating our students’ travel to Japan for university studies has been greatly appreciated.
As we celebrate JUGAS’ golden jubilee, I commend JUGAS for your tireless efforts in promoting the learning of Japanese language amongst our youth, fostering mutual appreciation of cultures, and providing opportunities for our students to forge friendships with one another.
LAWRENCE WONG
Minister for Education
Republic of Singapore