Building Bridges for the Future: Rethinking Malaysia’s Higher Education
为未来搭建桥梁：重新思考马来西亚的高等教育
I thank Datuk Tan Yew Sing, the relentless bridge builder, for inviting me to launch his book “Trail of Lights, Journey of Tan Yew Sing” as well as to say a few words at this “Way forward for private higher education institutions” forum.
首先，我衷心感谢拿督陈友信这位长期致力于牵线塔桥的成功企业家盛邀我出席《陈友信之路（文集）：凡走过，必留下》的英语版新书 (《Trail of Lights, Journey of Tan Yew Sing》) 发布会，并在这个《私立高等教育机构前进之路》的座谈会前说几句话。
The book is a compilation of chapters telling Yew Sing’s remarkable life story and celebrating his many achievements.
这本由多个章节组成的文集讲述了友信的非凡人生故事，同时记载和见证了他至今创下的多项成就。
Yew Sing’s relatively youthful look belies the fact that he has been in the thick of things for a long time, at least since returning from the University of Leeds in 1982. His multifaceted life works have had a positive impact on many of us, myself included.
友信相对年轻的外表掩饰了他自1982年从英国利兹大学回来后就马不停蹄的处身与社会活动和教育使命。他一生中在各领域的贡献，为包括我在内的许多人带来了深远的影响。
I began as a student of Kwang Hua Private High School in 1990. The school had only around 300 students then. Soon I found out that it had less than a hundred students in the decades before 1986, when Yew Sing, Mr Teng Choon Kwang and several alumni crafted a five-year plan to revive the school by raising funds to hire more and better teachers and renovating the school.
1990年，我就读于巴生光华独立中学。当时学校只有大约300名学生。我随后才发现光华独中在1986年前的数十年，学生人数其实不到一百人。1986年，是友信、丁春光先生和几位校友筹划了五年计划，通过筹集资金以聘请更优秀的师资，并翻修学校重振校风后，学生人数才激增。
I first met Yew Sing in 1993 when I was 16 years old. I was on the school’s Dragon Dance troop and he, as a school board member, led the team to perform during Chinese New Year to raise funds for the school. The Kwang Hua school board was one of the earliest organisations that he took part in, yet to this day he remains a Deputy Chairman.
1993年，我第一次有缘认识友信，那年我十六岁。当时，我是学校舞龙队的成员，他身为校方董事之一，带领了团队在农历新年期间演出，为学校筹集资金。光华独中董事会是他最早参与的社会工作组织之一，至今他仍担任（董事会）副主席的职位。
Throughout the early 1990s while still schooling in Klang, I came to the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH) to listen to talks and forums, which formed an important part of my earliest understanding of politics. The vibrant intellectual milieu at the Chinese Assembly Hall was very much a legacy of Yew Sing and his contemporaries who formed the Youth Section in 1985, of which he was its second chief.
90年初，我在巴生上学，期间常出席吉隆坡雪兰莪中华大会堂（Kuala Lumpur Sselangor Chinese Assembly Hall）的讲座和论坛会，这些活动是我最初了解政治的重要萌芽期。中华大会堂充满活力的议政论证氛围很大程度上是友信与他的同代人在1985年成立雪华堂青年团后创下的精神遗产。友信当时为雪华堂青年团的第二任团长。
According to Dr Phoon Wing Keong, while Yew Sing was not a member of any political party, he was one of the key figures in advocating democracy, human rights, and the concept of “dual-coalition system” (as opposed to a Barisan Nasional single party rule). The “dual-coalition system” idea dominated headlines in the 1986 general election and reverberated in the subsequent decade. His four-decade of work with KLSCAH and its related Huatuan organisations have helped a community which previously lived with a “migrant mindset” to take an active part in national political discourse, and shaped many critical minds to ask difficult questions on how to build a better Malaysia for all.
据潘友强博士，尽管友信不是任何政党的成员，他是积极倡导民主、人权和“两线制”（抵制国阵贯彻的一党专制）等概念的关键人物。“两线制” 的思想火花早在1986 年大选中就占据了各媒体的头条新闻，在随后的十年中引起了极大的反响。他为隆雪华堂及相关华团组织长达四十年的投入和服务，推动了当时以“移民心态”封闭自居的华社走入积极参与国家政治的话语权，并在民间塑造了许多批判性思考空间，带领华社建立一项新的共同命题，探讨如何创造更好的马来西亚。
In 1996, I attended a three-day youth camp that Yew Sing chaired, and for the first time heard him speak at length of his views on national problems. As many had attested in this new book “Trail of Lights”, he has been, then and now, energetic yet calm and strategic. The youth camp, held at Selesa Hills in Bukit Tinggi, was coincidentally his first venture into business upon returning from the UK.
1996年，我参加了由友信主持，为期三天的青年营，第一次听到他详细阐述对国家课题的看法。正如许多事迹在这本名为《光之轨迹》的新书中得到反映和证实，从过去到现在，友信都一直满怀活力，但又具备客观冷静和富有策略眼光的个人特质。巧合的是，该青年营场地 - 坐落于武吉丁宜的丁怡山庄（Selesa Hills）度假村 - 也是友信从英国回马后首次涉足商界的第一盘生意。
In 1997, I went to a college in Klang to study the American degree programme. While I did not study at INTI, I knew full well that INTI popularised the American credit transfer programme, and together with other institutions invented the 3+0 arrangement. In many ways, the private higher education sector benefited from Yew Sing’s “edupreneurship”.
1997年，我在巴生的一所大学修读美国学位课程。虽然我没有在英迪深造，我非常清楚英迪首创先河推广了美国的学分转移计划，与其他机构联手创办了3+0的进修课程。在许多方面，马来西亚的私立高等教育受益于由友信带动的“教育创业精神”。
The early 1980s saw the rise of neoliberal economic ideas which included the promotion of the “user pays” idea for education. The UK under Margeret Thatcher and Australia under Bob Hawke decided to impose full fees on foreign students, and Malaysian students were badly hit by the move. The previous generation of Malaysians were lucky enough to study in the UK and Australia with much lower fees because both countries at the time believed that education was a public good based on Keynesian economic thinking.
1980 年初，新自由主义 (neo-liberal) 经济思想兴起，其中包含了提倡“用户自费”的教育概念。玛格丽特·撒切尔领导下的英国以及鲍勃·霍克领导下的澳大利亚决定对外国学生征收全额费用，马来西亚学生受到沉重的打击。更上一代的马来西亚人相对的很幸运，能够以相对低廉的学费前往英国和澳大利亚留学，这是因为基于凯恩斯主义 (Keynesian) 经济思想的影响，当时这两个国家秉持着教育应是公共福利的概念。
In 1985, the Malaysian economy suffered a 9-percent negative GDP growth rate. INTI and Dr Paul Chan’s HELP College were both established in the same year, and with around 30 students, respectively. INTI operated at a shop lot while HELP at a government complex’s car park. Both colleges started as social enterprises aiming to help deserving but less privileged students during the economic downturn. From such humble beginnings, they went on to pioneer Malaysia’s private education sector not only to cater for Malaysian students but also those from overseas. It is through this book that I found out Dr Chia Song Koon of QL Group is also among the founders of INTI.
1985年，马来西亚经济遭受了9%的GDP负增长率。当时英迪与由陈德鸿博士的精英学院 (HELP College) 同一年成立，分别拥有约 30 名学生开始营业。当年，英迪在一个商店教课，而精英在一个政府大楼的停车场教课。这两所大学最初都以社会企业的理念起步，旨在为有入学资格但家庭处境不好的学生在经济低迷时期提供支持。即使起步谦卑，他们多年来继续开拓马来西亚私立教育领域，不仅为马来西亚学生，也为海外学生提供服务。这本文集也让我发现全利资源集团 (QL Group) 的创办人兼董事经理谢松坤博士也是英迪的创始人之一。
In my current capacity as Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, my work further overlaps with one of Yew Sing’s life’s work, i.e. the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC). With his decades of insights on China through business and travels, he has many good ideas about how to strengthen bilateral ties and trade between Malaysia and China.
我当前担任国际贸易及工业部副部长，与友信的另一项使命——马中总商会有着很深的连结和互动。凭借数十年来商务和私人旅行对中国积累的深入了解，他对如何加强马中双边关系和贸易来往提出了多项好的建议。
Yew Sing’s daughter E Hun is the Executive Director of Research for Social Advancement (REFSA), a think tank of which I chair; her husband and Yew Sing’s son-in-law Frederik Paulus was a REFSA economist and, with his continental European experience which is vastly different from the Anglo-Saxon perspectives that Malaysians are familiar with, influenced me substantially on how I see the way forward for the Malaysian economy.
友信的女儿——陈宇航目前在我身为主席的义腾研究所（REFSA）担任执行董事；宇航的丈夫，也是友信的女婿 ——弗雷德里克·保罗斯（Frederik Paulus）曾担任REFSA 的经济顾问。他以欧洲背景，独到见解和阅历，与马来西亚相对熟悉的，以英美为代表的金融体系 (Anglo-Saxon) 思路截然不同，深深影响了我看待与分析马来西亚经济的未来前景。
Dr Aki Chong explained that Yew Sing saw the legacies of Mr Tan Kah Kee as a way to build bridges and to connect with other Chinese dıaspora societies. The more I read about Tan Kah Kee, the more I am amazed that Yew Sing chose to spend time on highlighting Tan Kah Kee’s legacies: he was among a very select few Southeast Asian leaders who had a major impact on China, ran the largest domestic Malayan manufacturing establishment a century ago, hired more than 6,000 people directly and at least 15,000 people through the supply chain, and exported 3 million pairs of shoes to China in 1929 alone.
庄诒晶博士解说友信认为陈嘉庚先生的精神遗产是各华侨社会建立桥梁和联系的一种途径。我对陈嘉庚了解得越多，就为友信选择花那么多时间重点着墨陈嘉庚精神的努力感到敬佩：陈嘉庚是极少数对中国产生重大影响的东南亚领导人之一。他在一个世纪前经营马来亚规模最大的国内制造企业，直接雇佣6,000多名员工，通过供应链雇佣至少15,000名员工，仅在1929年就向中国出口了整300万双鞋子。
Yew Sing established very deep personal friendships with major Chinese community leaders of the past, and through their closeness, he advised them on strategies. He has also personally introduced me to Tan Sri Ngah Ching Wen, Tan Sri Lim Gait Tong and Mr Tan Kai Hee by Yew Sing. I could see how much they trusted his analysis and judgements. He was also close to Mr Lim Fong Seng, another visionary giant.
友信与历届的华社领袖建立了非常深厚的友谊，通过与他们的深交提供各种策略性的建议。透过他的介绍，我有缘认识丹斯里颜清文、丹斯里林玉唐以及陈凯希先生。我看得出这些华人领袖非常看重友信独到的分析和判断能力。友信也和另一位有远见的华社巨人林晃升先生交情非浅。
Being a true Malaysian, he pushes the Huatuan organisations to engage with Muslim organisations through Gerakan Bertindak Malaysia. He also builds close camaraderie with IKRAM’s Zaid Kamaruddin and many others.
身为一个真正的马来西亚人，他通过马来西亚行动方略联盟（Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia）积极推动华团组织与各穆斯林组织密切互动。当中，他也与马来西亚伊斯兰友好协会（IKRAM）的再益（Zaid Kamaruddin）惺惺相惜，进一步与其他友族代表建立密切的友情。
While studying in the UK, Yew Sing established lifelong friendships with activists such as Singapore’s Tan Wah Piow. His group of UK graduates who remain concerned citizens styled themselves as “the Monsoon group”, of which I had the privilege to be invited to speak to privately just before the general elections of 2013, 2018, and 2022, respectively.
在英国留学期间，友信也和来自新加坡的陈华彪等社会人士建立了终生的友谊。他也与同期在英国毕业，充满热枕的一些马来西亚公民成立了名为“季风”的团体 (“the Monsoon group”)，我有幸在 2013 年、2018 年和 2022 年全国大选前受邀与他们私下交流。
Through INTI, Yew Sing the Chinese school leaver with a UK education was connected to the English educated academic community such as Dr Lee Fah Onn and Dr Lian Teck Jin, as well as major Malay thinkers of the past such as Tun Arshad Ayub, Tan Sri Majid Ismail and Dato’ Dr M Zawawi Ismail.
通过英迪，友信以本地华裔毕业生，受英国教育制度熏陶的独特身份，不仅有机会联系与受英语教育的学术届人士如李华安博士和连德仁博士，成为志同道合的合伙人；也有机会跟过去杰出的巫裔思想家如敦阿尔萨阿育 (Tun Arshad Ayub)、丹斯里玛吉伊斯迈 (Tan Sri Majid Ismail) 以及查瓦维伊斯迈教授 (Dato’ Dr. M Zawawi Ismail) 建立深入的联系。
Over the years, he has built many bridges between the past and the present, between the Chinese- and English-educated, between ethnic Chinese and Malay intellectuals and thinkers, and between Malaysia and China.
多年来，无论是在受华语和英语教育者之间、华裔和巫裔知识分子和思想家之间、马来西亚和中国之间，友信都能凭己之力架起了无数个桥梁。
If we were to search for a word to describe Yew Sing’s role in Malaysia over the past forty years, I would say the man Yew Sing is the “bridge builder”. And in building bridges, higher education plays a very important role in our country. In the coming decades, the purpose of higher education is in transition and we should find ways for it to stay relevant and keep up with social changes.
如真要找一个词来定位友信过去四十年在马来西亚扮演的角色，我会形容他为一名“桥梁建设者”。而在架设桥梁的过程中，高等教育在我国发挥着举足轻重的作用。在未来数十年，高等教育的目的将会继续的转变，而我们应该继续使其保持它与社会发展的连接，与社会共同进化。
First, bridging the public and private education in Malaysia. In the 1970s, it was assumed that only 5 percent of an age cohort would eventually graduate. The world has changed and through both public and private institutions in Malaysia, there has been a democratisation of tertiary education opportunities.
首先，我们必须架起马来西亚公立和私立教育的这道桥梁。在 1970 年代，人们认为每个年龄段中只有 5%比例的同龄人最终能够大学毕业。至今，世界已变化至通过马来西亚的公立和私立教育机构，高等教育已实现了民主化。
While there is a dualism between publicly funded universities and private profit making institutions, both mainly focus on generating many students with first degrees. This is no longer sufficient. The nation needs research and development (R&D), a lot more and speedy development of courses in new and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, data scientists, design engineers, etc.
尽管公立大学和私立营利性机构之间存在二元性的差异，两者都主要致力于培养出一等学位学历的优秀学生。然而，这项努力远远不够。我国需要更优质的研发（R＆D）技术，需要更全面、更快速地开发人工智能和机器学习、推出数据科学家、设计工程师等新兴技术的课程。
The public and private tertiary education sectors need to go beyond producing graduates. Higher education – whether public or private – needs to do more research. As a nation, we must find ways to fund more research by both public and private institutions, and the funding can be from public purse or corporations, especially those from the new and emerging industries.
公立和私立高等教育需要的不仅仅是培养毕业生，更需要推动大量的研究工作。作为一个国家，我们必须设法资助公共和私人机构积极展开更多研究，这些资金可以来自政府公款或企业贡献，特别是来自新兴产业 (emerging industries)。
The boundaries between public and private institutions should be reduced to encourage more collaborations, and that research capabilities and facilities are just as important as teaching for both public and private institutions.
我们应减少公立和私立机构之间的界限，并在鼓励深入合作的同时，强调研发能力与研发设施的重要性。
Second, the idea that higher education should be “user pays” is also increasingly outdated. As demography shrinks and societies age, the number of people going to universities will reduce in the years to come, yet with so many transitions happening at once, a more highly skilled and highly educated workforce are needed by all societies. The world is dealing with green transition, a stronger and more resilient supply chain, and the need to navigate geopolitics.
其次，高等教育贯彻的“用户自费”观念已越来越落伍。随着人口萎缩和社会老龄化，未来进入大学的人数将越来越少。但在这多重翻天覆地的转变时代，社会各层面需要更多具备高技能和受过高等教育的劳动力来支持。整个世界也正在面对绿色转型、更强大、更有弹性的供应链以及应对地缘政治的能力。
For the economy to continue to grow and for the society to thrive, young people will have to be persuaded to pursue more education, thus some forms of incentives, whether from the public purse or from corporations that want to hire them, be made available. In other words, the future of higher education funding around the world will be very different from the past forty years under the influence of “user pays” neoliberal economic ideas.
为了经济的持续增长和社会持续进步，年轻人需接受更深入，透彻的教育，提供某种激励措施是必然的，包括来自公共资金或者有意雇用这些年轻人的公司企业。换句话说，全球高等教育资金的未来走向将与过去四十年“用户自费”新自由主义经济思想截然不同。
More “work-based learning” would help persuade more corporations to shoulder a higher proportion of costs to fund young people to acquire skills and education.
更多强调“以工作为基础“的学习模式将有助于说服企业承担经费来资助年轻人加强职场技能和教育。
Dr Peter Ng of UCSI made an excellent point that there needs to be a new legal and regulatory framework for the existing profit-seeking private universities and institutions to graduate into some forms of endowments so that they could choose not to be purely profit-seeking. As endowments, the institutions could then diversify its sources of income beyond sole dependence on tuition fees to include charitable donations and other funding possibilities.
UCSI集团创办人兼首席执行员拿督黄传发提出了一个很好的观点，即国家需要探讨制定一项全新的法律和监管框架，让现有追求营利的私立大学和机构可以选择不同的捐助模式，继而转型成不纯粹以营利为目的的操作模式。这种捐赠模式 (endowment) 可以包括慈善捐赠等，让教育机构的收入模式多样化，不仅仅依赖收取学费。
Third, higher education is one of Malaysia’s sources of soft power. Malaysian universities – both public and private – have trained and continue to train tens of thousands if not more foreign students. The Prime Minister of Somalia, HE Hamza Abdi Barre, and many of the country’s key decision makers, were graduates of Malaysian universities. Many students from the Global South look up to Malaysian institutions. There was a time in the 1990s that Malaysia was confident of herself and ambitious in showcasing her soft power.
第三，高等教育是马来西亚软实力的源泉之一。无论是公立或私立大学，我们至今成功并继续培训出数以万计的外国学生。包括索马里现任总理哈姆扎·阿卜迪·巴雷 (H.E. Hamza Abdi Barre) 在内多个国家的关键决策者都曾是从马来西亚大学毕业的学生。许多来自南半球国家的学生都仰慕马来西亚的院校。早在1990年代，马来西亚对其教学实力充满信心，并雄心勃勃地对外展示她的教育软实力。
In today’s more complicated world, especially in higher education, more bridges need to be built, including by people like Yew Sing and others. This can help us to rebuild Malaysia’s soft power in the Global South, and there are no other better channels than through the higher education institutions.
身处当今愈加复杂多变的世界浪潮中，尤其在高等教育领域，我们十分需要建立更多的桥梁渠道，当中就涵盖由友信等有识之士努力搭建起来的桥梁。这些努力可以帮助重振马来西亚在南半球的软实力；而要达到这个远大的目标，可能没有比高等教育更具效率的渠道了。
Speech by Liew Chin Tong, Deputy Minister of MITI, at the launch of Datuk Tan Yew Sing’s biography “Trail of Lights, Journey of Tan Yew Sing”
上述为投资、贸易及工业部副部长刘镇东在拿督陈友信的《Trail of Lights, Journey of Tan Yew Sing》英语版新书发布会的致词
