写信,是一件愉快的事。

两个千禧世代年轻人,重温成长时期与朋友互通信函的时光,用各自熟悉的语言,描述他们对身为“新加坡华人”的观感。在还没动笔之前,他们想象:华文和英文这两个不同的语文,代表不一样的世界观吗?或两人同在多元文化社会里构筑身份认同,彼此间的距离没有想象中遥远?

《联合早报》记者黄伟曼和《海峡时报》记者袁昕,针对母语教育、崛起的中国,以及“华人特权”这三个备受他们同代人关注的课题,以通信的方式,分享看法。这六封信,期盼能拼凑出更完整的年轻华人面貌,帮助我们想象一个更包容、自信的未来大华社。

They are millennials who grew up under Singapore’s bilingual education system. But while one chose to write for the English papers, the other immersed herself in the Chinese press instead. To what extent does the language that one uses condition her worldview and outlook?

Ahead of Chinese New Year, and in the first collaboration of its kind, two young reporters Yuen Sin and Ng Wai Mun from The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao examine how the Singaporean Chinese identity has evolved through a series of letters.

Writing in their preferred language, they trade views on Chinese education and language, the rise of China and “Chinese privilege”, aiming to bring the separate English and Mandarin-speaking worlds that they inhabit closer to each other.