This Saturday , 21 September, marks the inaugural lesson for the SUKA Mandarin Programme for Children and the culmination of much effort and support from our community here in London – without which this would not have happened. Amongst the several SUKA members who have helped me bring this programme to fruition are Ivy Heng, Leong Qi Xiang and Mary Lo. Mary, in particular, planted the seed of an idea to start a Mandarin school for kids when in early 2012, she volunteered to be a Mandarin teacher for SUKA. Since then, over the course of last year, various schemes for running such a school were studied (incidentally, we were assisted ably by Qi Xiang) and senior members of SUKA consulted for their opinions. Suffice to say, the current model of working in partnership with Hua Hsia, is probably the best in terms of quality of teaching and risk management for SUKA.
To the first cohort of children (and their parents) starting this Saturday, I wish every one of you the best and may you benefit greatly from this programme.
Best wishes,
Bernard Cheong
President, SUKA