2012 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
25 Years of Nanyang University: The Role and Significance in Nation-building and National Integration in Singapore
| Project/Area Number |
22510273
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Area studies
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| Research Institution | The University of Kitakyushu |
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Principal Investigator |
TAMURA Keiko (TSUJI Keiko) 北九州市立大学, 大学院・社会システム研究科, 教授 (90197575)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2010 – 2012
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| Keywords | 東南アジア |
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| Research Abstract |
Nantah (Chinese abbreviation for Nanyang University) was the first ever Chinese language university to be put up outside China and she was financially supported by the then millionaires as well as the general public like taxi-drivers and trishaw collieswho contributed a day’s earnings for the cause. As the platform and principal of Nantah clearly show, the founder of Nantah and his followers were in favor of keeping ethnic uniqueness and using it to the development of the whole country. However, the British colonial government and the Singaporean political leaders persisted in the melting pot approach in which each ethnic or communal group would lose its distinctiveness in the process of mixing and melting into a new national entity by using English as common language. There were also worries over the danger of communist infiltration into the Nantah campus amidst the international Cold War. Nantah ’s degrees could enjoy no official recognition for a long time.This research argues language and politics in Singapore by taking the case of reform and closure of Nantah, and also touches upon what kind of contribution Nantah made to the society.
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