|
NUS Extension (NEX) was pleased to host a Media Visit from Japan on the evening of Thursday 19 July 2007. The visit, which was organised with the Singapore Tourism Board, was from a group of journalists from the lifestyle magazine Mainichi ga Hakken (Everyday is a Discovery). They had made a special 3-day visit to Singapore to write a feature on its lifestyle, tourist attractions and education sector.
Accompanying the media was the gracious Ms Seiko Tanishima. Besides hosting her own cookery show in Japan, she has also published many well-received recipe books and made numerous appearances on television programmes and magazines. As a popular personality among the readers of Mainichi ga Hakken, she would be featured in the magazine photo-shoot conducted on NEX premises.
A NEX team, consisting of the Director Mr James Tay, Associate Director Mr Wong Peng Meng and Program Manager Ms Vivian Fu, was pleased to show our guests around our premises and tell them more about our courses. As Mainichi ga Hakken is a magazine widely read by those 50 years old and above, the journalists were particularly interested in NEX courses for senior citizens.
In line with Japan’s movement to maintain high standard of living and workforce participation for its senior citizens, they focused on areas such as Languages and Health & Wellness and were delighted to learn that many Japanese students study Mandarin at NEX. They also contributed valuable ideas to the kinds of courses that NEX can offer to the elderly in the future.
Caption: “The topic of today’s lesson is…”
NEX students hard at work learning Mandarin
The highlight of the Media Visit was the photography session, which took place during an ongoing lesson for the part-time Mandarin language course. Ms Tanishima took the time to join in an ongoing class that was teaching ‘Mandarin in Singapore’, and with a set of course notes she participated fully in the lesson.
As the photographer set up his equipment she happily informed us that she was looking forward to the experience, as she had previously learnt Mandarin in Tokyo. Taking the front seat, Ms Tanishima gamely read along with the class as the teacher guided them through the reading passage. Indeed, she enjoyed herself so much that she expressed reluctance to leave when the photograph-taking was complete, leading the other members of the entourage to joke that the class had gained one more student!
The Media Visit ended with the journalists sharing the fun they had had in Singapore so far, visiting popular attractions and tasting local cuisine. They also expressed their views on how Singapore could leverage on its status as a popular tourist destination to encourage foreigners to study here. They left NEX with pleasant memories and a desire to visit again. |
