"It is very timely that we have a magazine like this."

The President of the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), Professor Tan Thiam Soon, expressed this view to the team behind EduNation, confirming the instrumental role that the publication hopes to play in Singapore's education scene.

"One of the biggest challenges for Singapore, going forward, will be how to continue our economic growth mainly through productivity growth. And in order for us to have productivity growth, ensuring a growing pool of well-educated people who are able to serve the economy well is going to be very important. Therefore, it is very timely that we have a magazine like this, where we can publish articles, exchange opinions and continue the search to develop a new Singapore system that will serve us well and guarantee that we can indeed, continue to grow through productivity," said Professor Tan.

Professor Tan was one of the guests-of-honour invited to grace the launch of EduNation. The other three were Professor Cheong Hee Kiat, President of SIM University (UniSIM); Mrs Deborah Tan, Principal of the Singapore Sports School (SSP); and Mrs Carmee Lim, former Principal of Raffles Girls' School.

"The magazine offers an interesting spread of feature articles. In addition, it is bilingual and so has an appeal to a wider audience of readers. The informative nature provides a very good platform to inform and promote thinking among both educators and beneficiaries of education," said Professor Cheong.

Professor Cheong felt that EduNation highlighted the multi-dimensional aspects of education, and emphasised the ability to get a good education through a variety of different channels. As the President of UniSIM, this point is of special meaning to him and his students because many of the school's graduates are late bloomers or adults who have missed out on educational opportunities earlier in their lives. He was therefore pleased to see in this issue, coverage of both SSP and the School of Science and Technology.

"I look forward to the topics that EduNation will choose to feature which will make it both a distinctive and useful magazine - one that exceeds all other education publications in terms of breadth and depth. Perhaps you can also consider having a summary of important education news in each issue covering the preceding two months so that our educators will not miss out on anything of note."

Mrs Deborah Tan, the Principal of SSP, and EduNation's Chief Editor, Mdm Poon Sing Wah, have known each other for many years. When Mrs Tan was approached for an interview, she described Mdm Poon as "a woman whom you can hardly decline." She thanked Mdm Poon for her perseverance, which had resulted in her school being featured in EduNation's first issue.

"EduNation's articles provide a commendable breadth and depth. As I read, I saw how the education system has developed and grown over the years. I hope that in all its following issues, the magazine will continue to have this perspective for its readers, guiding them towards a wider world view about education. I thank EduNation for covering a unique system like the Singapore Sports School."

Mrs Carmee Lim, former Principal of Raffles Girls' School, also offered her congratulations. At the same time, she talked about her personal hopes and expectations for Singapore's education system.

"I hope that we will find the courage to transform education - not just initiate minor reforms - from kindergarten all the way to pre-university education."

Going one step further than The 3-Mind Revolution (David Chiem & Brian Caswell), Mrs Lim explained why nurturing all four of our minds - the Champion Mind, the Learning Mind, the Creative Mind and the Compassionate Mind - will be of utmost importance to educating learners brought up in an increasingly globalised world.

The launch of EduNation took place on 18 January 2013 at BookHaven, NUS University Town. There were nearly 100 invited guests from the education and cultural fields in attendance.

Professor Phua Kok Khoo, the Chairman of WS Education, talked about the reasons why World Scientific Publishing Co, a company known for advanced academic publications, decided to invest in a widely accessible education magazine, in his opening address. "We recognise the importance of education to society and to our nation, but the local market lacks a publication that specialises in this area, much less one that ministers to the public in both English and Chinese. We looked around the entire Asia-Pacific region but found not a single high-quality and impactful bilingual journal or magazine devoted to education. And so we're hoping that since Singapore is doing very well in this area, our magazine will take a lead in promoting the Singapore experience, not only to our Asia-Pacific neighbours, but to the whole world," explained Professor Phua.

Chief Editor Mdm Poon took this rare opportunity to bow to the guests who were present, and to express her deep gratitude for their support for the new publication.

Mdm Poon strongly believes that one of the main factors contributing to Singapore's success is the grooming of our citizens into people of quality. "Therefore, when I co-founded WS Education with Professor Phua in June last year, our first task was to establish EduNation, a bilingual, bi-monthly magazine," she said. "We want to tell the world, in the world's two major languages, how Singapore goes about the business of education."

Each guest received a copy of EduNation, and as evening descended, the event drew to a close. As with education itself, the road ahead is a long one for Edunation. Our editorial team therefore invites you to embark on this EduNation-inspired journey with us.

Translated by: Selina Tan, Lee Xiao Wen

新加坡科技学院校长陈添顺教授在《新学》创刊发布会，给了《新学》同仁这样的肯定。

他说："新加坡目前最大的挑战，是如何通过加强生产力，继续推动经济发展。而提升生产力，必须通过多种渠道，确保有越来越多受过良好教育的生力军支持国家发展。因此，《新学》的创刊是来得及时。杂志中的文章能促进思想交流，研究如何改善现有的教育系统，与时并进。"

陈添顺是《新学》创刊发布会贵宾团四位贵宾之一。当天与他联袂出席的贵宾还有新跃大学校长张起杰教授、新加坡体育学校校长区美伦以及莱佛士女中前校长李卡美。

张起杰致词时以鼓励的口吻说："《新学》的文章内容有吸引力，双语出版能让更多读者阅读，而所包含的资讯既丰富又充实。它提供了一个很好的平台，为教育工作者及关心教育者增广见闻。"

他认为《新学》突出了教育多面向的特征，强调不同的能力获得优良教育的多种不同渠道。这对他，以及对新跃大学的学生来说，特别有意义。因为他们当中有许多大器晚成的例子，或年轻时候没有受教育的机会。他很高兴在《新学》创刊号中看到新加坡体育学校和科技中学的报道，新加坡人应该为政府提供多元化的教育渠道感到高兴。

他说："希望《新学》能成为一份独特且实用的教育刊物，在报导教育新闻的深度和广度方面，超越一般报章。同时考虑每期摘录过去两个月的教育新闻，让教育工作者不会错失任何消息。"

新加坡体育学校校长区美伦和本刊总编辑潘星华交情颇深，她形容潘星华向她提出访问要求时，是个"不容易拒绝的女人"。但她也感谢总编辑这份执著，让她能代表体校参与《新学》创刊号的出版。

她说："《新学》的文章，既深且广。从中可以了解多种教育体制的发展。希望在未来，《新学》可以继续引导读者，从世界宏观的角度看教育这个课题。我感谢《新学》创刊号报导体校这个与众不同的教育体制。"

莱佛士女中前任校长李卡美为《新学》献上祝福之余，还谈到她对新加坡教育的期许。

她说："祝愿我们可以有勇气，来为教育改头换面。不只是在小处改变，而是修复从幼稚园到高中的整个体制。"

她提出通过训练冠军思维、创造的勇气、创新思维以及培养同情心，来教育孩子如何应付越来越急剧的全球化进程。

《新学》于今年1月18日下午在新加坡国立大学大学城的BookHaven书店（书香斋）举行创刊发布会。当天，有将近100位教育界和文化界人士应邀出席。

世科教育有限公司主席潘国驹教授致欢迎词时谈到为何专门出版高端学术书籍的世界科技出版公司会投资创办大众化的教育杂志。他说："我们看见教育对国家、对社会的重要性，可惜新加坡却没有一份谈教育的杂志，更没有一份用双语来谈教育的杂志。我们走访亚太地区，发现本区域也没有高品质和具影响力的双语高等教育期刊或杂志。既然新加坡在教育领域办得有声有色，我们希望《新学》可以打头阵，向亚太地区，甚至全世界推广新加坡的教育经验。"

总编辑潘星华在致词前，借着这难得的机会，向到场嘉宾深深鞠躬，表达对众多好友支持《新学》的谢意。

潘星华认为，通过教育培养有素质的国民是新加坡成功的关键。她说："当我去年6月和潘国驹教授共同设立世科教育公司，我们第一项工作就是创办《新学EduNation》教育双月刊，我们要用中英文来告诉世界的朋友，新加坡是怎样办教育的。"

当天到场的每一位嘉宾都获赠一本《新学》杂志。夜幕低垂，《新学》新加坡教育双语双月刊的创刊发布会也圆满落幕，但这不是结束，它标示着一个新篇章的开始。正如教育之路，《新学》未来的路还很长，《新学》编辑团队邀请您和我们一起走这条"新学之路"。