While there is no capstone requirement for the Chinese Studies minor, many students at Yale-NUS have chosen to write their capstones on Chinese or China-related topics. Thanks to the generosity of the Mr Bernard Tan and Ms Angeline Poon, each year the best Yale-NUS capstone on a topic related to Chinese Studies is awarded the Tan Sing Meng Prize in Chinese Studies. The selection is made on the basis of the project’s scholarly merit, originality and contribution to the field of study.
The Tan Sing Meng Prize in Chinese Studies is named after Mr Tan Sing Meng, a Mathematics teacher and educator. Born during World War II, Mr Tan was only able to pursue undergraduate studies in his late 20s. However, his early education, which was entirely in Chinese, fuelled his interest in the language as well as Chinese literature and history. Mr Tan hoped to extend this love and passion for Chinese Studies to future generations of students. The Prize of $5,000 is awarded to the graduating student who produces the outstanding capstone project in Chinese Studies.
Past Chinese Studies related capstone prize winners (and their affiliated majors) are:
- Morphology of Zhigua Fiction (Literature)
- Culture and Status Seeking: The Impact of Mianzi on Bilateral Relations with China (Global Affairs)
- Divine Histories: Turtleshell and Milfoil Divinations as Motifs and Allegories of Decline in The Grand Scribe’s Records (History)
- Visions of the Self: Autobiographical Representations of the Self in Virginia Woolf and Ling Shu Hua (Literature)
- From Self-cultivation to Political Constraint: A Confucian Case for Shaming Rulers (Philosophy)
