To help Singaporeans master English and their mother tongues from a young age, former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew proposed raising $100 million for a new bilingualism fund for pre-schoolers.

To be administered by the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism will spearhead initiatives to teach the languages to children aged four to six and who are in nursery or kindergarten.

Mr Lee was addressing more than 650 guests at the launch of his new book, My Lifelong Challenge: Singapore's Bilingualism Journey, at the Singapore Conference Hall.

Education Minister Heng Swee Keat was among the guests at the event.

Drawing from his own experience, Mr Lee said it was tough learning the Chinese language as an adult.

"I did not then know that, to learn languages, the best time is when you are a child. Then you can be exposed to one, two or more languages," he said.

He added that studies have shown that the first few years of life are "the most absorptive period of the mind for learning languages".

"If children start early enough, from Kindergarten 1 or even at nursery, by Primary 6 they will be bilingual, with a strong foundation in the mother tongue, a foundation for life," he said.

To kick-start the fund, Mr Lee will donate $12 million, including $2 million from the proceeds of the signed copies of his new book.

Others who will donate include property tycoon Philip Ng, who pledged $5 million. The Government will match the contributions up to $50 million.

Mr Heng told reporters later that the bilingualism fund will help enhance the teaching of English and mother tongues at the pre-school level, such as by funding the training of teachers and the development of learning materials.

"We want to make the learning of mother-tongue languages interactive and fun. This is an important way of engaging students, especially in their pre-school years," he said.

The English edition of Mr Lee's book is published by The Straits Times Press, and the Chinese edition by Lianhe Zaobao.

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