Diversified Reading Guidance: Emerging Technology, Finance, and Humanities

Ong Eng Hong

Introduction

In this new era of rapid technological advancement, Ririxin Reading Club is committed to helping readers seize opportunities and meet challenges. We focus on development trends in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain, explore the application prospects of fintech innovation, while also considering how to preserve humanistic values amidst the digital revolution.

Our progressive reading guidance approach extends beyond traditional book discussions. We closely monitor local publications including The Business Times and The Straits Times, as well as international magazines like The New Scientist, which frequently publish popular science articles and financial analyses on emerging technologies. Our reading guidance team collects, organises, and translates these materials to support our guidance sessions. By promptly processing and translating these English-language sources, we enable Chinese-speaking readers to stay informed about the latest trends and grasp global developments in real-time.

Combining Theory with Practice

To help audiences better understand emerging technologies, we adopt an approach that combines demonstration with hands-on practice. During reading guidance sessions, we have demonstrated how to use some of the latest AI applications on mobile phones to answer questions, create drawings, and more. We also develop our own reading guidance materials to share complex theories and concepts about emerging technologies with audiences in an accessible manner. At our World Book Day reading guidance session on 4 May 2025, the guidance team specially prepared materials to explain AI operating principles.

Symbiosis of Humanities and Technology

Ririxin Reading Club was initially established to promote humanities classics and literary works. The name “Ririxin” itself derives from “The Great Learning” in the Book of Rites: “If you can renew yourself for one day, then you can renew yourself daily, and renew again daily.” In today’s era of rapid advancement in emerging technology and fintech, we believe there is an even greater need to consider humanistic values in technological development: How should technology enhance human quality of life? What role should humans play in the digital age? Our reading guidance team continues to focus on these fundamental questions. For example, in our 29 March 2025 reading guidance session titled “One Person as a Team – Leveraging AI to Enhance Productivity,” we explored how to make AI a capable assistant to humans rather than simply replacing them. We believe that only by developing technology while maintaining humanistic care can we create truly meaningful progress.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, we can see that our reading sessions cover multiple areas and serve multiple purposes. Besides sharing the latest knowledge from various fields with audiences, we also hope that through live interaction with participants, everyone can experience how new knowledge will impact all aspects of their lives. Another important objective is to inspire young audiences’ enthusiasm for mastering Chinese well and cultivate their interest in reading Chinese books through these reading guidance activities. Our emphasis on live interaction and practical knowledge application in reading guidance, as well as our perspective that integrates Chinese and Western knowledge, reflects Ririxin Reading Club’s innovation and enhancement of the traditional reading club model.