"Mother, it has been too long since I left you ... call me by my infant name Aomen (Chinese pronunciation for Macao). Mother, I want to come back..."

Winnie Iong, the girl who sang the famous "Song of Seven Sons" is now a teenage studying at the Pui Ching School of Macao.

"When I first sang the song at the Spring Festival Evening in Beijing in 2000, I was only nine years old," she said, "I could not speak Mandarin and did not understand the meanings of the song."

The middle school student now speaks in fluent Mandarin. She said that she has learned the Mandarin in school and is invited tosing the song on behalf of Macao several times a year.

"The more I sing, the better understanding of the content of the song I gain," said the girl who is longing to study at a teacher-training university in the mainland after graduation from the middle school here.

The Macao SAR government has encouraged citizens to learn and speak Mandarin -- standard pronunciation of Chinese language since1999 when Macao returned to the motherland.

In addition to opening special Mandarin learning courses, many primary and middle schools also teach students to love the motherland and Macao.

"Overall development, human culture and loving the motherland and Macao have become key points in the educational development ofMacao Special Administrative Region," said Sou Chio Fai, Director of the Bureau of Education and Youth of the region.