“Successive generations of students paid a heavy price, because of my ignorance, by my insistence on bilingualism.”
MM Lee Kuan Yew
Excerpts from Channelnewsasia report:
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said his insistence on bilingualism in the early years of education policy was “wrong”. Instead it caused generations of students to be put off by the Chinese language.
Speaking first in Mandarin and then in English at the official opening of the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language on Tuesday, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew gave a blunt assessment of Singapore’s bilingual policy.
He said: “We started the wrong way. We insisted on ting xie (listening), mo xie (dictation) – madness! We had teachers who were teaching in completely-Chinese schools. And they did not want to use any English to teach English-speaking children Chinese and that turned them off completely.”
Mr Lee added: “At first I thought, you can master two languages. Maybe different intelligence, you master it at different levels.”
But his conclusions now, after over 40 years of learning Mandarin, cannot be more different.
MM Lee said: “Nobody can master two languages at the same level. If (you think) you can, you’re deceiving yourself. My daughter is a neurologist, and late in my life she told me language ability and intelligence are two different things.
Dear Mr Andrew,
I can’t sit still when I also have been to HK. You’ve not been completely truthful.
Readers themselves shd go to HK today and try speaking Mandarin to the waitresses or sales staff there. I tell you they are adept at BOTH Cantonese and Mandarin (for many English as well cos HK’s legacy being a British colony once). Why? Because Mandarin is taught in the schools today.
How can HK disregard the MILLIONS of mainland tourists that cross over to gamble (Macau), shop, eat, etc., in HK monthly.
It just doesn’t make $$$ sense. Does it?
Does he really regret, after over 40 years?
Mandarin? Cantonese?
STOP! THINK!
All Chinese dialects share a COMMON WRITTEN SCRIPT.
Who? The great unifier Emperor Shih Huang Ti. Remember him? The Yellow Emperor.
In fact it’s so easy for the Hong Kong people to make the switch. Why?
Half the battle is already won.
You people out there really stupid.
I tell you.
At 98 mike. LKY & Mah Bow Tan ancestor are in the same Hainanese county in China.
Information that LKY origin is in Indonesia. The father Pass Away Peacefully (PAP) when he was young. Mother remarried to Lee Chin Koon in Malacca.
19/11/09
Hi James HK Leong
I am truthful. The HK tvs have advertisments on promoting the Speaking of English by Hongkong commoners. Hongkis are very proud people and continue using Cantonese even Hongkong has been reverted back to China and sam with Macau.
Regards
Andrew Chuah
So, my anti-Chinese Singaporean Chinese Mr Andrew, what are you trying to prove? That it’s ok to forget about learning and using Chinese? What’s the crap about dumping your own mother? Yes, Chinese language is putonghua. Dialects connect we Chinese to our roots. Simply put it, one is our mother, the other is our grandmother. So, which one you wanna dump? Because they are old and have less “economic” value?
My point is that after years of independence, most Chinese Singaporeans have lost touch with their roots. If fact, where can you find an Asian Chinese (except Indonesian Chinese from Suharto’s period) so proudly acknowledge that he/ she can’t utter a word of Chinese. And it will be similarly demeaning and disastrous if this happens to a Malay or Indian. I would reckon that more and more young Chinese Singaporeans are like headless flies, unwisely snobbish and yet direction-less.
One just needs to look at some advanced nations to know that they have citizens who are proud of being who they are, their languages, cultures, and traditions. Japanese, French, Germans etc. And I’m not saying that these nationals cannot utter a word of English. English to them is just another medium of communication, but they will not “dump” their own language because statistically more people are using English to communicate. English can never undermine the status and importance of their own languages, which make them stand out from the rest of the world.
Uniquely Singapore? Our singlish, our “bananas” or what?
I do not think insistence on bilingualism was wrong. I think the whole issue is in terms of execution i.e. the wrong teaching methods were used. We can get to a point where language mastery means reaching a level where we do not feel unduly strained, when engaged even in foreign situations. The first direction is to make sure that the younger generation enjoys the language more than trying to pass exams.
MM Lee: My insistence on bilingualism was wrong
What is he trying to tell us? That we should not comply with everything he says from now on?
100% mistake or not, quite subjective.
But i dare to say half of his effort is to soften the perception that Singaporeans have on PAP policymakers. Election date is nearer with each passing day, so he has to do it not just for himself, but for his son.
Here is an appropriate Chinese idiom which i learnt in the 70′s ….Yi Jian Shuan Diao (One arrow kills Two Birds) ;-)
Apologies aside, I would like to invite the MM to invoke his memory a little further back and ask what and how he is going to repay the debt of my grandparents’ generation who followed his clarion call and made sacrfices by allowing themselves to be resettled, to start lives anew in the ‘accidental’ nation-state?
Notwithstanding the jubilation over the fact that he admitted to a wrong,
i think most people agree that being bilingual is a good thing.
Hi Andrew Chuah,
You have only scratched the surface of HK. James and Jackie on the other hand portrayed quite an accurate picture of the ground sentiment of HK at large.
I have been living and working in HK for the past 11 years. Yes, Cantonese is still being the spoken language here but China being part of HK backbone and the CPC had been providing economical stimulus policies to support HK business at large. This is undeniable and felt throughout HK albeit a minority still thinks they can survive without China intervention. You said you deal with major banks here and yet you ignore the CEPA, QDII, RMB settlement policies and others that had impacted the HK market (on the good side).
And yes, you are right to say that HK public TV advertisement had been promoting the speak proper English campaign (because they too realized using Cantonese as the main language to teach in school had depleted HK people’s ability to speak proper English like older generation of HK people used to be, likewise, they are doing the same for Mandarin to keep pace with China’s progress. HK people are pragmatist at large if not more so than today’s Singaporean. They knew better to go with the flow. You need not have to master the language; just speak the language that others (particularly the native speakers) can understand you. Do not confuse it with written language though.
Give it a second thought; it is very bewildering for some posters here to say that speaking only English (not that Singapore English is easily understood by outsiders) will get your business deal going in China. I happened to know a few White and Black American who spoke perfect Beijing Mandarin; if without a face, you would never ever thought these are black and white American. And yes, it is true too that Chinese are beginning to speak more English these days albeit there are 55 ethnic groups in China. I also happened to know a few Chinese who speaks fluent Russian and other languages other than Mandarin. I wonder why?
Personally, I would think speaking more languages gives you the edge to better understand other people whether in business or just a friendly conversation at large. Just that we have to do it at our own pace. It is a matter of personal interest. There are people who can speak multiple languages fluently without much problem. Likewise, there are those who cannot do the same. This is part and parcel of life that we had to accept. That is what makes us all (individuals) so unique.
Sincerely,
Observer (SG-HK)
I too think that being a bilingual, trilingual, and even better, multilingual is a good thing. It is not something that is lightly attained.
His actual mistake, I feel, is that he turned extra languages from an asset, into an obstacle. (By insisting in people who might already be struggling with one language, but excelling in other areas, to pass another language to go ahead with their education in those other areas.)
Even if Chinese teachers had refused to teach Mandarin in English, it’s fine. But that doesn’t mean they couldn’t have altered teaching methods i.e teach students how to speak Mandarin first rather than force them to learn how to write it simultaneously. Maybe they did speak out, but were hushed by our dearest MM Lee. In the name of what? Economic advancement? As part of efforts to impress and thus gain more votes from the Mandarin speaking Chinese with our gung-ho bilingual policy? Oh wait…the majority of the Chinese population back then spoke in dialects…hohoho.
Also, who says it isn’t possible to master two languages equally well? Are we really that incapable? It’s only gonna be a matter of time before our friends overseas hear this and before Singapore becomes their laughing stock. You don’t have to go far. Letting our Chinese friends across the causeway (who have mastered English, Malay and Mandarin equally well) hear it would be enough. Ha ha ha.
Can we get a refund? Since the MM has admitted that he wasn’t as far-sighted as the salary we have been paying him, then it is only right that he returns it. Who was it who said that when you pay peanuts you get monkeys? So, what happened?
20/11/09
Hi Sponge Box & Observer (SG-HK)-Good to hear from both of you. What I wrote is strictly in Singapore context ie we must not be mislead by such a myth ie China has 1.2billion population and as Singaporean Chinese, we must learn Mandarin at all costs to take this opportunityy which is nonsense (how many of us can really go to China to work, do business-open factories and trade or study, less than 2% and there are better places than China). Yes I go to Hongkong and China since 1979 (very frequently yearly and this year alone, I went 5 times and going again month end and I work for a boutique advisory company and I deal with big banks there and I use English and Cantonese, even since my student days there). My sailent point is in the Singapore context ie majority our young Singaporean Chinese are now unable to speak their respective dialects ie Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew, Khek, Hakka and others which are very rich in our traditions and cultures (these are embeded in dialects even Chinese operas). The Hongkis always use Cantonese unless they have no choice even my student days right till now (I always asked these senior bankers whom I am dealing “you speak mandarin-answer no unless no choice, and in my case, I have refused to speak Mandarin and always use my dialect ie Hokkien and Cantonese). Time to bring back the various Chinese dialects in Singapore and hennce making Singapore more colorful and vibrant again.
*stimuluses mentioned are not relevant in this topic.
Regards
Andrew Chuah
TO ALL MY CHINESE FRIENDS,
i am an indian, i learn and mastered simple english by reading,
i read every topic in the newspaper, that’s where i get the knowledge.
let it be medicine/law/politics and the forum collum, read every thing.
this really helps me in my daily work. i can communicate and e-mail well.
and always pay special attention to speeches by,
MM LEE / PRIME MINISTER LEE / LAW MINISTER SHUNMUGARETNAM/
FINANCE MINISTER THARMASHUNMUGARETNAM/ DR. WEI LING/
MR. TONY TAN / MR. DANABALAN / MRS. HO CHING / MR. JAYAKUMAR/
MR. DEVINDAR SINGH.
as for children read english and chinese story books, this must start
at a nursery level.
it’s tough to master two language, but believe me reading is the magic answer.
always make sure your children have chinese and english story books.
my very best to my chinese friends
I’d like to put the discussion of the Chinese language in perspective.
Firstly, you need to understand the historical evolution of what we now called “Mandarin”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Standard_Mandarin
So for those who argued that Mandarin is our “mother tongue”. Sorry, you are wrong. Mandarin is the mother tongue of those who happened to be in the northern area or if they are mandarins (i.e. govt officials). Those from the south spoke a different category of languages. The last I checked, most of Chinese in Singapore have ancestors that came from the south.
Therefore, we can only conclude that learning of Mandarin is purely an economic decision, as it should be with other languages like English.
Speaking fluently in dialects with the mother tongue is no big deal lol. Anyone can become expert.
But speaking english with mandarin .fluently.. *ahem* It is oh well impossible. How many dare to talk fast in english with the english speaking ppl or even talk fast with mandarin chinese? I can tell you…you wont understand what they are talking about, cos they r speaking like machine guns lol.
Only continuous exposure with a native speaking people will make a person fluently. Honestly speaking, i seen many so call fluent english chinese speakers…their english sux big time yet they thought that they are very good in it lol.
Hi Andrew,
I feel the need to rebut. Who’s stopping us all to speak dialects at home? Such are the attitude of SIngaporean like you. It is so easy to play the blame game. Did this gov stop you from speaking dialect with each other (not that I am in support of this gov many policies)? Why the need for you to speak Cantonese when you are in Hong Kong other than English? I bet if those bankers that you are dealing with speaks putonghua, I wonder what will you do. Not many Singaporeans had the privilege like you do. Do not forget, HK is not made up of senior bankers. Go talk to younger generation of HK people and stop caling Hk people Hkies (this is outright disrespectful).
As for Singaporeans at large; we are a big melting pot with various ethnic groups. How the younger generation tackle languages is not based solely on a single speak mandarin policy; parents, relatives and friends do play a role and are partly the cause of the lost of used of dialects in everday conversation. This has got nothing to do with whether how many percentage of Singaporeans will venture to China to do business. What is so disadvantage to speak another language like Mandarin other than Singlish?
May be I am one of the lucky few. My relatives, friends and their younger siblings did not forget their roots despite this mandatory speak mandarin policy. And they are at ease with conversational Mandarin.I am sure many Singaporeans did not just blindly follow what the gov mandates. If you are parent or relative of the young, ask yourself this question, why didn’t you upheld the rich dialect culture? Why didn’t you continue to nurture your younger siblings or relatives to speak their mother tongue? Isn’t there dialect association groups in Singapore? The dialect culture in Singapore is still alive and well. You said in your previous post, what’s so great about speaking Mandarin? For Singaporean Chinese, you know where your roots are don’t you? Why did you choose to learn English to begin with if you so strongly defend the rich dialect culture? Do not forget, English is not Singapore native language either. Like it or not, Singapore official language is still BAHASA MELAYU!
SIncerely,
Observer (SG-HK)
[i]MM Lee: My insistence on bilingualism was wrong
Wednesday, 18 November 2009, 10:22 am | 2,692 views
“Successive generations of students paid a heavy price, because of my ignorance, by my insistence on bilingualism.”
MM Lee Kuan Yew[/i]
and?
you still don’t feel shy to retire and resign? whah koah! liked that also can get away..than again he is indeed the FATHER of the the prime minister
don’t make any MISTAKES about it…
I wonder what is the standard of singapore’s A- Level grads who took Chinese huh?
These should be considered to have mastered both languages right?
If not , what is standard of A Level chinese?
If so, does this contradict Lee’s assumption? or is that an aspiration?
Dear MM Lee,
How many more wrongs or mistakes must you realise before you willingly step down completely from any post whether in the Cabinet of out of the Cabinet?
Don’t you think it is time that you stop messing around with the lives of common Singaporeans who cannot even voice their dissent or make any protest?
Don’t you think that it is time for your son, the PM, and other younger ministers to make assessments, arrive at decisions and forumulate policies on their own without any more interference from you and the remnants of old guards like SM Goh, SM Jayakuma and Mr Tony Tan?
Don’t you think that it is time that you vacate the Istana so that the President of Singapore can fully make use of it without your unnecessary presence?
Don’t you think that it is time for you to vacate your seat of Tanjong Pagar Constituency so that younger people can have a chance to stand for election there?
Don’t you think that it is better to totally leave the affairs of the state to the younger people in the interest of the country instead of in your own desire to ensure things to be done the way you want them to be?
For the future of the younger generations, we sincere urge you to give up power completely and retire fully and gracefully so that your legacy can be maintained without any blemish.
Please take heart that we all appreciate and are grateful for what you have done for the country. However, we wish that you can spend the remainder of your life to simply enjoy yourself without a care for whatever that happens or will happen to Singapore.
Please do not worry too much. Singapore is in good hands. Without you around, life will still go on and Singapore will still be there. New leaders with vision and capabilities will sprout and bloom as sure as the sun will rise in the east.
We wish you all the best, good health and at ease with the world for the remaining part of you long life.
Yours faithfully,
Just A Few Fellow Old Men to Another.
Is LKY the longest employed civil servant in the world?
TOC Editor,
Sorry for the double postings. Please delete the first one, i.e. post 123, as it has more typo errors.
Look at our inter-schools mandarin speaking debate, our top students cannot hold well in their fort without one PRC speaking in reference of the chinese thousands years history, cultures, wisdoms, idioms etc.
Not even our Media Corp local comperes can be up the mark, till date except only guo liang or quan yifeng to host the other shows…….. real sad……. can our $million education minister care to comment…..why …… looking back at the education policies implemented……and so call every speak mandarin campaigns…….why
last but not least, how many of our $million chinese cabinet ministers and mps are able to…… so to speak fluently……understand the real chinese history, languages, cultures and arts etc …with the provincial governors and central government… ..sad
please don’t keep exhumed our ancestors graves, it like keep chopping the roots of the trees, leaving no souls in this ‘city’ – clsssic says. As we the citizens can see now.
#124 Mentoring the mentor.
Bravo, Bravo, Bravo! I hope our MM Lee read this piece of gem by you. Cannot understand an intellectual man like MM can be so stupid not to know his own destiny. No one can outlive his/her intelligence. Not even God.
Sad sad, a case of unable to let go and clinging on the last straw that will sooner break the camel’s back. Please Mr Smart (MM) exit gracefully and remain a legacy of S’pore’s history.
To: Leesjuanpat;
hi, You made a kind and good call to MM Lee #128.
However, it is far too late. MM Lee will leave a legacy behind that’s for sure, but it will be a stinky one. Many netizens(citizens) claimed they are waiting to pee on his grave and do not be surprised if rotten eggs are plentiful on it(tomb) too.
Such is the legacy of a famous man.
Lamentable
patriot
@119) Oh Holy on November 20th, 2009 4.41 pm
I disagree. Talking fast does not equate to fluency with the language. The fastest talker of English are in fact Indians, and some, even the native speakers of English, may have difficulty understanding them.
Personally, I have spoken clear, crisp English to, say Americans and Mandarins to PRC Chinese and both groups have no difficulty in understanding me.
Remember, language ability goes beyond just knowing the proper pronunciation and grammar. You need to also know some local lingo.
For e.g., if to talk to Americans, they do not understand the following words : lorry, queue (as in, “is this the queue?”), boot (as in car boot), soapbox, postbox and a myriad of other “British” words.
Similar, the schism between Taiwanese Chinese and PRC Chinese also meant some terms are different. Computers to the Taiwanese is “electric brain” while to the PRCs is “calculating machine”.
So, yes, we can speak perfectly standard English and Chinese but it would still make us “outsider” to the other nationalities. Much like foreigners can tag a “lah” or “lor” behind their English and we will still know they cannot speak “proper” Singlish.
hmm…since when did this country’s “bilingual” policy expect students to “master two languages at the same level?” *curious*
Nothing wrong with bilingual policy. If only there were many levels and styles to accommodate different capabilities of students. Mistake was in flip flopping and not meeting individual needs. Make no a mistake – bilingualism was not at fault.
consequences of old fart’s bilingual policy pales in comparison to ISA persecution, kangaroo prosecution, nepotism, cronyism, systemic brainwashing,
self serving governance, sham parliament representation…..
He made a mistake and admits it. Well Done, Sir. We all love and salute you and your leadership.
PAP all the way. Crush those opposition clowns.
MM realized that he is wrong for some of his grand children can’t master mandarin, one example is a grandson who studied in oxford being mentioned by pro PAP ST as a top student in Oxford, this young Lee is studying ;law, a vocal and sharp tongued young man , he scored all staight As in his GCE A and failed his Chinese at F8.
So, nobody can master two languages, but is that true ? let’s see how many young Singaprean who can speak 3 languages including one non-english european language and.or Japanese.
If MM Lee is right, what about the rationale of banning dialects ( he said to ban dialects as dialects have no written forms and would be beaten by english, resulting in a new generation of non asian values….)
So, let;s say we should stop bilingual policies or slacken it, ten we can also bring back dialects with same reasoning ( after all, without dialects, Singaporean including his grandchildrens can’t master two languages !! )
He is wrong in MANY policies, inmcluding STOP at TWO…. the remedy , rich FT snatched up all near town properties oushing Sinagporean to live at new towns, far from city.
Let’s ask, why should we protect this nation anymore !?
:
Let’ see how this de-emphaszing bilingualism by MM Lee would help his grand children snatch up key position in GLC, GIC, civil servant key posts by waivering the need to pass two langauges in their academic records.
whatver he and LHL do, there is a deeper motive sthan what the MSM carried in the press.
Remember, MM also said it is time to consider selective dual citizenships ? is that because some pappies want to migrate to down-under yet keep one foot in this island to safe guard their assets and influences ? think about it, news may break out soon.
Does it really work to learn Chinese in another language such as English? i doubt so.
By doing so students will be missing out all the cultures and heritages of the language!
I feel that learning a language in one’s native tongue can only act as a introductory tool, as for deeper learning of the language, it should be taught and learnt in its original language. Since students in primary school are young enough to accept a new form of language in their lives. TY
Now the current trend seem to be pushing of Mandarin until its at the same level as English ie if you want to succeed in work you better know Chinese. Look at the ads etc. Now it seems that a foreigner from China has a better chance of landing a good job compared to a minority S’porean. Your policy MM are pissing off the non-Chinese Singaporeans and one of these days…something will come to a boil…mark my words..
i mean their policies cannot be perfect all the time. There could be flaws. alas, where is the opposition to bring to attention their flaws, if any?
so, the election this june or not?
I think it is good for one to learn more than one languages beside English or Chinese in whichever school they are in + your own mother tongue + Mandarin/Malay & etc etc…. but not as what he put it by ‘insistence’.. What he had done 40 years ago and now regretted. The past are history but I am sure it serve purpose to some for learning more than 1 language (not considering their own mother tongue).
everyone has their individual perception…
I don’t understand why people are comparing Singapore and Hongkong. Hongkong is a city in China which consist mainly of Cantonese speaking population. The people of Hongkong naturally must learn to speak Mandarin. In the past, their colonial master did not bother to insist Hongkongers speak Mandarin because they want the Hongkong people to be different from the mainland Chinese people. As for Singaporean, we live on an island in the Riau Archipelago. Although surrounded by Malay language speaking people, our ancestors came from different part of Asia. Therefore the language here should suit our multi-racial population. It is fair that Singaporeans study in English. In fact it is about time we change our national language to English and national minorities(Dialects). China also have dual national language, Chinese and minorities languages. I think in China they have 56 different dialects and a single past or present Chinese government want to enforce to the people of China to speak Chinese. They want to preserve the various dialects from extinction. I don’t understand why our present government spent so much money and efforts to ensure every Singaporeans speak Mandarin. Do they have in mind to change our national language to Mandarin? China did not say anyone who wants to do business with her must be able to speak fluent Mandarin. LKY once comment Singaporeans must learn to speak fluent Mandarin so that the West can use Singapore to do businesses with the Chinese. This remarks angered President Zhang Zemin. He said what makes LKY think businessmen from non-Chinese speaking countries have to go through Singapore to do business with them just because Singaporeans can speak their Chinese language. He sarcastically said in China we have 3 millions millionaire the same as Singapore’s total population.
I think LKY motive is to import as many Mandarin speaking Chinese from Malaysia and China if possible. Using his “shortage of babies born and FT” as excuses. I think it is one of his political strategy. Already more than 583,000 Malaysian mostly Chinese have become Singapore citizens. In order to made the new immigrants feel at home he change us to suit them. Most Malaysian Chinese speak Cantonese, Khek and Mandarin while those from China speak Mandarin only. If Singaporeans speak our southern China dialects to those from North, East and Western China they will “catch no ball”. If Singapore use English many Chinese educated former Malaysian like the Chinese counterpart will also “catch no ball”.
Well, I’m a Chinese myself, but I don’t think bilingualism was wrong. I think that MM Lee should have just flipped it the other way round – Our Mother Tongue as our first language, and English as our second language. Or maybe he could just make it optional. For me, I’m still a student now, and my abilities for English is just not that good. However, Chinese is my preferred language. There are many English-speaking families out there, but there ARE still Chinese-speaking families. English is actually a foreign language; the language that all Chinese have to supposedly speak in, is Mandarin. BUT, don’t you think it’s a disgrace in being unable to even speak well in your own native tongue? Yes, English is important, it is a global language, but after all, it’s a foreign language to us. It’s disgusting to see people speak so fluently in English yet fail to do so in Mandarin. Take a good look around you. Other than the Chinese race, all the other races take pride in their own mother tongue. And look at Japanese and Korean people. They are proud of being who they are, loving that they can speak in their native tongue, and yet here in Singapore, Chinese are desperately trying to throw away their roots. It’s terrible.