Thursday, November 19, 2009 10:30
Remember this? Speak Mandarin campaign song
In TOC TV • 1,883 views • 6 Comments
This was one of the first songs used in the Speak Mandarin campaign in the 70s and 80s. This will certainly bring back memories for older readers.
(English translation below)
The country must progress, the language must be communicated
From today onwards, everyone speak Mandarin!
Not differentiating between man and woman
Not differentiating between old and young
No more dialects! Everyone speak Mandarin!
Listen! Memorize! Open your mouth and speak a few lines!
How familiar! How convenient! Simple and easy!
(Repeat again just in case the message doesn’t sink in)
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6 Comments
CJ
Wow I remember this song when I was a kid. We were really like North Korea then!
Now, we have moved on to a more sophisticated system of control hehe.
Andrew Chuah
19/11/09
Our Modern Singapore has achieved great progresses not because of Speak Mandarin, but because of inflow of Foreign Direct Investments-FDIs, sound and attrractive investments policies and our own hardwork and productivity. Our English is Singlish and gone are our Singapore Chinese dialects like Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew, Hakka, Khek and others and their rich and colorful traditions and cultures embeded in these dialects.
Regards
Andrew Chuah
man against the tank
I wondered what other policies that PAP is going to admit that they were wrong in ten years time…
Anyone wants to make a guess???
SpongeBoob
Speak Mandarin, Speak Good English, No Dialects, …
It all sounds too similar to Culture Cleansing. Remember Hitler? Or may be panacillin? We are a sanitized nation! What will happen then? People get sick more easily because their immunity systems are not put to test.
But more worrying is that we will have no idea of who we are, what we stand for, where we come from. We are just another mass produced off-the-shelf or worst OEM products. In the end, we will not find Apple or 3M products. Imagine Bill Gates refusing to use Imac because it’s from Apple, or one day we can only shop at NTUC Fairprice and Cheers, live in Choice Homes, eat at Foodfare, see a doctor at Healthcare, send our kids and old folks to First Campus and Eldercare, and spend our weekends at Downtown East?
I can still recall this line from Jurassic Park – Nature will always find its way. But sadly, the dinosaurs have to go first.
KCofS
natsukashi desu ne.
i certainly din know i was being brainwashed when i heard that as a kid.
honestly this push for a common language in mandarin is ok with me. given limited resources, it makes sense to teach only one chinese language in school – and to follow the lead in china.
hk didn’t, but cantonese formed the majority there. in any case, hk pple are also learning chinese now
..jeez… so… so..
so…
can’t find the words to describe how I feel right now after listening to this..