Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said so himself in November last year. His insistence on bilingualism has been wrong, causing generations of students to be put off by the Chinese language. [1]
Those remarks sparked off a heated debate over the teaching of mother tongue in Singapore’s public schools, culminating in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s and Education Minister Ng Eng Hen’s recent assurance that the weightage of mother tongue in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) will not be reduced. [2]
These reassurances come on the heels of an outpouring of concern on the part of parents and educators that diluting the importance of mother tongue in examinations would lead to students neglecting them, and indirectly, paying less attention to their cultural roots.
MM Lee’s flawed bilingualism policy has been blamed for exacerbating Singapore’s brain drain. Many of us have heard stories of people migrating because their children could not cope with learning two languages to a comparable level of proficiency within the confines of such a stressful educational system.
But the recent heated discussion on whether the weighting of mother tongue should be cut in examinations is, in my opinion, missing the bigger picture.
Even though MM Lee has admitted his error, the fact remains that being bilingual is a valuable asset in a globalized economic environment. Concerns about the ability or willingness of our nation’s youths to keep in touch with their cultural heritage are also very valid. These considerations have not changed despite the recognition that the government’s approach to bilingualism has been deficient.
It would be wrong also to think that the flaws in our educational system stop at mother tongue.
People end up migrating with their kids not just because their kid is struggling with a single subject, but because their children are kept under an oppressively stressful learning environment that emphasizes grades and other quantitative measures of performance, and treats those quantitative measures as indicative of a person’s worth.
It is only in recent years that there has been a realization on the part of the establishment that Singapore’s educational system is churning out automatons rather than thinkers, leaders and entrepreneurs, and that this is not good for Singapore in the long run.
Sadly, the discussion about examination weightings do nothing to address the far deeper underlying problems with our education system.
The real question is how to produce motivated students who are imbued with a love for learning, and what changes can be made to the present system so that students and parents do not develop such a strong emotional fixation with grades.
Furthermore, if we are going to start talking about tweaking exam weightings because students find a particular subject difficult, then we will be slowly inculcating a culture of problem avoidance, rather than harnessing the latent creativity of our students through more holistic and sensible educational policies that respect and recognize individuality, and encourage personal intellectual exploration and inquisition.
There is a reason why Singapore has produced a large number of workaholics, but has not produced any Nobel Laureates.
It is because the present educational system encourages parents and students to centre the learning experience around grades rather than around breaking new frontiers.
It is also because the present political system encourages Singaporeans to toe the line, to think mechanically, and to be reactive rather than proactive. This mindset in fact is most prevalent amongst members of the ruling elite — the very body responsible for entrenching such a political environment.
Mark Twain once remarked that we should not let school interfere with our education. Unfortunately, our schools today remain one of the biggest stumbling blocks for individuals seeking a better education.
By: Ng E-Jay
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Headline picture from cctv.com
Cartoon from My Sketchbook.
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References:
[1] Channel News Asia, “Insistence on bilingualism in early years of education policy was wrong: MM Lee“, 17 Nov 2009.
[2] Straits Times online, “No lowering of weightage “, 11 May 2010.
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You have brought up a very interesting point, waysswayss. A country’s culture and language are constantly evolving. If you are interested in preserving your forefathers’ culture and language, by all means do so, but don’t agonize over it if you are unable to do so. The original written script used by the Vietnamese for generations were Chinese characters. You can still see these in older homes and shops. However, there was constant fighting between Vietnam and China for years and one of the Vietnamese leaders (I think it was Ho Chi Min) decided to abandon the Chinese script in favour of a romanized writing invented by a French priest. That is how the present day Vietnamese written language came about. Can you imagine what it would be like if a whole nation of 80 million Vietnamese felt guilty about losing their original form of writing and decided to go back to it?
Going by GB’s logic, let us all trace ourselves back to our ancestors and go worship the Ape and speak Ape language. It’s our mother tongue isn’t it?
GB, 12 May 2010
“…If you are Chinese, written Chinese is definitely your “Mother Tongue” language, unless your ancestors did not come from China….”
This is exactly the type of BS Singaporeans were fed for decades before someone admitted that our teaching of Chinese was a MISTAKE. To say that all yellow-skinned are Chinese and therefore should be speaking a common language (aka Chinese/Mandarin) is like saying all white-skinned are Caucasian and therefore it is expected that they should speak a common language. It is accepted that Scots, Poles, French, Canadian Quebecans, etc.. will F**K you with such an implication; similarly why shouldn’t Cantonese, Hakkas, Hokkien, etc… F**K you?
You asked if we have anything that we are proud of that we can call our own. I say, yes, we have Singlish. Just like the French have French which uses basically the same characters as English. I am sad to say people in other non-native English/Chinese-speaking countries seems to appreciate our Singlish more than our garhem. Maybe it’s the ability of Singaporeans to “insert” bits and pieces of whatever native words/phrases we pick up into our more-or-less English sentences that they appreciate the whole world is not about perfect languages.
As an aside, don’t LHL and Ng Eng Hen look uncomfortable on TV clarifying yet another reversal in policy. Oh sure, the intended change in weightage was just a “wrong impression”; and I am batman wearing my underwears inside out. Highest paid ministers making only “wrong impression” policies – the Singlish phrase is: cock-up say cock-up lah, don’t try to smoke here smoke there.
Mother tongue is the form of language / dialect that is commonly used in your family…
if you speak teochew at home most of the time, your Mother tongue is Teocheow. If you speak Mandaring at home, your MT is Mandarin. If you speak Cantonese (most of the time), your MT is Cantonese.
That is why I say MOE’s terminology is wrong. We are talking about teaching of 2nd language…. not Mother Tongue.
For goodness’s sake, Eng Hen and MOE officials, if you cannot even get this right, how can we trust you to get the other education policies right ??
Yes, the term is restrictive in the sense that it seems to refer only to the spoken part of the language. But that’s not true, there are written languages for the Chines, Malays and the Tamils. And these form part of their cultures and heritage.
Globalisation is a reality, I don’t understand what is the issue about the MT. I agree we need to learn our language, Malay for Malays, Tamil for Indian and Mandarin for the Chinese. But do you need to master the language have equal emphasis on the language that is universally and globally understood, that is English. We can’t even master that, what chance do we have mastering two languages. Instead of having emphasis on MT, education should adapt to the changing times. With have FTs who have a better command of English literally out-speaking the locals, so what us does MT have except maybe for gossiping about the FTs.
Education should change, with the influx of FTs we’re being shoved into a small corner in an even smaller space. They key is introduction of foreign language, like Japanese, Spanish and even Dutch. We’ve got FTs who are fluent in 2 languages which makes them valuable in MNCs with global interests based in SG, so what’s stopping us from stepping into their turf, one of the reasons is language. If we speak the same language like Japanese for example, Singaporeans as a whole will benefit through exposures of different work culture and ethics. But of course this is not the government’s plan, cos as we venture further we’ve realised that the fine picture they paint to the world is actually full of flaws.
Put race issues aside, cos language doesn’t reflect your race but only your roots. Are you saying Chinese people born and bred in US, needs to learn Mandarin to identify to his race? I don’t think so. He speaks American but is still a Chinese. If we keep putting ourselves into this pigeon hole created, we will never succeed as Singaporeans and forever be dependent on FTs, I rather sacrifice my MT and be part of the Global Citizenship.
i struggle alot trying to make sense of what PM and Eng Hen’s rationale for reviewing the teaching and examining methods of the 2nd langugage… i am not sure whether I am the only one who feels this way or is do others feel the same way i do..
what they seem to saying is that students who come into the system have different capabilities in coping with the 2nd language and because of that the teaching methods/the way the examinations are graded needs a review to cater to the diverse capabilities of the students.
going by the logic, shouldn’t english, science and maths all fall under this rationale. Afterall, there are students who struggle with English as much as those who have diverse capbilities in learning science and maths.
So why focus on MLT ?
To me, all this farce arose because of what Eng Hen said in the interview. He created alot of unnecessary uproar which requires his boss to come to the front to have a press conference.
On another note, MOE changes ciruculum, weightage all the time for different subjects. All this is done without any publicity and the parents, by and large, do not know much about it. They could have also done what they want to do to the Chinese PSLE weightage without even telling us and we will not be wiser for it. This uproar came about because Eng Hen open his stupid mouth and say the stupidest things and his boss got to clean up his act..
No performance bonus for him, i say…
Human being, our command of English is not that bad compared to many in Asia. However, if you compare ours to Angmohs from UK, OZ and US, of course we are not on par with them. The picture you have painted is not totally true, else we wouldn’t have been where we are today. If your logic is true, with China rising as a economic giant and many in the world also starting to learn Chinese, are you saying that for economic reason, we should get everyone here, including our minorities to learn Chinese? No, that should not be the case. They have their own cultures and heritage which have to be respected and upheld. Therefore, we have to ensure that their languages and ours, are upheld, respected and maintained.
I think this is a quibble within the majority. Keep the minority out of this. Not interested. Anyway, our voice does not count. too different.
By the way, I said this earlier and was not posted that’s why I said what I said:
GB
Learning standard Malay in school does not necessarily help you communicate with your mother or grandmother at home. If anything, it might impose a class barrier which disrupts communication. Try asking your grandmother this and see if she does not tell you to bugger off:
‘nenek, apa pendapat nenek tentang artikulasi citarasa anak-anak muda hari ini?’
I think in many ways the ‘Peranakan Chinese’ (sorry I don’t know what is the appropriate name to use) Malay is closer to the kind of Malay that would allow real communication.
Nope, MTL is not only about Chinese, it is very much about Malay and Tamil languages. And there are Malay and Tamils voicing their concerns on the MTL weightage issue too.
My opinion has not come through this discussion. So does not matter if I have an opnion or not. You see?
To Bee
You may be confused.
Explanation: its not allowed to be expressed here. I dont know why. Being permanently moderated. So it does not matter if I have an opnion or not.
Hi “A Malay Speaking of Loss of Communication”, why did your opinion not come thru’ this discussion, was it censored? Everyone is entitled to his/her view. However, could it be due to your opinion carrying some inciting and offensive terms, therefore it was censored? I notice that the site does perform some form of censorship.
Hi “A Malay Speaking of Loss of Communication”, yes I do understand what you have said. In fact, one of the posts is still being “moderated” :p
gemami, have you spoken to a French and noticed his love for his language? They are a race proud of their own cultures and heritage. Yes, our ancestors were not cavemen and they had rich cultures which have been passed down from generation to generation…
Hi “A Malay Speaking of Loss of Communication”, one of my posts, for unknown reason, is still being permanently moderated. There are no offending terms whatsoever in the post. I do not understand why. Maybe the site’s moderator could help to explain why.
Bee, I agree.
It is difficult to participate in a discussion like this. When it finally get posted, the discussion has moved on.
Also difficult to build up and follow through one’s argument. In the end one will sound incoherent and irresponsible.
So, I agree with you.
I am one of the very last Chinese educated people in Singapore. Talk about Singapore Chinese education policy, some Chinese student (better call them baba student) worst attitude towards Chinese language. Some Chinese people neglect Chinese language, some teacher tell student that Chinese language is Unimportant(my sec sch English teacher tells me that)
Why our Chinese education ended up in such a sorry state today? As we compair with Malaysia?
See, now everyone can express his/her point of view. Is’nt that better? I hope yours has sufaced Bee. Good luck.
p/s my position may not be the same as yours but that does not mean I approve of not giving you a chance to express.
Hi ” A Malay Speaking of Loss of Communication”, thanks for your best wishes :-) Yes, we are a mature society and everyone should be entitled to his/her views, provided their views are not extreme and of danger to the society at large.
Listen up everyone,
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What do you think all the fuss is about? Is it about our Mother’s tongue or something else which the government is attempting to do which it is not telling?
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I ask that Singaporeans take a step back, look at the BIG picture and ask yourself why this sudden hulahoopla over mother tongue that brings everyone round one gigantic U-turn?
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Listen to the sentiments coming out from all quarters in our walks-of-life. The Singapore worker is frustrated. The unemployed is frustrated. The businessman is frustrated. The one who cannot afford our affordable HDB flat is frustrated. The hungry one waiting for food to be delivered to him is frustrated. The casual weekend sun-worshipper at Sentosa is frustrated. The aunty in the market is frustrated. The Kopitiam Apek is frustrated.
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So why does U-turn Ng wants to add to the frustrations by creating smoke out of a fireless situation?
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Ah, this calls for intelligent discernment.
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What would you do if you were in the government’s position, knowing fully well that you are losing your people by the numerous broken promises?
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First of all, you sit down and assess the situation and figure out a way to salvage it. In Singapore’s case, the best bet always lies with the Chinese majority. Cook up something from nothing, get the Chinese all agitated and then pamper to his demands.
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This is exactly what is happening. MT weightage is back to status quo after the hula-hoop has been passed around for the past two weeks. It was allowed to simmer for two weeks before U-Turn Ng realized that he ‘could have chosen his words better’.
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So, we are back to where we started, wasted our time, our energy and probably got a few admitted to hospitals because of high BP.
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Now, the PAP can go ahead and crow to Singaporeans that it has listened to the people, that the reaction from Singaporeans was stronger than expected, that the PAP cares for their views, that they know what is best for us.
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The art of winning a war which is already lost. All stand up and give a round of applause to U-Turn Ng please.
For the flawed education system, no one is held accountable or is there anyone held accountable? If so, who? who is this person? who knows or no body knows?
Why the confusion about mother tongue? it is not like a difficult question like is it the HEN came 1st or the egg came 1st right? hahaha
The Mother of Chicken is the HEN right?
How did this came about? Could Bloggers do a special investigative story on this?
Did any persons Lobbied for this change to make studying easier for their children who i assume are asian who can speak foreigners language only? or better can speak foreigner’s language only?
Who are these lobbyists? Can the real lobbyist please stand up? Whose son or precious daughter complain study difficult wanting a shortcut if papa or mama can lobby for them? so they can show better results on report card and feel more proud they no stupid at all?
Philip Yeo says Apple users are gullible dummies… another instance of “wrong impression” by our high and mighty leaders?
http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/05/13/philip-in-a-flap-over-apple-dummies-remark/
I thought we were monkeys that “…have peanuts better than no peanuts”. Err, was that another wrong impression?
Bee
Would you regard what I said as endangering society?
that aside, any opposing view endangers being some part of society – those whose views are being challenged. I am just quoting someone who had said this earlier. :)
Hi “A Malay Speaking of Loss of Communication”, no, absolutely no, I do not consider what you have said as endangering society. On the contrary, I think your points are valid and constructive. I think views that incite racial hatred are what I consider as endangering society.
ngengHen planted a social time bomb for Sporeans when he was the boss of MOM.
influx of foreigners by the millions with little discretion.
fast forward and we now have ngengHen at the centre of so called MT controversy.
it is a potential political time bomb which is recognised by the PAP leadership
and the quickest way to defuse the time bomb is for ngengHen to backtrack in double quick time.
>spineless PM must be cursing his arse luck why more stress for him. LOL
just to recap, it wasn’t too long ago ngengHen accused Low TK, Sylvia Lim of planting time bombs for Spore in their WP’s manifesto.
so in truth, this cocky Hen bugger is no bargain at all and it’s best for Spore, buggers like him and Vivian retreat back to their previous jobs for good.
Since we are at discussing our education system, did anyone link it to our high myopia rate amongst our true 1st, 2nd, 3rd… generations? Last week (or this week?) there was a report that wearing contact lenses can help slow down myopia in children. The person interviewed mentioned that Singaporean kids are stressing their eyes too much on reading, TV and computers, because “…everyone is afraid of losing out without academic qualifications.” (Or something to that effect)
Funny my generation didn’t have TV and computers & yet most of us developed myopia by mid-primary school. The genetic theory is also lots of BS to me since most of our fore-parents didn’t have myopia.
Why our Ministers of Education and Health very silent on this uniquely Singaporean issue all this years? Still clueless, or still “calibrating”, or “Collecting data” or simply acting blur f***? Or afraid of giving another “wrong impression” again?
Huh?-on “why every minister that visits China speak with Chinese leaders officially in English through an interpreter? Maybe our Mandarin will always be different from theirs?” I think that it is because we have chosen English as the official language, or have we? i thought we have four official langs. and should be able to use any of them, just that our leaders are not good enough in Mandarin? Another question in response, why are the Taiwanese able to communicate with China without an interpreter, even though their Mandarin is also variant from the Mainland’s? Because there is a certain standard to Mandarin that every learner is required to grasp. It is like how Australians, Americans and Britons can communicate with one another despite variantions in their Englishes.
On “Why worry so much about “respect’ from Westerners.BTW Taiwainese are very proud of their one true mother tongue–Hokkein,which has been exterminated in the younger and thus future generations.” I didn’t feel like answering this question, really. But I must say the Taiwanese are also divided on identity issue, that being whether they are part of China, or part of independent Taiwan, as proposed by Chen Shui-bien and his DPP. But Mandarin Chinese is common to all, just as dialect is also common and not supressed. For Chen’s green camp, they uphold Hokkien so as to differentiate from Mainland. You could say that there had been an erosion of Hokkien and replacement with Mandarin, but that has been part of nationalist efforts to unite the country and foster greater communication amongst the peoples of China, which had started before the Kuomintang moved over to Taiwan. One thing to note, dialects are not supressed; yes they might have been eroded to some extent, but for the national good of unity. And so did the communists in Mainland, throught the promotion of Putonghua, to the praise of the United States.
Now back to Singapore, I would agree that we should not have supressed dialects. But I would not agree that we shouldn’t have promoted Mandarin and continued to teach Chinese in schools.
SGC, yes, your points are valid and you have my vote!
In Singapore, English if the official language. It is also the working language.
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Malay is the National language but it seems that the Mother tongue language, particularly Mandarin since the main focus is such, is more important than than our National language.
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Every which way the PAP wins. Just like the suckers they have always treated us as.
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Two notes for TOC:
1. You must be very busy lately. Understand there are many posts under the moderation queue? Better advise readers to be patient.
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2. Can we have back the ‘Comments’ tracking table? It’s quite difficult to follow up on an argument without it.
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Thanks ;)
Gemami, Yes, English is and should always be our official language. But does not mean we should not value MTL.
If you have read the articles on our history, you would have realized that Malay was adopted as our national language for political reason.
Chinese, Malay and Tamil languages, being the MTL for respective races here, are equally important.
The reason why the focus has been on Chinese is because it is the MTL of the majority here, and please bear in mind that there are still many in the community, especially the older ones, whose most proficient spoken languages are Mandarin or dialects, and whose concerns on the topic have to be taken into account too.
The government has all the while been accused of listening to the vocal minority, this time round, the majority has spoken and their voices have been heard.
I think the learning of Mandarin Chinese should continue while English remains the main working langauge, and Malay the national language. Why should there be a contradiction? If there were, the fault doesn’t lie with the Chinese language itself, but with the system (of the PAP)instead.
We shouldn’t keep coming up with excuses for refusing to learn languages.
For too long, language in Singapore has been associated with politics, and fiddled around, against the political interests of both the English and Chinese camps that in turn represent the interests of the variations of the Singaporean population, as I have inferred from reading article on Yawning Bread by Jonno.
Perhaps such nimble, complex issues can be more effectively addressed (and solved) in a free environment, otherwise we would just feel we have been dictated about.
In a “better” situation, we might be “curry-favoured” for the benefit of “their” election, which is also not the best solution to any problem.
home :-))
so good to be “home” in TOConline :-) as compared to my recent forey into ST online forum.
weighting or not life still must go on… sometimes i wonder, what will they call a singaporean chinese who is not very good in chinese but is an avid reader of the Hebrew and Koine Greek text? Who spend his/her whole life time studying these other languages for professional reason, for example? Or does Americans look down on a fellow American whom for decades associate himself w/ the chinese ppl and become a mster of the Wing Chun martial arts and as a process becomes chinese oriented?
nevermind lah.
haha…in my wicked moment of cheapskate humour, i picture students who are not good in Mandarin must be made to wear a yellow star on their uniform in school besides their school badge. A punishment for not preserving their “roots”.
nevermind lah.
i’m not against mother or father tongue, my boy is doing quite well in his chinese language in school, thank you. Just cannot tahan the chinese argument side of it.
“People end up migrating with their kids not just because their kid is struggling with a single subject, but because their children are kept under an oppressively stressful learning environment that emphasizes grades and other quantitative measures of performance, and treats those quantitative measures as indicative of a person’s worth.”
That is a choice and a value jugdement that the parents make. This article would have us believe that the schools and the education system are to blame for the ills, and that the parents and children are victims.
The reality is closer to the position that it is the parents who are the ones with greater responsibility for the state of affairs. Who emphasises grades? The parents are the greatest contributors of treating “those quantitative measures as indicative of a person’s worth”.
They can well leave the child as is to do as well as he can learn in any of his subjects – but they don’t, and then choose to pretend that it is always someone else’s fault whenever things don’t turn out their way.
Our Education Minister, Dr Hen only got medicinal value. He have no knowledge and not qualified to talk about education or lingistic matters.
its time to unite and defend.
Mandarin is the accepted official mother tongue for all Chinese throughout the entire whole world.
The different local dialect and cultures are specialties practised in their own regions. As there are Jing opera, there is also Chuan opera and Yue opera, all considered invaluable cultural heritage.
Mandarin is not a novel artificial creation. It was the most common Chinese dialect before standardisation and has ancient roots that goes back to the classics.
This Mandarin standard and proliferation of local cultures are facts accepted by all Chinese.
radlife66- Americans will not look down on a fellow American whom (having already known English and American culture) for decades associate himself w/ the chinese ppl and become a mster of the Wing Chun martial arts and as a process becomes chinese oriented. I, for one, will also not look down on a singaporean chinese who is not very good (but considerably decent) in chinese but is an avid reader of the Hebrew and Koine Greek text and spends his/her whole life time studying these other languages for professional reason, for example.
As for, “i picture students who are not good in Mandarin must be made to wear a yellow star on their uniform in school besides their school badge. A punishment for not preserving their “roots”.” – I share your sentiments, and symphatise if that is the outcome which might really be the case because Singaporeans don’t think enough. But what about symphatising with the Chinese-educated as well who for so many decades have been suffering around a fate similar to that described?
On another note, do beware of parties who keep espousing “preserving of roots” not for the benefit of the Chinese language and culture, but for some political reasons. And I am not referring to the Chinese-language lobby. As far as the media’s irritating forey is concerned, I share your sentiments, but perhaps with a different perspective.
Touche!
Bee,
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Three questions (in reverse order to your comments):
1. Should Bahasa Melayu continue to be our national language since the reason for it is more
political than social?
2. Should we value MTL with the same value as our working and official language?
3. Should not our official working language be the new national language?
I do not think we should continue to hide behind politics, since we are now a sovereign country from what we were in our early separation years, to hold on to the Malay language as our national language just to appease our neighbours. This needs a serious relook into.
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Someone mentioned that it is shameful for Chinese not to be able to communicate in Mandarin. I can understand this line of reasoning, very much like questioning why a Malay cannot speak Bahasa Melayu.
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I feel it is just as shameful for one not to be able to communicate in his national language. Why keep it and bring shame to a nation of people then?
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If we recognize English as our official working and social language, then it must count for something more than it is now, shouldn’t it? It means more weightage should be accorded to it as compared to the other languages.
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This will send a clear and strong signal to Singaporeans that we have to master this one language at least in order for us to get by living in our own country. Never mind whether we can make it to a foreign shore in our lifetime or not. The least we must expect is that every Singaporean can get by in his own backyard. English will be that unifying language for Singapore’s multilingual society.
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MTL is the new reason for a globalised world. Well and good if Singaporeans want to break walls and barriers and challenge themselves to face up to this new world order. But really, how many among the 5 million Singaporeans would eventually find themselves on foreign soil to wheel and deal with foreign businessmen?
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We also tend to overlook the simple-minded ones who have no interest in what a globalised world brings. These are people who may want to live a contented life in their own backyards.
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You are right to observe that there are among us a large number of older folks who are Mandarin or dialect educated. They have gotten by without the need to interact with others in a borderless world. They were stuck with the language they are proficient in because they came from societies which speak those languages.
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Likewise, when we cultivate a society that is fluent in the English language, the same will hold true when they grow old.
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If these are made to learn multiple languages, and especially when we know most of them will never get to master any of them, then why continue with the same formula that we know will eventually fail and produce for us alternative broken languages like Singlish and Pasar Mandarin, Malay and Tamil?
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One of these languages has to have a higher weightage than the rest, and that one language must be English. For this reason, MTL has to have a lower weightage.
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By the way, you should go read my earlier post (which is now released from the moderation queue). This whole show is to stir up the majority Chinese, as they will count for most of the votes in the coming election, and for the PAP government to tell them that they have been listened to. Just like people like you have already believed so.
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They are in effect, cooking something out of nothing so that the MIW can tell people like you that they have listened to you.
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Final question for you: What has changed since U-Turn Ng stirred up the whole Singapore community two weeks ago? You will see that nothing has changed. Everything is back to status quo. What then is the reason for such a stir? You go figure.
#Ah Pek, 13 May 2010
“…Our Education Minister, Dr Hen only got medicinal value. He have no knowledge and not qualified to talk about education or lingistic matters….”
Pls lah, at self-imposed salary of S$2.6m (ref. http://www.yeocheowtong.com/Salaries.html), he should be able to talk anything under the moon.
Give a monkey a peanut and it will pose a photo with you; give it a bunch of bananas and it will kiss your a***. (Ha, Ha, ha…)
Disclaimer: any ‘Impression’ implied will be passed as ‘Wrong’ should there be a dispute.
Hi Bee, at least we have discovered that we share the same values – we both do not like hatred especially those who promote racial hatred. I like you.
Actually, I cant help but agree with much of Gemami’s points. Governments should not be entrusted with the work of cultural enrichments. They cannot but will necessarily fail because they will end up only politicising culture (language in this case). It is our individual responsibility to make sure we live according to the values we hold.
The unfortunate thing about our society is that we have become so divided that we cannot recognise the things that we share but harp on having to be different.
So, radliffe66, I identify with your comments. Same thing happening in my world. Language should not make us parochial, it should open the world to us. If you force mother tongue as government does on me, I will end up hating to learn it. It becomes work and it becomes irrelevant.
I wonder what would have happened if it was LTK or CSJ or any other opposition person had made the remarks that Hen made. Would they have been sued or worse, incarcerated under ISD for touching a sacred cow.
I fully agree with Gemami that this is one of the tactics used to smoke screen the issues that the people have been griping about and instead distract them into believing that the government listens to the voice of the people and thus win their votes for the coming elections. And we all know there are suckers who will fall into that trap time and again.
I guess Hen accepted to be the fall guy since he may not stand another 5 years.
SCG – i get where you are coming from.
“For too long, language in Singapore has been associated with politics, and fiddled around, against the political interests of both the English and Chinese camps that in turn represent the interests of the variations of the Singaporean population, as I have inferred from reading article on Yawning Bread by Jonno.
Perhaps such nimble, complex issues can be more effectively addressed (and solved) in a free environment, otherwise we would just feel we have been dictated about.”
Far enough.
Good day to you.
chinese culture no economic value.
Hi, correction, shd read:
SGC….
fair enough.
:-))