Let’s not forget our multilingual roots

Dec. 10 | Jamie Li Chou Han In the recent public debates over the future direction of Singapore’s Chinese language education policy, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is right in noting that much of the discussion has revolved around emotional responses regarding...

Make mandarin compulsory for all

Aug. 21 | Imran Ahmed Immigration into Singapore has become a hot button issue among ‘born and bred’ Singaporeans. As typically happens during recessions, there is a sense that ‘foreign talent’ is taking away jobs from indigenous Singaporeans....

Beyond dialects and languages

Mar. 27 |   Kelvin Teo / TOCI Writer So the dust has now settled over Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s provocative call to chinese Singaporeans to focus on learning mandarin instead of their dialects. From a personal perspective, I didn’t find Mr...

Speaking dialects helps build rapport, even in business

Mar. 21 | Sng B C Perhaps we may wish to consider the role a dialect plays in building rapport and leading to business opportunities. I refer to the Straits Times article, “Mandarin drive starts in the home”, on March 18, 2009.  When I was in secondary school,...