Low Thia Khiang urges Govt to review bilingualism policy
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"Opposition leader Low Thia Khiang on Friday urged the Government to review its bilingualism policy, by focusing on teaching mother tongues better through deeper appreciation of cultures.
One way he suggested is to promote a deeper appreciation of each ethnic group's culture.
Mr Low said it was necessary to do so because the government policy has eroded the ability among Chinese Singaporeans to read and write proficiently in the mother tongue.
Without changes on this front, Mr Low said it could affect Singapore's ability to compete globally, given that many youth in other countries are becoming effectively bilingual and could exploit opportunities in a rising China." Cant find full article.
Most Singaporeans, including myself are effectively bilingual. Low seems to promote Mandarin a bit too much, don't you think? The truth is, he can't speak English well at all. Perhaps that is why he wants to promote 'effective bilingualism' (i.e. knowing Chinese) among all Singaporeans.
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sporeans are half fuck in chinese and english, unlike Thia, who was educated in chinese.
basics are not even taught in schools like grammar and phonetics. bet our teachers are also not trained properly. all we were taught is writing plenty of half fark essays in classes.
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LKY wants us to speak Chinese even though he can't speak Chinese himself.
Regardless of whose idea it is, if the motive is economic, I am not interested in shaping kids' lives and discriminating against their entry into university for economic reasons alone.
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LKY can speak chinese lar. doesnt sounded like one though. he can also speak in hokkien too.
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I think Lee Kuan Yew's bilingualism policy completely failed in Singapore.
All is just rojak and garbage.
Bilingualism policy is a totally failed policy that must be destroyed.
When a cultureless person is in charge of language policy, you more or less know where things are going to go.
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Originally posted by Rooney9:
LKY can speak chinese lar. doesnt sounded like one though. he can also speak in hokkien too.
I think only for show. Really actually converse, he cannot.
Low Thia Khiang can debate in english with Lee Kuan Yew.
You ask Lee Kuan Yew to debate Low Thia Khiang in mandarin, Lee Kuan Yew will look like a monkey.
In bilingualism, Lee Kuan Yew is clearly the loser here.
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Bilingualism means the ability to speak, read, write 2 languages, okay? It does not just refer to English and Chinese, but can be any 2 languages. What about malay, tamil, and everything else? LTK does not talk about that even though he uses the word 'bilingual'. All about Chinese.
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Originally posted by Siliconchip:
What about malay, tamil, and everything else?
I think that also failed. You can take any combination of languages.
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Speaking of which, LKY wants bilinguallism but restricts us to a so-called mother tongue.
Did you know that Eurasians are free to choose ANY 2nd language in Singapore, regardless of their Asian heritage, because the Govt is too lazy to police/enforce the policy properly?
For the other Asian mixed-race people, they must follow the father's race. Even if they speak the mother's language at home. Caucasians in Singapore can also pick any 2nd language they like.
This is unfair to those who don't have a choice, we have a harder time entering university.
The Govt don't give a fuck about fairness and right, as long as it has enough people studying Chinese.
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I think whatever policy promoting Chinese/Mother Tongue langauges would be taken more seriously if our current President could actually speak Mandarin properly.
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Sometimes I was thinking of it from another pov.
There's a group of Chinese that can't speak much Chinese. Well their parents came from the English schools.
In fact I figured, no matter how much you would wish to address it, this would be bothering you for time to come.
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i dont see why we cant learn 2 languages.
the problem with most singaporeans is they are too westernise. they think anything angmo is in and good for the economy. anything chinese they arent interested.
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Originally posted by dragg:
i dont see why we cant learn 2 languages.
the problem with most singaporeans is they are too westernise. they think anything angmo is in and good for the economy. anything chinese they arent interested.
Actually my English is not on par with my Chinese. -
Originally posted by alize:
Speaking of which, LKY wants bilinguallism but restricts us to a so-called mother tongue.
Did you know that Eurasians are free to choose ANY 2nd language in Singapore, regardless of their Asian heritage, because the Govt is too lazy to police/enforce the policy properly?
For the other Asian mixed-race people, they must follow the father's race. Even if they speak the mother's language at home. Caucasians in Singapore can also pick any 2nd language they like.
This is unfair to those who don't have a choice, we have a harder time entering university.
The Govt don't give a fuck about fairness and right, as long as it has enough people studying Chinese.
So someone who is born of a Han Chinese and has a Tamil father is automatically classed as Tamil and they have to study their father's language? It is "Mother Tongue" that the government is trying to promote, and only mothers have a womb between the legs, not fathers.
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Originally posted by iveco:
So someone who is born of a Han Chinese and has a Tamil father is automatically classed as Tamil and they have to study their father's language? It is "Mother Tongue" that the government is trying to promote, and only mothers have a womb between the legs, not fathers.
You mean he is born of a Chinese mother?
When the parents registered the child at birth, what do they say is the race or ethnicity of the child? If the father said he is Tamil, he is Tamil. If the father is somehow gone, and the mother said he is Hindi, he is Hindi.
Do parents have a choice in the second language, besides English? yes, I know of Malays who chose Chinese as second language, because they know their children already know Malay at home.
The problem comes with Chinese? You ever know of or heard of any Malay who don't speak Malay, or Tamil who don't speak Tamil? No, only Chinese who don't know Chinese.
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Originally posted by dragg:
i dont see why we cant learn 2 languages.
the problem with most singaporeans is they are too westernise. they think anything angmo is in and good for the economy. anything chinese they arent interested.
Absolutely right. Many ethnic Chinese still speak Chinese (Mandarin, or dialects), besides their local languages (Thai, Indonesia or Malay), an average european will speak german, french, and probably spanish or english.
Only those from the english speaking countries, the american, the brits, the oz, the canandian and the kiwi, speaks only english and mostly nothing else.
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The bilingual policy fails miserably. This is simply because to the government, the teaching of language is only for economic reasons, to make money. When we do not have a language that can inculcate cultures and values, you have no culture.
After so many years, at least I am glad MOE is now looking at teaching values in schools.
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Everyone seems to focus on the "China" potential....speaking Mandarin will give you an edge...bla bla bla... People tend to forget that ultimately, there can only be one Lingua Franca of the World... and hands down its ENGLISH!! People, Native English Teachers are in HIGH DEMAND in China. The Chinese are learning English... so why is there need to duplicate them conversely by struggling to learn Chinese....In my opinion, Chinese is a beautiful language, the pictoral symbols are artful and poignant....I learnt to speak Chinese purely through growing up on Channel 8 dramas in the 80s... Flying Fish, Samsui Women, Happy Trio, Oshin (A-Xin)....I related english subtitles with spoken words and by P6 i could speak fluent Mandarin....pretty impressive for a little Indian girl. My Chinese classmates would be chatting away and i'd respond to them, much to their astonishment! I joined Chinese Calligraphy ECA, as I had the hunger to learn to read Chinese too... and I am still learning. Ironically, I failed miserably at my own MT, Tamil. I hated it because I was always ostracised & made fun of for being an Indian who couldn't speak Tamil. You see, I am of Peranakan Indian descent, a race called Chitty Melaka, and the only MT we know since 15th century AD is Malay. Malay I have mastered effortlessly, to the point where i am able to write 500 word essay complete with peribahasa. And my MT in school was Tamil. Which I was completely disinterested in, and in a class surrounded by my" own kind" where the unkind teacher threw sarcastic remarks at me daily, making the other kids snicker at me.... I HATED it.
Please... let kids master English first. Then let them choose a MT that interests them, and seduces them with centuries old culture.Do away with the endless tests and tingxie....instead engage them with lively conversations and let them grow in confidence....I am living proof that all one needs to learn a language is... INTEREST. That's the trick guys.... leave the business, day to day n nitty gritty to good ole English. LINGUA FRANCA PAR EXCELLANSE!!!
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Originally posted by sgdiehard:
You mean he is born of a Chinese mother?
When the parents registered the child at birth, what do they say is the race or ethnicity of the child? If the father said he is Tamil, he is Tamil. If the father is somehow gone, and the mother said he is Hindi, he is Hindi.
Do parents have a choice in the second language, besides English? yes, I know of Malays who chose Chinese as second language, because they know their children already know Malay at home.
The problem comes with Chinese? You ever know of or heard of any Malay who don't speak Malay, or Tamil who don't speak Tamil? No, only Chinese who don't know Chinese.
Originally posted by iveco:So someone who is born of a Han Chinese and has a Tamil father is automatically classed as Tamil and they have to study their father's language? It is "Mother Tongue" that the government is trying to promote, and only mothers have a womb between the legs, not fathers.
It is called the "MT requirement" for university entry, under which in some cases, a "2nd language" will satisfy the requirement.
Yes, it is the language of the father's race no matter what. It is not the race on your IC (which historically was the father's race but now can reflect both races).
This policy is so embarrassing that when MOE describes the MT policy on its website, they don't mention the father's race part.
Those who may & must choose any "2nd language" are Eurasians, those whose MT is not available here (eg Swedes) and those whose MT is English (eg Brits, Americans), or anyone with a Eurasian, Swede or Brit father. This satisfies the MT requirement.
If you have returned from overseas and have not studied your MT before, you are exempt from MT requirement altogether.
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Languages are cultures, cultures are love & bliss :D All beings love their culture because of love and joys :D
In this regards, we shall look into a culture of mandarin (å�¤æ–‡è§‚æ¢-文言文) as an example to represent all languages :D
è¯æ–‡çš„教育，已ç»�完全æˆ�ä¸ºåº”ä»˜è€ƒè¯•çš„å·¥å…·ã€‚å’Œåˆ«çš„ç§‘ç›®ä¸€æ ·ï¼Œåœ¨è¯æ–‡æ•™å¦ä¸Šçš„一切，都是为考试æœ�务。但我们必须注æ„�的是，汉è¯ï¼Œä½œä¸ºä¸€ä¸ªæ°‘æ—�的主è¦�è¯è¨€ï¼Œæ¯�è¯ï¼Œä½œä¸ºä¸€ä¸ªå›½å®¶çš„官方è¯è¨€ï¼Œä½œä¸ºä¸–界上最é‡�è¦�çš„è¯è¨€ä¹‹ä¸€ï¼Œå®ƒå�Œæ—¶ä¹Ÿæ˜¯ä¸å›½ä¼ 统文化的一个é‡�è¦�部分，有ç�€å…¶ä»–物质å�Šé�žç‰©è´¨é�—产ä¸�å�¯æ›¿ä»£ï¼Œä¸�å�¯æ¯”å�Šçš„地ä½�。所以è¯æ–‡çš„教育ä¸�应该仅仅局é™�在表é�¢æ•™è‚²ä¸Šï¼Œæ�¢å�¥è¯�说，必须è¦�æœ‰æ›´åŠ æ·±å…¥çš„å±‚é�¢ã€‚在汉文化里，ä¸åº¸ä¹‹é�“ä¸ºå…¶ä¸»å¿ƒè½´ã€‚å› æ¤ï¼Œæ±‰è¯ä¹Ÿåº”该é�µå¾ªæ¤è§„律——其定ä½�应该ä½�于感性与ç�†æ€§ä¹‹é—´——既有出世的幻想也有入世的æ€�考。人为动物，惟物之ç�µã€‚百忧感其心，万事劳其形。有动于ä¸ï¼Œå¿…摇其精。而况æ€�其力之所ä¸�å�Šï¼Œå¿§å…¶æ™ºä¹‹æ‰€ä¸�能；宜其渥然丹者为æ§�木，黟然黑者为星星。
由是，è¦�å¦å¥½è¯æ–‡ï¼Œå¦å¥½æ±‰è¯ï¼Œå°±å¿…é¡»å¦å¥½æ–‡è¨€æ–‡ã€‚å¦æ–‡è¨€æ–‡çš„方法有多ç§�。所谓“读书百é��å…¶æ„�自è§�”，å�¬ä¹¦ä¸Šçš„翻译注解是ä¸�能够å¦å¥½æ–‡è¨€æ–‡çš„。必须去读文言文，去背文言文。 -
I hope WP can form a commission to review the language policy and make recommendations.
The current PAP rubbish policy is messing up all the cultures and languages. This useless PAP.
Singapore 75% chinese populated still messed up. Worthless.
The problem is that the anglophile Harry Lee wants to retain his mother tongue english as the dominant language in Singapore to serve his narrow interests.
By 1961, the left wing faction of the PAP split from the party to form Barisan Socialis, an oppositional political party under Lim’s leadership.
When the electoral battle took place between the PAP and the Barisan Sosialis in the 1963 general elections, Tan Lark Sye, founder of Nantah, provided overt financial support for all graduates of the University who were running for the Barisan Sosialis.
Students of the University were themselves equally participative in electoral politics, and were reportedly seen to be going to electoral areas in busloads to solicit support for Barisan Sosialis candidates (Yao 2008:184).
In 1965, the students of Nantah were to be galvanised into a dramatic protest involving marches, petitions, and examination boycotts with the release of the University Curriculum Review Committee Report.
The report made several recommendations that were interpreted by some members of the Chinese-educated community as a attempt by the PAP to take control of the University and to remove an education stream that ostensibly cultivated immense support for its nemesis – the Barisan Sosialis (Hong & Huang 2008:109–135).
The period from the 1950s to the 1980s, which overlapped with the political prominence of the Chinese-educated, saw the gradual phasing-out of Chinese-medium education.
Key changes during this period include the teaching of English as a second language in Chinese-medium schools in 1956; the ‘merging’ of Nantah with the University of Singapore to become the National University of Singapore, an English-medium University in 1980; and the conversion of nine established Chinese-medium middle schools into Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools – bilingual institutions that will offer both Chinese and English as first languages (i.e. Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools) in the same year.
These changes took place amidst a broader shift towards English as the main language of instruction – by 1987, English officially became the language of instruction for key subjects in all secondary schools and Chinese was taught as a subject itself (Kwok 2001:500; Sai 2006:195–196).
Given the historical trajectory of Chinese-medium education in Singapore, Kwok instructively suggests that the Chinese-educated sector can be seen as a “continuum” of ideal types:
On the “purer” end of the spectrum are the older generations who have had long years of exposure to Chinese education. At the apex, this includes Nantah graduates… On the “diluted” end of the spectrum are the younger generations in their twenties and thirties. They have a more mixed education in terms of exposure to both English-language and Chinese-language universes of discourses (2001:502–503).
As Kwok adds, it is problematic to apply the term ‘Chinese-educated’ to those at the ‘diluted’ end of the spectrum from a purist view because they are taught primarily in English during their schooling years.
However, having received their education in SAP schools where high teaching standards of the Chinese-language are maintained in an environment that bear some semblance to ‘traditional’ Chinese-medium schools, those at the ‘diluted’ end continue to operate regularly in the Chinese-language.
As such, the term ‘Chinese-educated’ may still be applied to them (Kwok 2001:503).
In the same tone, Chinese-educated intellectuals can also be seen along a similar continuum.
On one end, there are those from the ‘purer’ end of the Chinese-educated who were active in the political scene during the 1950s and the 1960s. The most illustrious amongst them is perhaps none other than Lim Chin Siong.
On the other end, there are those from the ‘diluted’ end of the Chinese-educated. They are bilingual in both the English-language and the Chinese-language, but have chosen to use the Chinese-language in intellectual discourse.
The most visible among the ‘diluted’ end are members of The Tangent. They are a much younger cohort than the Chinese-educated intellectuals of the 1950s and the 1960s, and have emerged from an English-dominant education system although many were schooled in SAP schools.
Subsequent sections of this article will consider how the group has constructed their roles as intellectuals in contemporary Singapore...
http://s-pores.com/2010/12/the-tangent/
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Peranakan dominant influence in Singapore politics will end if their mother tongue english is removed as dominant language. There is a political element to this language issue.
It should be openly and loudly discussed, otherwise people will be confused.
We have to collect our debt.
Harry Lee Kuan Yew says that english is "neutral" language. That is a shameless and bald faced lie.
It is none other than Harry Lee and his peranakan associates who benefit the most from english as dominant language in Singapore.
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Best approach is to completely exclude all from LKY about bilingualism and come out with policy and help or whatever to focus on the need to include all or the majority.
LKY is very imbalance who focuses only on Mandarin. Unfair, what about those non Chinese Singaporeans?
Just because he is sucking up to China we have to be included in his agenda! Better die fast , he is wasting our money, what a redundance and a bitch!
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I don't encourage people to be against peranakan. The one person and party responsible for the politics in Singapore - LKY and PAP.
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Just as your want to talk so much abt LKY...
Your got the pictures wrong..
One of the picture is not Lim Chin Siong...
In fact, you've disgraced the Chinese population, as it was pic of the construction of Nanyang Uni...
Anyhow use, think your know history so well
School holiday alrdy is it?