English Language
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Do you all think that the English Language should be the langauge with which Singaporeans should build their culture and the idea of a Singapore nation on?
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er......of course....then wat you suggest? Singlish? :p
it's the most common language in SG anyway and understood by all races. -
no, i mean, the government is not exactly in love with the idea of using English for a Singapore identity is it, what with all that talk of the use of mother-tongue to balance the westernising influence of English...
and if we should use English, would it create a divide between people who have some kind of standard international English, or some kind of Singapore standard, and those who speak only Singlish? Especially with what the government calls the cosmopolitans and the heartlanders -
Language != National Identity.
English is by far the most common language in the world today. Even China is seperated into a diverse spread of dialects.
Sometimes, it makes me wonder, how on earth did the English Empire spread its influence like that. -
Languages were invented. Perhaps someday some scholar should invent a language for Singapore solely.
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It is by tiny steps that we ascend the stars. -
so if language=identity, then is the identity we want an english one, or one where we are defined by englishness?...we are a country in Asia, not in the neighbourhood of Britain or the US...
and for the case of our own language, is it profitable, in the cultural sense, to create a language that only we can understand, and which the world most likely have no motivation to learn...i mean, it is obvious that such a language could be our badge of nationhood but is it needed?...and in a sense, is Singlish such a language?... -
I said Language != Identity "!=" means DOES NOT EQUAL.
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sorry, my fault...didn't see the exclaimation...not to mention forgot my programming...
but could we not 'hijack' this seemingly neutral language and use it as a rallying point for all the peoples of Singapore? -
My opinion, English does not represent our National Identity. Its just an important language, which everyone in the trading world uses. Everything we learn or need to learn requires fundementals in basic. Ever tried doing your programming in Chinese?
The only thing fit to represent Singapore, like in a National Identity, would be Rojak. Singapore is one big rojak. -
Hi
'hijack'? from who?
English is not owned by anybody today.
furthermore, most of the younger generation today only know English.
Rallying point? how to? Those older generation who only know their mother tongue?
They will not understand why Englsih is to be the vehicle for nation identity building.
those culturally aware Singaporeans who are acutely aware that we have no culture, no myth, no tradition apart from the quasi-traditions adapted from our ancestors in their home country, might see English as a neutral choice that Singapore can start with.
however, the ties and links of Englsih with the US and UK are always there, creating problems and conflicts with or identity as a nation. -
Insofar as English is a neutral language, in that it does not favour any local peoples (with the exception perhaps of the Eurasians), it serves as a useful language of education, administration and business.
The other advantage of using English as a local lingua franca is that it is also truly an international language, thus providing Singapore with an effective means of communicating with the world, including the world of business and that of science and technology.
Still, there is logic in the government's bilingual policy. Malay is useful if only because we are surrounded by Malay-speaking peoples; the growing importance of China, and to a lesser extent, India, also make it important that some of us are conversant in Mandarin and Tamil (or Hindustani, or Gujerati, as the case may be).
As for Singlish, this is nothing to be worked up about. As long as it is not too actively encouraged, it will not be overly pervasive. The bastardization of languages is also a natural phenomenon -- every language spoken in the world has its variety of ideolects, because people speak a language with differing degrees of proficiency.