Dialect at risk of dying out
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ST Forum > Online Story
March 17, 2007
Dialect has made Singapore Chinese culture rich and colourful, but it is at risk of dying out
I HAD the privilege of growing up speaking English, Mandarin and dialect. However, dialect (meaning spoken Chinese or fangyan) is at risk of dying out and little is done to conserve and promote this integral part of local Chinese ethnicity.
If conservation of historical sites is given immense support because they are important to local culture, more should be done for dialect. Dialect has profoundly influenced local Chinese culture in numerous ways. From our dialect-inspired dishes to native lingo, dialect has made Singapore Chinese culture so rich and colourful.
As a mother, I am concerned that the global blah of TV, fast food, Internet and so on is diluting the appreciation of our roots. The local situation is worsened with increasingly more children raised by foreign maids. Local children are sent to countless enrichment classes for advancement, but given little time to learn their cultural heritage. We cannot stop modernisation, yet it is eroding local Chinese ethnicity rapidly. Many minority dialects here have dwindled or are already completely lost.
Beyond teaching our children intellectual cultural knowledge, simple dialect-speaking helps identify one's roots immediately. Dialect is fundamental to Chinese heritage. When I started speaking dialect to my daughter, she instinctively connected herself to our family roots. Previously, our cultural roots were just 'head knowledge' to her. Now, she is proud that her father is Hainanese and her mother is Cantonese. She appreciates how fascinating her family history is.
Dialect links us to our roots. Many young local Chinese do not know, or even care, which dialect group they belong to. We should still use English and Mandarin language, but dialect-speaking should not be forgotten in the process. Many Chinese do not communicate in dialect to their young anymore. If something is not done to promote dialect, local Chinese culture will have little profundity eventually.
Dialect is a beautiful aspect of Chinese culture. It is not a language for the 'old' or 'uncouth'. The next generation needs to see the value of dialect - it delves into our roots and reveals a bigger picture of ourselves.
Can dialect survive by itself in Singapore? Like environmental conservation, more must be done before it is too late. Everyone has a part to play. Perhaps because we are a majority ethnic group, we think dialect will thrive naturally. Unfortunately, it will not. We do not want to wait till the last breathe of dialect is spoken to realise what is authentic to us is truly lost.
Joanna Chan Yea Ling (Mdm) -
There was an over zealous attempt to promote Mandarin over dialects, because there was this fear, unreasonable or not, that dialects would hinder communications amongst the Chinese and also in the death of Chinese culture as Singapore became more westernized. That's their practical reason to promote Mandarin. I'm sure they know by now it has been overdone, but this policy has become such a hallmark of their manifesto, that it's almost impossible to change it.
Only the ignorant westernised snobs will think that dialect is uncouth. There was a time, as a young boy, when I used to look forward to that kind of Church meeting when the speaker would speak in English and the translator would translate his words into Hokkien. The Hokkien was spoken so beautifully.
A part of Hokkien music called "Nan Guan" has been largely forgotten here, although I have seen a Nan Guan association in Chinatown. It's so ancient, even in China, it's called China's fossil music, because that's the kind of music that once existed in ancient China. It's now played largely as ceremonial music, but really, it's hauntingly beautiful when you hear a beautiful woman's voice singing it. -
With the number of young people speaking dialect daily decreasing, it's no wonder that it risks dying out.
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lee bei gong hokkien bo?
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ai yah where got such thing. the vulgarities in hokkien will always be pass on throughout the generations provided NS is still in place
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All languages are mastered easily first by mastering its vulgarities. So parents, remember to scold vulgarities in your home in front of your children.
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join us hereOriginally posted by jay_rocks:lee bei gong hokkien bo?
http://sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=241313[/url] -
but sad thing is, tons of people will only bother to learn the vulgarities and not the rest of the dialect. so do you think that dialects will really be preserved in that way?
I doubt so. -
I still speak dialect only to older people who can understand...
Plus my pronouncation is not clear so i dare not use it often...
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Are dialect languages still relevant? Is it necessary to preserve something that's losing its usefulness?
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Dialects are more expressive at times, like cantonese, when you watch hk tv drama serials or movies (like stephen chow's), you have to watch in them in cantonese, or else it's lost its "flavour".
I mean, the government allows dual sound channel for korean, japanese shows, lets japanese, korean, french, etc etc movies intact and yet do not allow dual channels for hk serials, dub over hk movies, is this some kind of DISCRIMINATION eh? You allow others to come into our culture and dispose our own kind, WTF?! -
Donch' worry... as long as there's the mighty AH BENG... dialects will live forever!
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I THINK DIALECTS SUCK
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not when I'm like the lady who mentioned.
Luckily for me; it's impeccable English, Mandarin, Hokkien, Teochew and Cantonese; not to mention - Singlish.
But Hakka, etc others, whatever I DON'T KNOW LAH! -
hokkien is still the official dialect of Spore.
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ITS NOT THE LANGUAGE IT IS HOW GOOD YOU ARE WITH THE LANGUAGE BECOS THEY USE CANTONESE EVERYDAY. IT IS THE SAME FOR EVERY COUNTRY THAT SPEAKS 1 LANGUAGE WHEREAS SG IS A JACK OF ALL TRADES, THATS WHY WE HAVE PEOPLE LIKE JACK NEO AND MARK LEE ALTHOUGH NOW THEY SEEM A LITTLE BETTEROriginally posted by hleb:Dialects are more expressive at times, like cantonese, when you watch hk tv drama serials or movies (like stephen chow's), you have to watch in them in cantonese, or else it's lost its "flavour".
OH YA AND ALSO THE NEW GIRL FROM THAT COMEDIC STAR SHOW WHO WEARS BUCKTEETH, WE'RE ALREADY FULL OF DIALECTS, PRETENDING TO HAVE AN ACCENT OF DIALECT ISNT FUNNY -
try speaking dialet with mi now.. i think u will have a big problem understanding....
i use to be hokkien and teochew mixed already due to my parents... now due to my work i mixed in cantonese.... when i call my dad in sg now... it's really so hard for mi to speak to him now lor.. KNN!!!!! -
bobian.. nobody teach.. me wan to learn but from where/whom. Cant even comm with grandparents.
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In my home, nobody uses dialects even my elderly mum-in-law.
The only time Hokkien was useful was when I went to Taiwan, the tour guide spoke it the whole time.
Also in HK, I use Cantonese to bargain when shopping or ordering food.
Here in Sg, it is only English or Mandarin. The younger generation has a problem communicating with elderly when they do CIP at old folks home. -
yar, i belong to the younger generation. and its quite sad to see that most of my friends could not speak their own dialect and they even dispise them. When some elderly ask for directions, they could only say ah-ah-um-um and just walk off. Some of the grandparents even have to learn mandarin to talk to them.
I think this shows the insigficance of the dialect that my generation thinks now. -
hmm hmm . . . . . where u get this info from that hokkien is the official dialect in Singapore?Originally posted by norm:hokkien is still the official dialect of Spore.
Dialects were already at risk of dying out when LKY discourages the use of dialects and promote the use of Mandarin.
Local radio and TV stations are not allowed to broadcast dialect. -
No fear. we still have dialect speaking MPs
"ai pang sai ka chuay jam bun lah"
"this is ah lian vs a huay"
"mee siam mai hum"
still a little hope? -
wah reow. i only noe some of my classmates still speaks leh.
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dialects can be divisive, the less spoken the better...
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the way i see the PM speak hokkien, i can see it is beyond hope!Originally posted by SevenEleven:No fear. we still have dialect speaking MPs
"ai pang sai ka chuay jam bun lah"
"this is ah lian vs a huay"
"mee siam mai hum"
still a little hope?