Three quarters of Singaporeans are English literate but the country's standard of English is not good enough, says Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
At the launch of the 5th Speak Good English Movement, he said Singaporeans needed to do better - they would be no less Singaporean when they speak good English.
Mr Lee said an Australian friend recently told him that his Singapore schoolmates spoke a strange type of English.
He added: "In fact they were speaking Singlish! My friend observed that they did not seem to distinguish between "no" and "not". It took me a little while to think of an example in Singlish, 'Money No Enough'".
But speaking clearly to be understood does not mean adopting an artificial English or American accent.
Mr Lee said: "When you speak good Hanyu Pinyin pronunciation, nobody thinks you are being "sikit atas". It's ok. But when you speak good English then people think, ah maybe you don't fit in, so you water down and try to fit in your English and be friends with people. We ought to change our norms. We must also put effort in improving English teaching and just as the mother tongue teachers try poems, dances songs recitation, performances, all sorts of things to bring the language alive."
"There are also other forms of influences on our language which English teachers find it difficult to curb in schools. One of them is SMS language which uses different types of short forms to convey the message."
"Correct spelling has become a major challenge. "That" is spelled dat. "Are you" becomes just the letter R and U," the Prime Minister noted.
He feels Singaporeans should use Standard English in speech and emails.
Dick Lee, Speak Good English Ambassador, said: "I have often found that Singlish is an essential part of me being a Singaporean. So if I eradicate that then, how? Does that mean I am not a Singaporean? Of course the answer is no, We can still be a Singaporean with standard English."
Dick Lee and 12 others will be Singapore's "Good English Icons" to show Singaporeans that it is not difficult to speak well.
P Prasad, Speak Good English Ambassador, said: "When I was in school I had very good teachers. I had a good literature teacher, Mrs Chong and she made lessons very fun and interesting. It's a never ending journey."
Lynn Wakerman, Speak Good English Ambassador, said: "When I speak English I make sure I don't have any lah or lor behind, I don't need to speak fantastic but just speak correctly."
This year's tagline is "Speak up, Speak out and Speak well". - CNA /ch
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i think they should focus on grammar when teachin english in pri sch..