http://theindependent.sg/speak-mandarin-campaign-seems-all-but-dead-dialects-are-making-a-comeback/
January 20, 2016
The
Promote Mandarin Council was recently infused
with new blood,
but if the website of
the Council’s Singapore’s ‘Speak Mandarin Campaign’ is any
indication, the Campaign to improve Mandarin proficiency among the
Chinese speaking population is all but dead.
And now, the collaboration between People’s Association
(the grassroots organisation with symbiotic relationship with the
ruling party) and two statutory boards (National Youth Council and
National Heritage Board), to bring dialects to the heartlands, seem
to indicate that the Government is moving away from the thinking
that ‘it’s
stupid to advocate the learning of dialects‘.
The three Government-related agencies are partnering with social
enterprise My Father Tongue to
kick-start another language campaign – a social campaign to
revitalise the use of dialects among youths here in Singapore.
The social enterprise said on its website that dialects are
important because it “form an integral part of the nation’s fabric
and they help connect us with the pioneer generation and their
roots, our own roots and culture as well as people from around the
world who speak the same dialect”.
And that the idea for the campaign came about when they
realised that many Singaporeans among the younger generation
are unable to speak dialects.
So, what are you waiting for? Why not pick up a dialect?
