seeing singapore from another perspective

last SG · 2009-04-19T21:45:30+00:00

For the sake of some accuracy, your various points will be addressed in their respective parts :- Was the SDP ever strong under the leadership of Chiam See...

skythewood SG

Singapore should only speak hokkien,

There is no need to suppress dialects.

It smacks of hidden political motives.

speak english mean no culture.

The local culture is weakened. The identity is weakened.

you want to talk dialect, go ahead, who stopping you?

yah, yah, speak english means no culture... speak english means chinese won't speak mandarin, all the people i see celebrating moon cake or visit cemetry for qing ming is all fake one. because they speak english, so they have no culture, so they must be an illusion.

Ah Chia SG

Don't get me wrong. I'm effectively bilingual

Be honest with me. What is your standard of "bilingual"? Rojak singlish "bilingual" or really top standard bilingual?

kramnave SG

There was a need for a common language..not only to unite the population but also assimilate us into the world.

I don't agree with those views.

It is PAP propaganda.

yeah im sure the world was very willing to come here, set up shop/do business in hokkien/teochew/cantonese/malay/tamil i.e. anything else but english with our huge market of 1M+ people

Ah Chia SG

you want to talk dialect, go ahead, who stopping you? yah, yah, speak english means no culture... speak english means chinese won't speak mandarin, all the people i see celebrating moon cake or visit cemetry for qing ming is all fake one. because they speak english, so they have no culture, so they must be an illusion.

Hopeless case. Understand nothing of what I saying. Like throwing pearls before swine.

kramnave SG

Don't get me wrong. I'm effectively bilingual

Be honest with me. What is your standard of "bilingual"? Rojak singlish "bilingual" or really top standard bilingual?

didn't meet anybody who didn't understand me. Perhaps not top notch but i communicate effectively with my counterparts, be it in Singapore or overseas.

Ah Chia SG

yeah im sure the world was very willing to come here, set up shop/do business in hokkien/teochew/cantonese/malay/tamil

You got the cheap wages like China I don't see why not. Anyway I am not against teaching english. It is the execution that is the problem.

skythewood SG

Idiot who only rely on anti govt propaganda for info.

Ah Chia SG

WO PUI!

kramnave SG

China speaks mandarin, I don't have to go in and speak in tongues to my colleagues. Besides a market of 1 billion people is very different from one that has 1 million people. People flock to you, not the other way round.

And all of my colleagues can speak english. With varying fluency of course.

skythewood SG

didn't meet anybody who didn't understand me. Perhaps not top notch but i communicate effectively with my counterparts, be it in Singapore or overseas.

For the younger generation, all singaporeans are bilingual. Of course, some are not as good in english, and their english is broken, but that is the minority.

For the older generation who start learning english later, chances are that their english is more likely to be broken, singlish. But there are those who speak perfectly well too.

Now... why would someone want to know if you are effective in bilingual.

Ah Chia SG

China speaks mandarin, I don't have to go in and speak in tongues to my colleagues.

They come here, they should do as we do. Not they come here, we do as they do. That is a colonial state. No wonder the young people feels no pride at all at being Singaporean. And you have also been brainwashed by PAP propaganda to follow only materialist goals.

Ah Chia SG

For the younger generation, all singaporeans are bilingual. Of course, some are not as good in english, and their english is broken, but that is the minority. For the older generation who start learning english later, chances are that their english is more likely to be broken, singlish. But there are those who speak perfectly well too.

Totally wrong. You don't understand the flaws in our education system.

skythewood SG

most singaporeans will feel they are better than foreigners that come here, and feel the pride of being of higher calibre than the bangala.

At the same time, they also learn about the culture and to accomodate people of other nationality by studying with them.

Of course, there are those adults who think this is all just to prepare for materialistic goals, and without any foresight how this could make the new generation better by learning to live with people of all races, and learn to work in other countries because of their experience with people of other nationalities.

kramnave SG

Now... why would someone want to know if you are effective in bilingual.

I don't know. Since young i have generally tried to shun 2 types of people.

1) You speak proper english and they think you are "ang mo pai"

2) People who say they are "ang moh pai" and claim they can't speak any mandarin despite having been schooled in that language.

I think flexibility is the key and being rigid results in one being hidden inside his shell. The one that knows it all but know nothing. Dynamic as opposed to static.

skythewood SG

totally correct. go speak to any secondary school kid and test their english.

no education system is perfect. you can go design one if you like.

kramnave SG

I think what he posted includes the flaws as well. In terms of proficiency.

skythewood SG

I don't know. Since young i have generally tried to shun 2 types of people.

1) You speak proper english and they think you are "ang mo pai"

2) People who say they are "ang moh pai" and claim they can't speak any mandarin despite having been schooled in that language.

I think flexibility is the key and being rigid results in one being hidden inside his shell. The one that knows it all but know nothing. Dynamic as opposed to static.

your preference for friends is your own. I like peanuts more than cherry. just my liking.

kramnave SG

your preference for friends is your own. I like peanuts more than cherry. just my liking.

Erm, perhaps I'm not sure what you are trying to insinuate. Like do you have problems with me responding to Ah Chia and saying that I'm effectively bilingual ?

skythewood SG

Erm, perhaps I'm not sure what you are trying to insinuate. Like do you have problems with me responding to Ah Chia and saying that I'm effectively bilingual ?

Insinulate is a nice word, but my reply should have shown you that i don't care how you choose your friends, or what kind of people you want to shun.

only comment on the bilingual question is why ask you that? i don't see the point. you know why he ask you that?

kramnave SG

Insinulate is a nice word, but my reply should have shown you that i don't care how you choose your friends, or what kind of people you want to shun.

only comment on the bilingual question is why ask you that? i don't see the point. you know why he ask you that?

I don't know, he asked me if i was Chinese before. I suspect it is because he don't quite believe that as a chinese i would have replied to one of his posts in the way i did.

Similarly, perhaps he was suspicious about the fact that i'm effectively bilingual, possibly because he hasn't met one in Singapore that is like that.

That said, maybe he belongs to one of the categories of friends i would not like to have, those that are hiding in a shell. Nothing personal against him but it's just my preference. I can of course be wrong about him/her.

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