According to Lee Kuan Yew, the value of a language is based on
its usefuless, not on culture or identity.
That is why he suppresses dialect and promotes mandarin.
Will malay and tamil singaporeans be missing out if they can't
speak mandarin?
Should Malays and Tamils Singaporeans learn Mandarin?
I would like to hear the views of fellow malay and tamil
singaporeans.
Do you agree with LKY?
What is usefulness? to do business and make money? to be able to
communicate with others and therefore able to accept and adapt
better? to learn more what the culture that is associated with the
language and better able to appreciate and respect them, especially
your own ?
You do not find Malay and tamil, or Hindi, or Thai ... who
do not speak their own language!!
Whether malay and tamil should learn Chinese, or Russians, or
American all depend on the outlook of their parents. I know of many
malays who speak very fluent mandarin, they probable never thought
about leaving malaysia to do business in China, afterall, to many
of them, Indonesia is also a big market for them and you don't need
mandarin there.
In Europe, most people speak more than 3 languages; in malaysia,
the Chinese speak english, malay, mandarin and dialects. In
singapore, chinese only know how to speak singlish mandarin, which
is 70% mandarin, 30% english; or they speak singlish english,
which is 70% english and 30% mandarin. Many are incapable of
speaking 100% english or mandarin.
Singapore education has certainly failed in teaching language as
a mean to better understanding and a carrier of cultural values.
don't know if LKY agree to that.
