Yep..we've made it to the oddities page of California's
news.
check this out too..http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2005/05/13/1038156-ap.html
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cp oddities news
Friday, May 13, 2005
Singapore begins social engineering plan, targeting local version
of English
SINGAPORE (AP) - Singapore's prime minister launched the country's
latest behaviour modification campaign on Friday, urging teachers
to use hip-hop and rap music to teach proper English and warning
that continued use of the mutated local form of the language could
make Singaporeans unintelligible.
"Speak in a normal Singapore tone, which is neutral and
intelligible," Lee Hsien Loong said. "But speak in full sentences,
with proper sentence structure and cutting out all the 'lahs' and
'lors' at the end of each sentence."
Lee was referring to two words commonly added to the end of
sentences in "Singlish" - a mishmash of English and local
dialects.
"Can or not? I think can," he said, using another commonly used
phrase in Singlish.
The city-state is well known for its numerous social engineering
campaigns, most of which are government-backed. Singapore in the
past has urged its citizens to wave at fellow motorists, flush
public toilets, be more romantic and arrive at wedding receptions
on time.
Lee urged teachers to use "pop songs, hip-hop and rap as mediums
for teaching good English."
"If our English becomes too mutated, then we become unintelligible
to others," he said. "If we speak in a dialect which only some
Singaporeans can understand, then we are handicapping ourselves and
cutting ourselves off from the rest of the world."
The administration began waging war on Singlish in 2000 and
attacked the country's most popular TV character, Phua Chu Kang,
blaming his use of Singlish for a rise in bad grammar among
citizens.
Critics have denounced the numerous behavioural campaigns as
Orwellian and condescending.
