Today, this morning I went to an HDB branch office to renew my
monthly parking.
There I was attended to by this China woman who tried her best to
communicate with me in English, but eventually gave up and asked me
if I can speak Mandarin with her. I agreed, and concluded the
transaction.
I left the HDB branch office, feeling troubled, asking myself in my
head; what is going on? Aren't we multi-lingual? Aren't we largely
bi-lingual?
In fact, yesterday while ordering a drink at a foodcourt, the lady
how took my order over the counter asked me what would a like to
drink in Mandarin, and then turned to her colleague and spoke in
hokkien, and another colleague in English. I replied in English
that I would like 3 cold barley drinks.
What is going on?
I can understand if I'm in China and people communicate in
Mandarin. The other question is; aren't employees in HDB and any
other organization supposed to be able to communicate in both
English and Mandarin?
This brings to mind my awareness that there are a great many high
school and university grads who can't compose a decent formal
letter. Let alone a decent thesis in proper English.