I think that to many of us, to be effectively bilingual in both
English and Chinese is very difficult, if not impossible. Even
those who are perceived to be the creme de la creme in terms of
languages, are not able to stand up against native speakers of
English and Chinese.
I have taken pride on being able to speak, write and read
comfortably in both languages. However, when I came to Japan to
study a few years ago, I find that though Singaporeans' English are
on the whole, much better than their Asian counterparts, we still
sound incoherent in front of the native speakers, including both
Americans and British. The same can be said for our Chinese. We
have been too used to speaking a language that is sprinkled with
phrases from the different languages in our daily life, that we
forgot how to speak in one language alone. How many of us can say
that we speak in purely English or Chinese/Malay/Tamil
everyday?
However, knowing both languages is indeed a great advantage.
Whenever, I meet other foreign students, I can speak in English
with them. Nevertheless, speaking in Chinese to the Chinese or the
Taiwanese will elicit a more enthusiastic response since we share a
common cultural background. Nothing beats a Chinese proverb or two
in the conversations.
It is imperative that Singapore keeps its bilingual language
system, though I must admit that without compromises, we will end
up being proficient in none. Maybe it is indeed the way to go if we
are to maintain our edge in this part of the world.
