Speak Mandarin Campaign might have 'uprooted"many S'poreans

Heartlander SG

It may be wonderful if you are able to speak mandarin to many of our Singaporean Chinese of different dialect mix as mandarin could be used as a common language to unite Chineses not only in Singapore, but around the world! But the funny thing here is that many young Singaporeans did not even know how to speak a word of their own dialect! Just imagine a Singaporean called themself Hokien does not know how to speak Hokien and a Teochew, his own Teochew dialect! Were we too enthusiastic in promoting Mandarin and forgetting about our own roots? Rolling Eyes

Nelstar SG

Culture is but a seed left behind to be groomed by the young ones. Traditions and cultures are not essential in life that we have to sow them even though they may give us an edge over the rest.

It is about time for our culture to evolve from our roots. We are living in different conditions and time, so we must learn to adopt new practices to improve our own lifestyle. Sticking to old traditions and thoughts may dent our pursuits. The ideal situation is to have both, but the benefits of one weighs over the other so it's possible we exchange or benefit the most out from it if we are denied having them simultaneously.

skyfoo SG

like it or not. the dialect will be gone in, perhaps, 30 yrs to come. a solution: make it a compulsory subject for the chinese in school, letting them to learn their own dialect.

robertteh SG

Look at history itself, how do countries with many languages or cultural or religious groupings survive?

In a big country like India or China, there are bound to exist diverse groups and sub-groups based on language or religious denominations.

Ultimately for such countries to survive, common heritage, cultures or language are important and critical factor to bind different people together for national unity and sovereignty.

Such groups or dialents may provide richness of cultures and certain desirable diversities but over time such pluses may become minuses as such diverse groups may tend to be affected by conflicts or even demands for separations.

A smaller country will be even more vulnerable to divisiveness due sensitive references or emphasis on cultural or dialect diversities. Let a Singapore nation be one where people generally speak a common unifying mother tongue - mandarin supplemented by a working language - English in our case. Dialects will be more for heritage or cultures among the sub-groups of different backgrounds for special occasions. Laughing

paperchicken SG

Even in China itself they are losing their dialect as next generation place more importance on Mandrain and English. The extinction of dialects is happening all around the world, not just in Singapore. Rolling Eyes

LazerLordz SG

Then it should be our duty to preserve it.But if you do not choose to do so, no one can blame you.Ultimately, the choice is yours and I prefer a vibrant language scene to a staid, boring cookie cutter world.But one must be proficient in English.

skyfoo SG

so u mean that singapore will be divided just because we have dialects? do we have to sarcifice our dialects to allow more usage of mother tongue and english? i dont really agree with ur last point too. y must we treat dialects as cultures? y must we restrict our usage and reserve them for 'special occasions'? y can't we use them freely?

i believe u don't know anything about your own dialect or you wouldnt say this.

robertteh SG

To: Skyfoo,

I have not denied that dialects have their rightful place in nation building and did not recommend any actions or policies to sideline dialects at all as they form part of our culture or heritage.

I only pointed out because of existence of many dialects they may become forces of divisiveness in nation building. I suppose you could accept these as facts from history.

I speak dialect daily to my family like my mother and sister and I too recognize that there is a place for my dialect co-existence with other dialects to maintain a certain richness or variety of one's nationality.

However, having confirmed that I am not anti-dialect, there is now a need to keep a certain perspective if we are going to discuss the place of dialects in nation building.

Without nation, there can be no home just as without home there can be no nation.

Dialects and local languages may not enjoy all the status as that of common mother tongue especially if there is one like mandarin that unifies all dialectic groups in national endeavors for obvious reason. That does not mean that there is no place for dialects. May be government should allow a certain exposures to dialect in community events or media shows to keep them thriving but in a balanced way without leading to frictions among different dialectic groups. Laughing

topstudentoftheyear2004 SG

agree with robertteh…

the.raven SG

who cares about dialects!?!?!? mandarin is a dialect!! Laughing

Possum SG

I believe the reason why Mandarin was chosen was for its unified or common writing system. You can speak Cantonese to me while I reply to you in Hokkien, and we'd both be at a loss. But if we put our words into writing, we'd understand each other. Mandarin is the primary language from which dialects spawned from, not the other way. You build a house from the foundations up, and not from the roof down.

It is true that dialects and whole cultures are facing extinction all over the world. But rest assured that cultures and languages are very much like a ecosystem. If one part of it becomes very strong, the other extreme end will make up to balance the system. There are always groups of people who will preserve a culture. Linguicide is happening but restoration is also happening at the same time.

Bring it on!!

skyfoo SG

oh.. tell me a country where they are divided because of dialects. dun gimme those tribes who are in countries using their own dialect.

i do care about dialects. u must be those who fail chinese in school.

don't u know that all the chinese dialects have the same writing form? yes, it is the same as mandarin, which are chinese words. well, also, do u know that one dialect or language is gone everyday? if u read, u would find out that in ulu places, there will be a grp of people trying very hard to preserve their own dialect or language. but when they die, the younger generation do not bother to learn as they find it useless. that's when these cultures are gone. if u look at singapore, it's more or less the same situation.

Possum SG

I'll take it that you were agreeing with me despite your starting with that question. It is true that cultures and languages are facing extinction or have already been extinct. But you'd like to know that although, for example, it may die in Singapore, it is being revived somewhere else in the world. It also so happens that it is the young generation that is reviving lost cultures, traditions and even languages. And I'm not simply refering to the Chinese language and her dialects.

Bring it on!!