Three quarters of Singaporeans are English literate but the
country's standard of English is not good enough, says Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
At the launch of the 5th Speak Good English Movement, he said
Singaporeans needed to do better - they would be no less
Singaporean when they speak good English.
Mr Lee said an Australian friend recently told him that his
Singapore schoolmates spoke a strange type of English.
He added: "In fact they were speaking Singlish! My friend observed
that they did not seem to distinguish between "no" and "not". It
took me a little while to think of an example in Singlish, 'Money
No Enough'".
But speaking clearly to be understood does not mean adopting an
artificial English or American accent.
Mr Lee said: "When you speak good Hanyu Pinyin pronunciation,
nobody thinks you are being "sikit atas". It's ok. But when you
speak good English then people think, ah maybe you don't fit in, so
you water down and try to fit in your English and be friends with
people. We ought to change our norms. We must also put effort in
improving English teaching and just as the mother tongue teachers
try poems, dances songs recitation, performances, all sorts of
things to bring the language alive."
"There are also other forms of influences on our language which
English teachers find it difficult to curb in schools. One of them
is SMS language which uses different types of short forms to convey
the message."
"Correct spelling has become a major challenge. "That" is spelled
dat. "Are you" becomes just the letter R and U," the Prime Minister
noted.
He feels Singaporeans should use Standard English in speech and
emails.
Dick Lee, Speak Good English Ambassador, said: "I have often found
that Singlish is an essential part of me being a Singaporean. So if
I eradicate that then, how? Does that mean I am not a Singaporean?
Of course the answer is no, We can still be a Singaporean with
standard English."
Dick Lee and 12 others will be Singapore's "Good English Icons" to
show Singaporeans that it is not difficult to speak well.
P Prasad, Speak Good English Ambassador, said: "When I was in
school I had very good teachers. I had a good literature teacher,
Mrs Chong and she made lessons very fun and interesting. It's a
never ending journey."
Lynn Wakerman, Speak Good English Ambassador, said: "When I speak
English I make sure I don't have any lah or lor behind, I don't
need to speak fantastic but just speak correctly."
This year's tagline is "Speak up, Speak out and Speak well". - CNA
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