Let me make some points
clear.
1. I am Singaporean, not
Chinese. I have never been to China. My culture is Singaporean
not Chinese. Anyone who has been to China will know Singapore
culture and Chinese culture are like night and day, totally
different. Our laws, medical system, social conventions, dressing,
thinking, schools, transport, everything are TOTALLY
DIFFERENT.
For a start, lets remember that there is a difference between
Race, and Nationality. My race is Chinese, and my nationality is
Singaporean. When we refer to Chinese culture, we are referring to
the culture and history of the race, not that of China. We have a
Singapore culture for sure, but that is the culture of our country,
not our race.
2. I, like all Singaporeans,
grew up in school with English as our first language. I only use
English at work and at home, since Singapore is runs on English.
Our laws, newspapers and everything else are all in
English.
I don't understand why under
such an environment, some people still reject the use of English
and speak Mandarin.
Is anyone here saying that we should reject the use of English.
What we are emphasizing is simply that we should
be bilingual.
3. English IS Singapore's
language. Some Singaporeans reject English as a "foreign language",
the language of the British and Americans etc and say that as
"Chinese" we should speak Mandarin, our ancestral language, our
"roots". This is just a very bigoted view which is based on
ignorance.
If we subscribe to this
"foreign language" argument, every English speaking country in
the world except English would be speaking a "foreign language" and
have lost their ancestral "roots"!
If we follow this argument, in
Britain, the Welsh should speak Welsh. Scottish should speak Scots,
those at Cornwal should speak Cornish. Those in Northern
Ireland should speak Irish.
Ireland should speak Gaelic or
Irish, not English, a "foreign" language from
England.
Americans, who are mostly
of Irish, Germans, Polish descent would all be speaking a
"foreign language". After all, they should speak German, Polish or
Irish language, not English! And African Americans should be
speaking Afrikaans?
English is no more a foreign
language to Singaporeans than it is to the Americans, Canadians and
80% of British people.
If Singaporean Chinese should
speak Mandarin, then German Americans should all speak German,
Irish Americans, Irish, African Americans, Afrikaans etc.. But they
like Singaporeans, are not German/Irish/African, the link has long
been cut, they are Americans, they speak American
English.
My question here is simple - does What Is, equate to What Should
Be? Does the fact that the same phenomenon is happening in various
places make this any more acceptable? And while we're on this
topic, how about all the other countries that you failed to
mention?
4. I think Singaporeans should
be clear that they are Singaporeans not Chinese citizens. Just like
African Americans are Americans not Africans. German Americans
are Americans not Germans...so on and so
forth.
I say we speak Standard
Singapore English proudly with our Singaporean accent. (Mild)
Singlish is fun as well, no it is not "bad English" because if you
compare it with some British dialects such as "Geordie" or
"Scottish English" or even "Welsh English", it is actually easier
to understand.
If a foreigner does not
understand my accent or comment that I sound weird, I would tell
him he is the one who sounds weird! This is Singapore and this is
our accents. If you can't speak with a Singaporean accent, then of
course we can't understand you well, don't compain.
And I think you should be clear on the difference between Race
and Nationality 
5. Mandarin is not even my
ancestral language if you want to be anal about it. Mandarin is the
dialect of Beijing and my forefathers were probably from Fujian,
though I have some Malay blood in me as well.
Noted But please also note that Chinese (and thus
Mandarin in its spoken form) is the main (probably only) dialect
from China that was recorded down (thus giving us Chinese
characters), and much of the Chinese culture was based on that
language.
6. Mandarin is useful? If you
are dealing with China, yes. But lets not forget that 55 countries
worldwide and almost all supranational organs use
English.
The biggest economy in the
world, America, uses English. Europeans all speak English as their
second language these days. Canadaians, Australians, etc. And
without English, you cannot find a good job in
Singapore.
Noted again
7. Lets not forget my
"forefathers" and probably yours ran away from China and took
up Singapore citizenship for a reason. He didn't want to be a
Chinese citizen.
So don't tell me to speak
Mandarin (a beijing dialect) in Singapore (an English
society).
If you can't speak
English in Singapore, I suggest you hang your head in
shame, for you have truly "lost your roots".
First of all, congratulations on reading the minds of our
ancestors (who, presumably for this context, came from China). What
is more likely to have happened though, was that they left for
Singapore not because they didn't want to be China citizens, but
because of circumstances (probably financial). From there on, their
offsprings are Singaporeans by default.
But anyhow, I really think that there is a need for you to look
at your arguments again, for you are totally missing the point by
focusing on nationality.
Lastly, what roots, dude? Lotus roots? poor coda, poor
coda..
Try harder dude 
