For that, they should stick their mother tongue like Malay or
Tamil. In the case that they are truly PR / Citizens from US / UK,
then they are ought to love English. You did not read my full post
correctly!!!
For other exceptional case of Singaporean who has a mother
tongue of Japanese, then they should use Japanese well and as far
as possible.
Such simple logic you cannot understand? WTF!
Hello there.
I understand your points and where you are coming from but I was
thinking from another perspective and I hope you do hear me
out.
It is perfectly fine to push for the preservation of the culture
and lifestyle of an ethnic background. Absolutely nothing wrong
with acknowledging one's historical roots and embracing it. To each
his own. Nevertheless, how do we go forward from now? The modern
society is getting more homogeneous in terms of the ethnic
composition of its community. Globalization. A pre-requisite to the
progression of the country, economy and its people relative to rest
of the world. Can you deny it? Do you not want it? Do anyone not
want it? A system of mutual consensus, tolerance and understanding
is much needed to avoid conflicts arising from the differences of
each ethnics/race/religion. The world is indeed not in its
equilibrium state yet but mankind is still trying, or at least I do
hope so.
Singapore is a perfect example of the modern society. Indeed,
the Chinese race makes up the majority of its population. But does
that mean a single dominant race, regardless of what race, is the
catalyst to a state of equilibrium? Will it be efficient and
effective in the long run?
What is the basis of language? Communication. The world would
not mind, if they can understand Mandarin/chinese langauge as you
communicate it. But the world is not Chinese. Singapore is not
Chinese. For all your heart's content, embrace your language, and I
applaud your passion for that, but do not impose it onto the world
outside yourself. As much as you hate it, the world has settled for
English to be the dominant language. Singapore, very much wanting
to be part of the global set up, would have to follow suit. It is
the only way forward. However, it is important to note that
dominance here do not equal diminishing of the other languages. So
for all the Chinese that one would want to speak, English has to be
the dominant language in his/her life, else, it will be difficult
for them to progress. On another note, living in a multi-racial
country, despite the non-equal ethnic proportion, how do one live
harmoniously with his/her neighbour who is of a different
ethnicity without a common and mutual basis of
communication?
In every type of relationship, communication is an important
factor that has to be established. You are one person, living in a
complex society connected to everyone else by relationships of any
nature. How do you establish an efficient state of equilibrium for
yourself?
Regards.
