As Malaysian Chinese newspaper Sin Chew Daily puts it
succinctly:
“Singapore used to be a
Chinese educational bastion for Southeast Asia with the most
comprehensive Chinese-language educational system. But the
deviation of its educational policy had changed everything in just
two to three decades. Nanyang University, a leading Chinese
university in Southeast Asia for 25 years, became part of the
history in 1980.
As nearly 100% of
students were enrolled in English stream primary schools, English
became the first language for all primary and secondary schools in
Singapore. Since then, Chinese education had basically disappeared
from Singapore, leaving only Chinese language
teaching.”
Lee has to take responsibility for the decline in the standards
of the Chinese language in Singapore today.
Being an English-educated Straits Chinese, Lee could not speak
mandarin or hokkien in his younger days. He picked up the language
only later due to a need to reach out to the Chinese-speaking
electorate.
http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/11/26/debate-on-chinese-education-in-singapore-rages-on/
