There are cheenas, there are babanas and there are
cheenabananas.
The core of the debate thus is:
1. continue with mother-tongue educational policies and
thus retain ties with the countries of our ancestors, and thus our
cultural identities as Chinese, Malay or Indian; or
2. cut ties totally with countries of our ancestors
and allow each individual the freedom of choice.
If we pick 2. , then Singapore will become a cultural desert,
with each ethnic group knowing little about their own culture,
language and heritage. The so-call "Singaporean culture" is
yet a shallow rojak culture, for we are still an infant country.
For now, we can only borrow from others, hence do we choose to
borrow mainly from the west?
Throughout the whole of Asia, there isn't a country that
advocates abandoning their mother-tongue education to embrace
English and western culture completely. When most Asians are with
their own countrymen, they speak their mother-tongues and do so
with pride. Singaporeans, it seems are the only bunch of Asians
that who speak English with one another. Some people think that's
cool. Well, it isn't. That's my personal view.
China has much to learn from the west, likewise, the west has
much to learn from China. A culture is never static, it constantly
evolves. Being bilingual will enable us to understand the
world from different perspectives, this is something that pure
English-speaking Singaporeans may not fully realise as they only
have access to the English medium. You cannot fully understand the
Chinese if you do not understand their language.
Me, I am a cheenabanana 
. I grew up on a diet of western
literature. At the same time, I read Chinese newspapers and surf
the Chinese websites regularly to keep myself updated on the
cultural trends and events in mainland
China.
