There should be different schools based on different
dialects.
It's not like you would attend just a class on your dialect,
it is the whole school having it's curriculum and teaching
in dialect.
That is the model of indigenous language teaching in countries
that support the indigenous languages.
Not just classes.
Actually is that going to be good or not good ?
I do not feel comfortable if that is the direction.
Dialect happens because in the past when transportation and
communication is less advanced, people in one certain area would
develop its own local language and customs etc.
Now as technology advance and the human mobility is highly
improved, there is more and more contact and interactions between
different peoples.
We are talking that in China itself there is great mobility and
"strandardization" in language.
What about Singapore ?
Singapore is a very little place.
Singapore is very compact, tiny, densely populated, diverse,
city.
I think another issue is also about internal Chinese unity and
identity.
If there are schools based on dialects, that is retrogressive
because it is bringing up again the situation in the past, where
transportation and communication is less advanced, and that there
were different blocks or groups of speakers.
In other words, it re-introduce and re-emphasize division.
I believe Singapore and especially Singaporean Chinese, which do
not number that much, and has to live amongst other cultures, do
not need to separate and divide themselves.
Of course, the primary motive and desire to do so, is to
continue a heritage, to preserve something and to conserve
something, something that is intimate and personal and
precious.
I can understand that.
However I take the view that the present generation must take
the sacrifice.
The present generation is the transitionary generation.
It depends now, does the present generation want to be
nostalgic, and take a one step forward, two step back approach, or
complete the process of standardization and unification, for the
benefit of internal Chinese unity and identification.
For me I myself am also nostalgic about my dialect group.
However I think it is not nice if we undo the great melting pot
process of Chinese unification by reintroducing dialects. Just from
the big picture, cultural aspect, I feel it is a kind of suicide
and a kind of counter-productive thing to do.
Secondly we need to understand Singapore is not China. Singapore
is not Taiwan, is not HongKong.
Singapore is a very far away place from the real ancestral
cultural root of Singaporean Chinese in East Asia. It is located
deep in South East Asia. Here there are many other cultures, and
lots of immigrants and expats too. It is also heavily under the
cultural influence of the Western culture and the English
language.
Under such circumstances, it is simply impractical and
impossible to have the luxury of reintroducing dialects.
If we understand something, actually the whole "cultural
heritage" aspect of the people living in Singapore, is under heavy
assault everyday from English / Western culture and also other
component cultures. This is the basic fundamental setup of
Singapore. If the Chinese Singaporeans should decide to separate
and divide themselves by reintroducing dialects, it is very bad and
is very messy, and is suicidal, because you further weaken
yourself, in an already complex and complicated situation.
The others in HK and TW can do it because they have the relative
critical mass.
We must understand what is Singapore and what can or cannot be
done for Singapore.
