By Shawn Lee Miller, Multimedia Journalist
WHAT DO ex-beauty queen Ris Low and video game character Bolo
Santosi have in common? They have both put Singlish in the
spotlight in recent times.
That led us to question how far the English language has evolved
in Singapore. With the Speak Good English Movement into its tenth
year, has our standard of English taken a step back?
Dr KK Seet, Senior Lecturer at the Department of English
Language and Literature at the National University of Singapore,
offered his theory.
'The standard of English here has been deteriorating in the
twenty years that I've been teaching. In the early years, the
students spoke better. I attribute it to the fact that it's an MTV
generation, people have shorter attention spans and they don't read
enough,' he surmised.
Are Singaporeans getting so accustomed to speaking in Singlish
that proper English has taken a backseat?
