Firstly, do not generalise.There are parents out there who speak
fluent Standard Singapore English ( this is a linguistic term), and
there are those who are fluent speakers of dialect.
This is our identity.We are a nation shaped out of a migrant
identity of South East Asia, India, China and the Malay
Archipelago.
Do you want them to speak Putonghua like the Northerners?We, for
your information are not the People's Republic.Those of us of
Chinese origin, are Overseas Chinese who are equally adept in any
culture, because of the heritage that was granted to us, the
heritage of English as our first language, our dialect as the
language of our ancestors and Malay as the language of our
neighbours.
Those who look down on any one part of their heritage, yes, we can
consider them ignorant.But to condemn those that choose to speak
English, is highly bigoted and shows a lot about the mindset of the
person doing the nasty.
I'm proud to say I'm extremely fluent in both my English and my
mother dialect, Hokkien.Mandarin, as far as I'm concerned, is a
political construct and a remnant of the social cohesion policy of
the PRC govt.We try to integrate Mandarin into our repertoire of
language for the sake of business and cultural exchange.
What we should be doing is introduce to our children their mother
dialect, and not place it behind Mandarin.A true Overseas Chinese,
and especially a Peranakan, is well-versed in all three languages
of his/her soil.Sadly, my Malay is not up to scratch despite having
spent early years of my youth in Borneo..so I'm still learning a
little whenever I can.
Try not to look down on others just because they do not share your
helicopter vision.
Meng3 pek4 bo2?
