[*StarDust*]

Don't use culture as an excuse for Singlish



By Dudley Au

RECENTLY, there was a programme on television which discussed the standing of Singlish in view of the recent debate on using correct spoken English. One participant held the view that it was the country's culture which should not be eradicated - it was the flavour of Singapore.

If it is a cultural characteristic pertinent to Singapore, it must be at least more than 100 years old - which it is not.

When our forefathers came to Singapore from their homelands to find a better life, they had no education, or very little of it. Then, English was the lingua franca under the rule of the British. The immigrants were creative and resilient and learnt a few words of English to survive in an alien land. Their dialects were of no use except among themselves.

So, to survive, they had to use some English. From this was born pidgin English shorn of its grammar and sentence sequence.

The situation today is different - vastly different - and the need of our forefathers does not exist any more. Why then is there this tendency to cling to broken or fractured English?

Why must we take mistakes in semantics and elevate them into a culture? Is it because it is too much trouble to master correct usage of the English language and, like water, it is easier to flow down than up?

In the TV programme, Japan was cited as a country that did not speak English and did well, with translators at meetings. I have had business meetings in Japan, with Japanese CEOs who spoke impeccable English (without translators). And the same in China too, where the country's young are being groomed in correct English to make inroads into the English-speaking world.

If one can speak correct English, without translators, the one-on-one relationship gives an edge and develops a much stronger sense of rapport with the individual spoken to.

Our children must be given this edge and not be forced to rely on translators to decode their Singlish for the English- speaking world.

The choice has to be made now.

Source: http://www.asiaone.com/News/Educatio...23-175473.html

[Squirrel<3Nuts]

Singlish will be around, whether they like it or not. I'm not embarrass by it, so naturally, speaking it is not an excuse. Because i just want to.

[NA181920]

it juz feels more belonging speaking singlish to peers, of course we must not utilize it for formal occasions or with foreigners lol.

[faith14]

If the peers are willing to speak fluent English with one another, without any sense of awkwardness, I believe that sooner or later, the eradication of Singlish will meet its day. =)

[PECTOPAH]

Originally Posted by faith14

If the peers are willing to speak fluent English with one another, without any sense of awkwardness, I believe that sooner or later, the eradication of Singlish will meet its day. =)

i dont think its the willingness to speak but the ability to speak

so its here to stay =/

[Lancelot]

I have taken the third option. Code-switching.

I will use Singlish only when its appropriate but Standard English for my daily and academic life.

[Mister_Sinister]

I consider this entire approach to be ass-backwards. Singlish does not represent a negative, nor is it endemic of an inability to learn English for the majority of the population. It is merely a cultural representation, albeit recent, of the unique conditions in Singapore, giving rise to a form of expression that suits the people living in Singapore.

Claiming that Singlish is somehow a 'worse' form of English is wrong. All language is 'right' or 'wrong' according to context. Furthermore, language serves people, not the other way around. An 'imported' language is ALWAYS subject to modification to a greater or lesser extent. Even English is not immune - in fact, English has so many dialectical forms, its beggars belief. The reason for this is that a language imported to a place where it did not originate will not stay stable for long. Instead, it will mutate and aggregate other forms to itself in order to remain useful to those who use it.

While I agree that using Singlish in all circumstances is wrong, such a claim is just basely fallacious anyway. It's roughly on a par with claiming that expletives should be used in all circumstances - it takes the language out of its context. Claiming that Singlish needs 'excusing' is just patently false - provided it is used in the correct circumstances.

As for Japan, I can quite safely tell you, those who can speak English well in Japan are one of three things: linguistic genii, people who have lived overseas, or people who have invested inordinate sums of personal time and money to become fluent. The Japanese situation does not mirror the Singo one, like, at all.

In general, this article has a lot of things ass-backwards, in my opinion.

Edit: And the whole 'must be 100 to be culture' thing? Any anthropologist will laugh that out of the door faster than you can blink. And any sociologist, any historian, any psychologist, any political scientist....

Edit 2:

Originally Posted by Lancelot

I have taken the third option. Code-switching.

I will use Singlish only when its appropriate but Standard English for my daily and academic life.

Yes, times over nine thousand. Quoted for truthery. Just to illustrate the point more.

[christmas_]

Originally Posted by faith14

If the peers are willing to speak fluent English with one another, without any sense of awkwardness, I believe that sooner or later, the eradication of Singlish will meet its day. =)

go out and hear people speak English. a lot cannot speak fluent English, thats why Singlish appeared !!!

[faith14]

Originally Posted by PECTOPAH

i dont think its the willingness to speak but the ability to speak

so its here to stay =/

Originally Posted by christmas_

go out and hear people speak English. a lot cannot speak fluent English, thats why Singlish appeared !!!

Everything needs to start off with a first move, isn't it? No matter how bad one's command of
English is, one has to start off somewhere. It is not as if one is born to know how to speak the mother tongue, English..

My command of English is bad too. Hence, the willingness to improve is important.

[NA181920]

could it be most of us are privileged to be able to communciate with english, mandarin, dialect(s), and so on. with that maybe it jeopardizes the standard of our spoken english? as u know we cannot neglect others spoken languages, we need to invest time to perfect it as well? english is our first language but most of the time we need to communicate with mandarin and dialect(s) to other specific grps. haha ok am i making sense or giving excuses again.

[Squirrel<3Nuts]

^ I think thats true. For angmohs, most of them only know one language, thus the constant speaking of it improves their language. For us, malays/chinese/indians/english languages can be use tgt because most of us understands what each other are talking about. Singlish is a mixed form of different languages ma.

[yoohoney]

Singlish is quite popular among our society....

it is hard to solove it. you know sometiem only in certain situation can creat certain miracle. so our forefather is quite have to do this in order to survive...

this is decide by the situation...

[specialk78]

Aiyah why so like that?

[Strudel]

Originally Posted by Lancelot

I have taken the third option. Code-switching.

I will use Singlish only when its appropriate but Standard English for my daily and academic life.

+1. Recently the Vice Prime Minister of Australia visit US and was asked by a kid if Australians speak English.

I believe most of us can switch between the two.

[tkdg3]

Who cares what the government or other people think?
We like using Singlish what's wrong with that.

[BRKawy]

I am not ashamed of speaking Singlish. I feel more relax if I speak Singlish with my friends than proper English. Some words are better expressed in other languages.

[plastique]

Quebec french is un-french, Ebonics is un-american, Cuban spanish is un-spanish, Kansai ben is un-japanese then...

I would rather someone start a course on code-switching instead.

[AshBaby]

I can understand those who nvr rcv proper education therefore they speak Singlish. I cant empathize those who rcv proper English education for min 10 years still cant speak simple proper English.

If u happen to go overseas, those caucasian will not be able to understand what you say. They will be surprise tt Singapore having 1 of the top education standard but yet produce pple who speak Singlish.....

There is no excuse for Singlish. Occasional usage for jokes and etc is fine.

[vios21]

So how did singlish evolve?

[Quince]

I think I'll stick to code-switching. That makes me master both Singlish and English at the same time!

...This is abit off topic... but if everyone starts to speak English (and begins to stop speaking their own languages), I'll feel like England has taken over the world or something -.-''