The 2nd language policy is/was a distraction & a disaster. How many here struggled with mandarin in school
Think of all the time & effort people wasted trying to learn this language
More importantly how many really need mandarin? Many don't need to communicate with PRC chinese. How many times do you communicate with bus drivers, food handlers,...., that are working in Spore?
The language policy & other PAP policies have driven many Sporeans to find a new home in west. Sporeans are a diverse group: chinese, indians, malays, eurasians,.., how can you force all of them to learn mandarin? Now that we have filipinos, indonesians, indians, etc in Spore do you think they'll want to learn mandarin?
In today world, if you only know english, you are not much better than ah neh, it is amazing how outdated are the mindset of some people.