many of the older mps/minitoots had in the last GE used their own dialects to put across a point more concisely. why are they now muted? lau lee is trying to destroy our dialect origins by preaching something which isn't really meaningful or helpful. when we lose our hokkien, teochew, cantonese, hakka or other minority dialect groups, do we feel losing something....our ROOTS maybe?
the SPEAK MANDARIN is a farce, a waste of time, effort or money. when we listen to our dialect kids speaking way-off MANDARIN, doesn't it feel odd to the parents? what is a hokkien who cannot speak hokkien or a teochew who's total stranger to his own origins?
and why aren't dialect speaking mps who spoke that during the last GE speaking up now??
March 18, 2009
Dialects add to burden
Time, energy better spent on mastering English and Mandarin: MM Lee
By Goh Chin Lian
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew launching the 2009 Speak Mandarin Campaign yesterday. With him is Ms Lim Sau Hoong, chairman of the Promote Mandarin Council. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
MINISTER Mentor Lee Kuan Yew yesterday reiterated his stand against Chinese dialects, saying that learning dialects adds to a child's burden.
Also, it takes away the child's time and energy from mastering English and Mandarin, he said.
RELATED LINKS
WHAT P1 PUPILS USE AT HOME MAINLY
In addition, English and Mandarin differ in their vocabulary, phonetics and syntax and adding on dialects will cause 'negative interferences' in the learning of the two languages, he added.
In defending the decision to promote Mandarin over dialects, he also noted that the value of a language is its usefulness.
With Mandarin, the reach is far greater than dialects: 'If you speak Hokkien or Cantonese, you reach some 60 million in Fujian and Taiwan, or about 100 million in Guangdong and Hong Kong. With Mandarin, you can speak to 1,300 million Chinese from all provinces in China,' he said.
Mr Lee was speaking at the launch of the annual Speak Mandarin Campaign, which he introduced 30 years ago.
Since then, most Chinese Singaporeans have adopted Mandarin over other dialects.
However, about a fortnight ago, the acting head of Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) Division of Linguistics and Multilingual Studies, Dr Ng Bee Chin, sparked a debate when she reportedly said at a language seminar:
'Although Singaporeans are still multilingual, 40 years ago, we were even more multilingual. Young children are not speaking some of these languages at all any more.
'All it takes is one generation for a language to die.'
this mean most if not all chinese dialects would soon be extinct in singapore and all thanks to that old goat living in a spaceship!:oIo:
the SPEAK MANDARIN is a farce, a waste of time, effort or money. when we listen to our dialect kids speaking way-off MANDARIN, doesn't it feel odd to the parents? what is a hokkien who cannot speak hokkien or a teochew who's total stranger to his own origins?
and why aren't dialect speaking mps who spoke that during the last GE speaking up now??
March 18, 2009
Dialects add to burden
Time, energy better spent on mastering English and Mandarin: MM Lee
By Goh Chin Lian
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew launching the 2009 Speak Mandarin Campaign yesterday. With him is Ms Lim Sau Hoong, chairman of the Promote Mandarin Council. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
MINISTER Mentor Lee Kuan Yew yesterday reiterated his stand against Chinese dialects, saying that learning dialects adds to a child's burden.
Also, it takes away the child's time and energy from mastering English and Mandarin, he said.
RELATED LINKS
WHAT P1 PUPILS USE AT HOME MAINLY
In addition, English and Mandarin differ in their vocabulary, phonetics and syntax and adding on dialects will cause 'negative interferences' in the learning of the two languages, he added.
In defending the decision to promote Mandarin over dialects, he also noted that the value of a language is its usefulness.
With Mandarin, the reach is far greater than dialects: 'If you speak Hokkien or Cantonese, you reach some 60 million in Fujian and Taiwan, or about 100 million in Guangdong and Hong Kong. With Mandarin, you can speak to 1,300 million Chinese from all provinces in China,' he said.
Mr Lee was speaking at the launch of the annual Speak Mandarin Campaign, which he introduced 30 years ago.
Since then, most Chinese Singaporeans have adopted Mandarin over other dialects.
However, about a fortnight ago, the acting head of Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) Division of Linguistics and Multilingual Studies, Dr Ng Bee Chin, sparked a debate when she reportedly said at a language seminar:
'Although Singaporeans are still multilingual, 40 years ago, we were even more multilingual. Young children are not speaking some of these languages at all any more.
'All it takes is one generation for a language to die.'
this mean most if not all chinese dialects would soon be extinct in singapore and all thanks to that old goat living in a spaceship!:oIo:
