Thank you Goh Chok Tong for this one good act

[streetsmart73]

The Taiwanese was speaking perfect mandarin until the DPP came to power and they tried their best to be different from the mainland Chinese. Taiwan is now back to the mandarin camp again. If you have been to Hong Kong for past two decades, you will notice the massive shift towards mandarin. Even the canto pop singers have to learn mandarin nowadays. More than half of Guangdong province residents speaks no Cantonese nowadays.

hi there


1. hahaha!
2. i guess you know more of hk than i leh
3. those singers are crossover making some quick bucks in the chineyland markets.
4. btw, how massive is massive in your vocabulary?

 

[Sideswipe]

Think you are talking about Sinkapore where dialects coud be phased out in two to three generations' time. But what about places like Taiwan and Hong Kong? When the KMT first arrived in Taiwan in the late 1940s they imposed the use of Mandarin on the island but it has failed and till today the local dialects - hokkien and hakka - are still widely used. Same for HK, has mandarin replaced cantonese as the principal dialect after takeover in 1997?

the dominant Mandarin co-exist alongside Hokkien and Hakka in Taiwan - very good. China will go the same route. Dialects simply cannot be totally eliminated among the huge Chinese population in a vast country like China.


but Dialects will be extinct in Singapore in another 2 generations. only the KNN and CCB swear words will remain.

 

[sleaguepunter]

hi there


1.
2. yo! why don't you sell your ware to the people of hk too?
3. :p

dont understand what the big issue with the so call badly mispelled dialect names. big deal. if u dont like mispelled name, u can still put hanyupinying in your kid birth cert.

 

[streetsmart73]

the dominant Mandarin co-exist alongside Hokkien and Hakka in Taiwan - very good. China will go the same route. Dialects simply cannot be totally eliminated among the huge Chinese population in a vast country like China.


but Dialects will be extinct in Singapore in another 2 generations. only the KNN and CCB swear words will remain.

hi there


1. bro, unfair leh!
2. how about this: "tiew lei lo mou"
3. oops! i am not referring to any bro here

 

[streetsmart73]

dont understand what the big issue with the so call badly mispelled dialect names. big deal. if u dont like mispelled name, u can still put hanyupinying in your kid birth cert.

hi there


1. bro, bingo!
2. my family name: tam.
3. my uncle family: tham.
4. my cousin: hum.
5. oops!

 

[sleaguepunter]

hi there


1. bro, unfair leh!
2. how about this: "tiew lei lo mou"
3. oops! i am not referring to any bro here

what about the granny fav swear, hum ga charm?

 

[sleaguepunter]

hi there


1. bro, bingo!
2. my family name: tam.
3. my uncle family: tham.
4. my cousin: hum.
5. oops!

your ancestor from 四邑?

 

[Goldeneye]

Taiwanese dont seem to read the English name in the card at all...just look at the Chinese character and read it. Had a funny situation when we were discussing about a colleague who they know quite well, they deny they ever met Mr. Goh until we realise they dont know him as Goh...

 

[Sideswipe]

The Taiwanese was speaking perfect mandarin until the DPP came to power and they tried their best to be different from the mainland Chinese. Taiwan is now back to the mandarin camp again. If you have been to Hong Kong for past two decades, you will notice the massive shift towards mandarin. Even the canto pop singers have to learn mandarin nowadays. More than half of Guangdong province residents speaks no Cantonese nowadays.

Taiwan back to Mandarin camp? the administrative language of ROC Taiwan is always Mandarin. Taiwan TV are around 70%+ Mandarin shows. always been like this for KMT or DPP in power.

Canto pop singers learned Mandarin to release Mandarin albums to break into the Mainland market since the 80s and 90s. it is nothing new.

any census to show that half of Guangdong province residents speak no Cantonese nowadays ? in general, the City people speak more mandarin. maybe half of Guangdong province actually mean the Guangzhou City only.

 

[Sideswipe]

hi there

1. bro, unfair leh!
2. how about this: "tiew lei lo mou"
3. oops! i am not referring to any bro here

what is "tiew lei lo mou" canto ?

ok lah. all the Chinese dialects swear words will remain and will be passed down through generations of Chinese Singaporeans.

 

[sleaguepunter]

what is "tiew lei lo mou" canto ?

ok lah. all the Chinese dialects swear words will remain and will be passed down through generations of Chinese Singaporeans.

u want to know wan hor so dont be offended hor.

"fark your mother"

 

[Goldeneye]

If it is true that 50% of Guangdong don't speak local lingo, it is only sad. It is only banana type of countries like Pinoyland that give up local language, culture so easily and try to 'unify'. Unity does not mean one way. Europeans will never do this way, they are far more united economically, politically than anyone else. Even Indians generally don't give up local lingo / dialect and cultural aspects that go with it so easily, which is one of the problem of Indian FT not able to relate with local Indians.

 

[Asterix]

Interesting...actually I was curious to know if, before British came, a guy in Canton will call himself Mr. Lin or Mr. Lam. I am not talking about transliterating into English, that is another story..just in terms of pronunciation.

He will be addressed by others as 林生 (lum sang), the 先 is dropped unless it is appropriate to be formal. It would sound strange in Mandarin if you drop the 先.

The sound is closer to lum than lam. However, there is a standard transliteration process and 林 comes out as lam.

I suppose it is easier for the British in HK than in Malaya/Singapura - just assume that you want your transliteration to be done in the Cantonese way unless you tell me that you want it in the Shanghaiese, Fujianese or other way and then please provide me with the spelling.

 

[watchman8]

hi there


1. hahaha!
2. i guess you know more of hk than i leh
3. those singers are crossover making some quick bucks in the chineyland markets.
4. btw, how massive is massive in your vocabulary?

In the early nineties, when you go Hong Kong, people will not and cannot speak a word of mandarin. Only English and Cantonese. Nowadays, most shop assistants will speak mandarin. I understand that many hk parents are also making sure that their kids learn mandarin well. This is how massive the shift is in less than two decades.

 

[watchman8]

If it is true that 50% of Guangdong don't speak local lingo, it is only sad. It is only banana type of countries like Pinoyland that give up local language, culture so easily and try to 'unify'. Unity does not mean one way. Europeans will never do this way, they are far more united economically, politically than anyone else. Even Indians generally don't give up local lingo / dialect and cultural aspects that go with it so easily, which is one of the problem of Indian FT not able to relate with local Indians.

I don't find it sad, as all Han Chinese should be able to communicate in one single Han language. Thats the best way to maintain the chinese heritage in a global world as there's strength and continuity in large numbers.

The Europeans are quite a Rojak mix. There's Scandinavians, Italians, Spanish, Germans, etc. all with from different race and language profile. Note how fast they lose their heritage and identity as they migrate to USA or even UK.

 

[watchman8]

If people are still not convinced that Chinese dialects are dying, just go to any primary school, and ask the teachers roughly what is the percentage of Chinese kids who can converse fluently in any dialect nowadays.

Compare this percentage with that two or three decades ago.

 

[streetsmart73]

In the early nineties, when you go Hong Kong, people will not and cannot speak a word of mandarin. Only English and Cantonese. Nowadays, most shop assistants will speak mandarin. I understand that many hk parents are also making sure that their kids learn mandarin well. This is how massive the shift is in less than two decades.

hi there


1. aiyoh! bro.
2. you make me laugh till i pissing leh!
3. shop assistants speaking chins are to serve those chin buyers coming from chineyland during festive seasons.
4. in any normal days, they will "tiew kau lei" in canto
5. btw, your massive shift is still not significant enough leh:p
6. have you watch the street protests these few days?
7. in what language? chins?????
8. i would advise to subscribe to the cable channel 838, tvbjade for the latest update & understanding.

 

[watchman8]

hi there


1. aiyoh! bro.
2. you make me laugh till i pissing leh!
3. shop assistants speaking chins are to serve those chin buyers coming from chineyland during festive seasons.
4. in any normal days, they will "tiew kau lei" in canto
5. btw, your massive shift is still not significant enough leh:p
6. have you watch the street protests these few days?
7. in what language? chins?????
8. i would advise to subscribe to the cable channel 838, tvbjade for the latest update & understanding.

You won't be laughing for long. Since handover in 1998, mandarin is taught in all primary school in hk. Give it another two to three decades as even more prc Chinese move into hk. If this is not massive change, what is?

 

[sleaguepunter]

If people are still not convinced that Chinese dialects are dying, just go to any primary school, and ask the teachers roughly what is the percentage of Chinese kids who can converse fluently in any dialect nowadays.

Compare this percentage with that two or three decades ago.

did any of us denied that dialects are dying in singapore. u may like mandarin and english songs but i love Sam Hui's canto songs. u like to follow the flow but i prefer to go against the flow. just because dialects group intermarried does not mean can only use mandarin as a mean of communication. my wife a hokkien, we have no problem communicating in cantonese,hokkien,english and lastly mandarin. my mom a hakka can speak cantonese,hakka,teochew,mandarin and malayu. what the problem with making a little effort to learn an extra langague?

 

[Alamaking]

what is "tiew lei lo mou" canto ?

ok lah. all the Chinese dialects swear words will remain and will be passed down through generations of Chinese Singaporeans.

Whats the swear words for Peranakans?

Pukimak?