Recently, the government seems to be very, very concerned with the teaching of Chinese, again.
And then, PM Lee got very, very excited with "3488" - which means '暂时拜拜'. And I got excited too, doh! Our gahmen seems very easily amused and impressed by very simple things or even things/ideas that might not even make sense. I think this is the singapore-hegemony mentality. How many times are our superiors so easily convinced by half-truths, half-standard project works; and how many times did we conveniently and very successfully manage to smoke out instant thoughts/ideas that impress the floor - even though those ideas might not seriously make any decent sense. I'm not saying it's wrong to be intrigued, but this behaviour also seems to suggest how innocent, impressionable, childish one can be. [ Ok, maybe i'm wrong and might sound very slippery here and i tend to see things in binary oppositions. You can choose to differ too :) ]
Seriously speaking, which part of 3488 sounds like 暂时拜拜 (dont you think 'brb'/be right back sounds more apt?? or in japanese, e.g. ja-mata じゃまた sounds more cool??) Or is he just trying to bring up a very obvious point that "all sorts of other abbreviations and synonyms ... have becomg part of the lingo"? And by the way, such abbreviations and synonmys are not new to begin with. We abbreviations, synonyms and even acronmys to some dialects since the Stone Age! And I believe the examples that follow are not foreign to many: CB, CCB, KNN, KNNBCCB, F-YOU.
Dont you think these symbols sound more real, near and close to us - which include, 74 (go and die/去死), 168 (prosperity all the way/一路发), or even 5858 (made famous by Wu Zhong Xian; which sounds like ambulance siren).
So what's the big deal with 3488? Why so concerned about 3488 when 8879829 (father has gone to the bar to drink/爸爸去酒吧喝酒).
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1022362/1/.htmlI'm not sure whether Chinese/English should be considered as "First Language" or "Second Language" - because we are not natives. If you really want to classify them as "First" or "Second" Language, then i think Singlish (Singapore Colloquial English) makes more sense, and because we are Singaporeans, not China-Chinese nor England-Englishman).
I think the standard and quality of Chinese has deteriorated. If the government really wants us to work with the mainland chinese or if Singapore is going to become a country dominanted by China-chinese in future, then perhaps it is timely to come up with a separate Chinese Communication Skills 101 module, and NOT to revise the syllabus again. (Mind you, I think there are more people struggling with Math and Science than English and Chinese). And if India is going to replace China in another 10 to 20 years, do we then need to also revise the way Tamil is taught (and be mindful again, there are more than 1000 languages in India alone; likewise, in China, more than 100?).
The standard of Chinese must be maintained. From the way it is written (traditional to simple chinese characters), and the way it is (seemingly) going to be reduced to numerial forms (e.g. 3488), i think we dont have the luxury of time (to wait another 10 to 20 years) to wake up from our mistakes.
I could be making very biased and sweeping generalizations. I just dont think it is right to dilute the quality of Chinese (or any other language for that matters) just because China is and will dominate US soon. So if the gahmen decides to maintain the standard of Chinese, or maybe even making it tougher(??), i doubt many of us would migrate - not because we cant afford to, but because we dont run away from problems. Many have survived the traditional chinese education system; and apparently it is the minority that are complaining about Chinese, and this minority should be the one to go - if they cannot adapt and if they think the grass is greener elsewhere.
Weiyi is right when he said our national identity is "self-interest in the interest of self-preservation - above all else". It's hegemony all the time. The syllabus will change, and it will continue to evole. Traditionalism must necessarily give way to modernity. I, too, must start to embrace change, whole-heartedly. Sigh.
Jus dont be surprised one day (which we might not live to see) China might actually come up with another new language to shock the world.
China is already getting its kids to master English (evident of Beijing Olympic). And we are now getting our people to speak Chinese. Apparently, we are always one step behind others.
See:
http://current.com/items/89183403_crazy-english-the-olympics.htmOne world one dream? Whose world, whose dream?
Seriously, it's not about changing syllabus content and pedagogy, but how determined we are in facing challenges, problems, difficulties - in whatever ways you want to put it. This is something we all lack - the lack of determination.
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