This bank speaks my language

This bank wants to tell you that it has presence in many different Asean (Association of South-East Asian Nations) countries. How would you best portray that visually? Using the different languages, of course!

When you speak my language, you touch my heart. If you touch my heart, I am more likely to trust you. If you're a bank, you definitely want me to trust you with my money.

The poster says more than that. It tells me that you speak my language. The bank may be international, but the customers are not expected to speak English. The bank staff communicate in the language of that country's heart.

Great marketing.

We talk food, not politics

UNESCO has recently declared Japanese food as a cultural heritage. Hooray!

I do love Japanese food, cooked and uncooked. I know a few friends who cringe at the thought of eating raw fish. I love it! Being able to eat the fish raw tells me that it is fresh. No need for cooking.

What makes me even more proud is that Chef Li Kwok Wing recently won a contest to crown the best Japanese chef in the world! Chef Li is a China-born Singaporean, better known as Santoro. So who says Chinese and Japanese hate each other? This win proves otherwise. Chef Li is proud to be a chef of Japanese cuisine.

What am I trying to say? Food surpasses all cultural differences. No amount of national pride or poor political relations can interfere with one's love for food. With love for a certain kind of cuisine comes a love for that culture and tradition. Food is a universal language. We all love to eat!

What kind of food do you like?

Bon apetit!

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Learn Chinese, not French or German

Finally, David Cameron seems to have woken up to the fact that more of the world speaks Chinese than French or German. OK, maybe I'm biased. I speak Mandarin. I don't speak French or German. But, how likely is it for you to bump into a French- or German-speaking person outside Europe? I think there is a higher probability of chancing upon a Chinese-speaking person outside of Asia!

Since China is one of the two most populous nations of the world (the other being India where most people speak English anyway), I think we should be sitting up and paying attention to them. You agree?

Since China has decided that English is not that important in their country, I think it will be worth our while to learn Chinese. I am quite sure my Chinese friends will agree.

Have fun learning any new language!

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Write simply, be simply understood

The language of bureaucracy. Happens everywhere. Somehow, a letter from a government department must always sound "official". But, does the reader understand what the letter is saying? Not always. It depends on how "powerful" your English is, or "powder-ful", as Singaporeans put it.

Communication is not complete until the recipient understands what is being said. If the writing sounds pompous, the image I receive is "official", but if I fail to understand the content, then the writer has failed in his communication. What good will that be to anyone, especially if the message is important (like a change in electricity rates or a notice to appear in court).

To battle this bureaucrat-speak, the British government started a drive to make all UK civil servants write simply. The Singapore government is following suit. Not everyone is good at English. We just know how to use it in daily life. As long as I am understood, I don't have to spout fancy words to make myself seem important. I am happy with who I am now. As we all should be.

So, here's to writing simply to be simply understood! Hooray!

Have fun writing simple English!

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