Can you speak your national language?

What is the national language of Singapore?
Do you not all use English on a daily basis?
You mean there is a national language in Singapore?

The answer to the above questions is: Malay is the national language of Singapore, but English is generally the language of everyday business and communication.

Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multicultural nation. The first inhabitants of this island were Malays. All others were foreigners looking for work and finally became immigrants, then citizens. Malay is the national language in honour of those who lived here first.

Every morning of the school year, every school-going child will sing the National Anthem, Majulah Singapura, which is written in the national language. Ask the average school-going child whether he knows what he is singing, and the answer is most likely to be "no". The average non-Malay adult will give you the same answer. Many cannot even pronounce the words correctly, much less understand the meaning of the song.

It seems to me that in every country of the world, natural born citizens are conversant in their national language. Why is it different in Singapore? I have no answer. However, I am supportive of Prof Kishore Mahbubani's suggestion (article pictured above) that all Singaporeans be able to carry on a simple conversation in Malay. At the very least, know what we are singing every morning in school and on official occasions. I imagine Singaporeans would be embarrassed if they were ever asked what the National Anthem means.

Let us learn something new today. Learn how to pronounce the words of the National Anthem correctly. Learn the meaning of what we are singing. Be proud to be Singaporean!

I am!

Learn Chinese for better job prospects

Mr Wang is a Chinese Muslim from Yunnan, China. He went to Kelantan, northern Malaysia, to study Arabic. At the end of his course of studies, he landed himself a job in a local Muslim school in Kelantan, teaching Chinese and Arabic to school children.

Kelantan's population is mostly Malay, yet they have the highest number of Malay students learning Chinese, compared with any other state in Malaysia. Why the interest in Chinese and not English? Better job prospects. English is already taught in the school, even though the government is trying to raise the standard of English education across the country. Lao parents in the the countryside are sending their children to Chinese lessons. China is an economic power to be contended with. Everyone's attention is drawn to China today.

Approximately one-sixth of the world's population lives in China, not counting all the Chinese diaspora spread across the globe. Granted, many overseas Chinese no longer speak Chinese or adhere to Chinese traditions. Yet, we cannot deny that China is a huge market that must be taken seriously. What better way than to begin by learning the language at a young age? Kelantan Malay parents have foresight. Kelantan Malay children have Chinese friends. They chatter in Chinese, without thinking about what race they belong to. What better way to promote race relations than by learning the language?

Do you speak Chinese? Get started today! Learning a language is a lot of fun!

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Just say it like you think it

Tamil language education still going strong

There are many ways to teach and learn a language. Some insist on 100% immersion into the language without the use of any other language to explain the words or grammar. The theory is that if you get thrown into the deep end of the pool, you will somehow learn to swim to survive.

Others say that you learn best when everything in the new language is explained using your native language, so you fully understand what is going on and how the new language works. Some disagree with this method, saying that you end up not learning anything because you rely entirely on your native language, using it as a crutch to fall back on too often.

The article above is a study of school children learning Tamil, a Southern Indian language. Both the theories I stated earlier are shown to be wrong. School children in Singapore are taught Tamil as a second language. They may get stuck on a word, but if they use English, Chinese or Malay to fill in the blank, they are not penalised. In reality, the children end up learning and speaking more Tamil this way than if they were forced to speak only Tamil. I think the children get excited if they are given a chance to express themselves without fear of being reprimanded if they make a mistake or use a foreign word in a sentence. After all, it is better for them to speak up than not at all.

I tell all my students who are learning any language that they need to have "thick skin" to learn. Go ahead and keep talking. Don't be afraid of saying the wrong thing. Someone will correct you along the way, and you learn something new very quickly. Say it in the way you think is right, mixed with other languages. You will learn very quickly.

Have fun learning languages!

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