Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had cautioned against “politicizing” the education of Chinese language in Singapore which has sparked an intense debate lately following MM Lee Kuan Yew’s recent admission that some “mistakes” had been made in the past.
“If you politicise this and ask what is the popular thing to do when teaching Chinese, or for that matter English or science, then we are going to do a big disfavour to the child. We have to determine what is educationally sound and what is the best way to teach Chinese Language within the capabilities of the kids, to interest them in the subject and not to turn them off the language. And that is what we were trying to achieve,” PM Lee said.
The Secretary-General of Singapore Democratic Party Dr Chee Soon Juan had questioned why no ministers or civil servants had pointed out the flaws in Singapore’s bilingual policy earlier.
While some Singaporeans called for the bilingual policy to be relaxed for their children, others are concerned that the shift in policy may lead to a lowering of the standard of Chinese in Singapore.
PM Lee said that such views are focused on the past and what the government is trying to do now is to deliberate what is the best way forward for the future.
In reaffirming the bilingual policy, he described it as a cornerstone of Singapore society.
“We want to succeed at Mother Tongue because it is critical to Singapore – not just economically, but also to our sense of identity and who we are as Singaporeans and as Asians in a globalised world,” he said.
Singapore used to be a bastion of Chinese education in the 1950s and 1960s. It was home to the only Chinese university in Southeast Asia during that time – the Nanyang University or Nantah.
There were also a variety of independent Chinese newspapers such as the now defunct Nanyang Siang Pao and Sin Chew Jit Poh which has moved across to Malaysia.
They were eventually closed down or merged with other papers to form Singapore’s sole media company SPH in 1984. Nantah was merged with Singapore University to form the National University of Singapore in 1980.
As English was the medium of education in Singapore, a whole generation of Singaporeans grew up using English as their preferred language of communication instead of their Mother tongue.
With China becoming more affluent and influential, Singapore has switched its focus back to the Chinese language for pragmatic reasons.
Singapore’s bilingual education is both its greatest strength and Achilles Heel as well as some academically gifted Singaporeans have genuine difficulties mastering the Chinese language.
“If you politicise this and ask what is the popular thing to do when teaching Chinese, or for that matter English or science, then we are going to do a big disfavour to the child. We have to determine what is educationally sound and what is the best way to teach Chinese Language within the capabilities of the kids, to interest them in the subject and not to turn them off the language. And that is what we were trying to achieve,” PM Lee said.
The Secretary-General of Singapore Democratic Party Dr Chee Soon Juan had questioned why no ministers or civil servants had pointed out the flaws in Singapore’s bilingual policy earlier.
While some Singaporeans called for the bilingual policy to be relaxed for their children, others are concerned that the shift in policy may lead to a lowering of the standard of Chinese in Singapore.
PM Lee said that such views are focused on the past and what the government is trying to do now is to deliberate what is the best way forward for the future.
In reaffirming the bilingual policy, he described it as a cornerstone of Singapore society.
“We want to succeed at Mother Tongue because it is critical to Singapore – not just economically, but also to our sense of identity and who we are as Singaporeans and as Asians in a globalised world,” he said.
Singapore used to be a bastion of Chinese education in the 1950s and 1960s. It was home to the only Chinese university in Southeast Asia during that time – the Nanyang University or Nantah.
There were also a variety of independent Chinese newspapers such as the now defunct Nanyang Siang Pao and Sin Chew Jit Poh which has moved across to Malaysia.
They were eventually closed down or merged with other papers to form Singapore’s sole media company SPH in 1984. Nantah was merged with Singapore University to form the National University of Singapore in 1980.
As English was the medium of education in Singapore, a whole generation of Singaporeans grew up using English as their preferred language of communication instead of their Mother tongue.
With China becoming more affluent and influential, Singapore has switched its focus back to the Chinese language for pragmatic reasons.
Singapore’s bilingual education is both its greatest strength and Achilles Heel as well as some academically gifted Singaporeans have genuine difficulties mastering the Chinese language.
