M’sian MP says 'Singaporeans are not very fluent in English',

[Aaron carter]

In a Malaysia parliamentary session on July 16, a politician from the People’s Justice Party made a shockingly controversial statement regarding the standard of English in Singapore.


Malaysia's Minister of Education Fadhlina Sidek spoke about the government’s decision to recruit Singaporean volunteers to teach English in the country.


The topic was first brought up during Malaysia PM Anwar Ibrahim’s meeting with PM Lawrence Wong last month.


According to Malaysian media, PM Anwar Ibrahim had proposed the idea in order “to help students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds master English”.


Jimmy Puah, a lawyer and MP for Tebrau, stated his case in response to the topic.


He acknowledged the efforts made by the government to raise the level of English proficiency in Malaysia, but believed they should first look to enlisting the help of locals.


He said: “In my personal opinion, I don’t think Singaporeans are very fluent in English. In fact, I believe Malaysia has a lot of experts, many more who are fluent in English.”


Instead of getting volunteers from Singapore, Puah suggested that the government first look at Malaysians who are highly proficient in the language, including retired English teachers.

His speech was met with cheers from other parliamentary members.


The Minister of Education acknowledged Puah’s proposal, saying that the ministry will look towards reinstating retired English teachers. They would also welcome the help of both Singaporean volunteers and retired teachers.


She also promised that Singaporean volunteers will be thoroughly vetted, ensuring “they meet the standards before they are accepted”.

https://www.8days.sg/entertainment/...ves-msians-better-english-singaporeans-833141

 

[winners]

Just tell Malaysia to get its own English teachers "suah leow" lah. Just let them continue to "nua" into oblivion if they so desired. Those JHKs had always been a bunch of sour grapes.

He said: “In my personal opinion, I don’t think Singaporeans are very fluent in English. In fact, I believe Malaysia has a lot of experts, many more who are fluent in English.”

Nobody in his right sense of mind will believe this, trust me.

 

[A Singaporean]

This is a fact. Furthermore Singlish is not English.

 

[eatshitndie]

aiyah, sure or not?

 

[True Believer]

Birds of an incompetent feather tend to flock together. This Malaysian MP has probably been spending too much time interacting with S'poreans who are incapable of speaking Standard English, and is under the impression that these acquaintances represent all the citizens of S'pore. LOL!

 

[True Believer]

This is a fact. Furthermore Singlish is not English.

When Singlish is thoughtlessly acquired, it will be saved in the long term memory as an acceptable form of English. Our ability to speak Standard English suffers when we spend too much time interacting with others who speak a sub-standard form of the language, since we naturally tend to adopt the speech that is heard most of the time around us.

 

[steffychun]

When Singlish is thoughtlessly acquired, it will be saved in the long term memory as an acceptable form of English. Our ability to speak Standard English suffers when we spend too much time interacting with others who speak a sub-standard form of the language, since we naturally tend to adopt the speech that is heard most of the time around us.

Is there Malayish?

 

[syed putra]

I dunno why Malaysia doing things upside down. They abolish English school and now want rural folks to speak english.

 

[True Believer]

Is there Malayish?

There is Manglish which is Malaysia's form of mangled English. LOL!

 

[True Believer]

I dunno why Malaysia doing things upside down. They abolish English school and now want rural folks to speak english.

This is the result of Affirmative Action. Students who are capable of little more than writing their name in Malay, gain entry into public universities, which are churning out grads who work in shopping malls, factories, drive taxis, PHVs and buses. Malaysia Boleh!

 

[jw5]

Agree with the Malaysian MP. However, the average Singaporean is much more fluent in English than the average Malaysian.

 

[k1976]

Malaysian = Singaporean

 

[mojito]

Malaysian = Singaporean

No. Malaysian is Singapore PR and future Australian.

 

[batman1]

Malaysian = Singaporean

About the same standard lah.

 

[k1976]

No. Malaysian is Singapore PR and future Australian.

Dun Bijar people 发大财lobang

 

[k1976]

About the same standard lah.

ISh the same person mah

830am-7pm = Sinki at workplace
7Pm-9pm = No nationality as jam at Causeway
930-830am = Jiuhu at Hime

BOSS john, Kym?

 

[rushifa666]

You no speakee baddie about stupid sinkie! If they recruited a new citizen chinaman from here of course they are fucked

 

[Balls2U]

When Singlish is thoughtlessly acquired, it will be saved in the long term memory as an acceptable form of English. Our ability to speak Standard English suffers when we spend too much time interacting with others who speak a sub-standard form of the language, since we naturally tend to adopt the speech that is heard most of the time around us.

No problem for me. I can switch from Singlish to standard English to Mandarin to Cantonese to Hokkien to a little Italian with ease.

 

[True Believer]

No problem for me. I can switch from Singlish to standard English to Mandarin to Cantonese to Hokkien to a little Italian with ease.

Not many S'poreans are able to seamlessly shift between the informal, colloquial language of Singlish and Standard English. This linguistic flexibility is a unique characteristic of S'porean culture though few have mastered it.

 

[Balls2U]

Not many S'poreans are able to seamlessly shift between the informal, colloquial language of Singlish and Standard English. This linguistic flexibility is a unique characteristic of S'porean culture though few have mastered it.

One AMDK had once told me that he was impressed when he overhead my telephone conversation that I used words like "predominantly", "idiosyncrasies" and "innate". I asked him what was so special about those words which are just normal English words. He said that even AMDKs/AMDLs back home seldom use such cheem words. He's Aussie by the way.