My question to them was: Do you think that there is a need for Singaporeans to speak good English? All of them agreed unanimously, citing that Singapore is a global Education Hub amongst the rest of the credentials Singapore aims to achieve or already has. In addition, Singapore have poised herself as the booming business area, managing to attract top Multinational Cooporations (MNCs) such as the Pfizer, GlaxoKlineSmith and Hewlett-Packard to set up their factories here. Naturally this would lead to a substential influx of foreign talents into the Singapore scene. Hence, speaking good english would be necessary when dealing with business partners and in your work place, especially if you happen to have an Ang-moh boss - was their verdict.
My second question then was: Do you think to inculcate that speaking-of-good-english habit in them, people should begin by speaking good english at home? Again, they agreed unanimously.
Then I continued to ask: So do you think Singlish should be abandoned by Singaporeans? Mixed reviews were given for supporting and opposing arguments, but eventually they arrived at a consenses that Singlish is part and parcel of Singaporeans, and should be seen as our culture, a unique selling point of Singapore that defines us. Hence, it should not be abandoned.
How then can we achieve a society that speaks good english?
Speaking good english has to be a conscious effort on one's part - to eliminate the 'lah's and 'lor's. It is no overnight business.
Probably in the near future, with the rate of advanced technology, Singapore would hire a top scientist specially tasked to design a machine that transforms a person - his way of talking and his vocabulary bank. So Singaporeans have only to step into the machine and out, and *poof!*, a new breed of Singaporean elites are borned - poised to take the world stage by storm.
Labels: General Affairs
