Op-Ed Contributors

Potholes on the road to bilingualism

By P N Balji (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-19 09:04

Even the Sage of Singapore can be surprised. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, whose bilingualism-at-all-cost policy caused many Chinese Singaporeans a lot of heartache over the years, is seeing a sea change among younger parents in Singapore.

He acknowledged as much during the recent FutureChina Global Forum when he noted that parents now want their children immersed in the Chinese language and culture.

He came to this realization when he saw the feedback from English-educated parents who wrote to newspapers arguing against a suggestion to reduce the weighting for the Chinese language in an important examination called the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).

The opposition by parents forced the Prime Minister to step in and assure Singaporeans that the government will not implement such a move.

What a turnaround from the anger and frustration articulated by parents in the last 30-40 years!

The reason is simple: With a rising China opening up economic opportunities, it is only natural for parents to get their children to take up the language.

This is very different from the situation since 1966 when bilingualism was forced down the throats of Singaporeans. At that time, a ruling party wanted a Singapore rooted in Asian culture and heritage and mastery of the mother tongue was seen as one way to achieving that end.

Doing well in the subject was a must to progress to the next level of education, even to university. Many parents, fearing for their children's prospects, went to extremes, putting undue pressure on the young minds.