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GENERAL PAPER 8005/2

PAPER 2

NOVEMBER 2002

The following passage is an edited version of an article which appeared in the

magazine SINGAPORE in December 1999.

NO SINGLISH PLEASE, WE ARE SINGAPOREAN

Singlish is in the limelight again TAN DAWN WEI looks at the latest controversy on

a form English that raises hackles but which every true blue Singaporean can

speak

1 Singlish is not easy to define. Given the variety of languages spoken in Singapore

Mandarin, Chinese dialects, Malay - it is not surprising that a unique language has

developed, incorporating Malay and Tamil words and phrases, which is spoken in a

peculiarly Singapore-Malaysian pronunciation, and uses predominantly Hokkien

structures. Thus Singlish speakers commonly use verb endings which would be 5

incorrect in standard English, avoid past and future tenses, get agreements

between subject and verb wrong, use prepositions wrongly and omit or incorrectly

position the definite and indefinite articles. Their errors can produce amusing

howlers - listening to his speech I soon became boring or he turned into a new

leaf - but more often they produce a language which no-one outside Singapore 10

would understand.

2 This unique form of pidgin English has recently become more popular with the

younger generation, largely owing to the success of the actor Gurmit Singh s

portrayal of Phua Chu Kang in a popular sitcom. PM Goh recently hit out at the hero

who has glamorised Singlish and moved not only students but many Singaporeans 15

to adopt phrases from the show such as don t pray pray don t fool around with

me) and ah-baden ah, but then). In trying to imitate life, Phua Chu Kang has

made the teaching of proper English more difficult, he said. Gurmit Singh can

speak many languages, but Phua Chu Kang speaks only Singlish. If our children

learn Singlish from him, they will not become as talented as Gurmit Singh. SM Lee 20

made a similar point in a recent speech: Singlish is a handicap we must not wish

on Singaporeans. The better-educated can speak English English to native English

or Americans, standard English to foreigners who speak standard English, and

Singlish to less-educated Singaporeans. Unfortunately, if the less-educated half of

our people end up learning to speak only Singlish, they will suffer economically and 25

socially.

3 The attacks on Singlish come on top of several disturbing signs that all is not well

with English standards in Singapore. Special English courses have been put on for

teachers to raise their competency in the language. Professor Raja Komaran, from

the National University of Singapore, complains his students seem to have little 30

interest in the art of communication; they are only interested in content. He fears

that their standard of English is not good enough for them to comprehend fully

important articles or reports. Keeping up to date with new developments in their

various fields will be that much harder. Tertiary institutions from universities to

polytechnics - now have English proficiency departments whose role is to help beef 35

up the English language competency of their students. Two thirds of candidates

who fail the qualifying tests for degree courses do so because of poor English.

4 In his National Day speech, PM Goh warned of the dangers of speaking broken

English the world could not comprehend. This would make it harder for Singapore

to go global, and companies would lose their competitive edge to those with a 40

better grasp of

n g l i ~ h

As the world becomes increasingly interdependent, those

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with a mastery of the international language of English will cut more deals and

weather more storms. 1000 million people now use English. The ability to speak

English gives its users access to this, the world's biggest market and the biggest

pool of talent, as well as to the greatest number of information sources - currently, 45

80 of web pages and by far the greater number of trade and scientific journals are

in English. Singapore's drive towards a knowledge-based economy underscores

the need to have the linguistic skills to access this large body of knowledge. '

5 The issue of Singlish is not new. It has surfaced now and again but never with such

intensity as with the rise in popularity of Phua Chu Kang and the suddenly 'hip' 50

image of Singlish. Even those who would normally speak English can now be heard

using it, albeit tongue-in-cheek. But PCK is not entirely to blame. 60 of primary

One students come from homes where a non-English mother tongue is the norm,

and all young people are exposed to a lot of Singlish from their neighbours, on TV,

and in the streets of Singapore. The fact that the Iinguafranca of Chinese 55

Singaporeans is still predominantly Mandarin means that many Chinese children

have difficulty in expressing themselves well in English.

6 PCK and Singlish have their defenders. They insist that Singlish is part of the

Singaporean identity. It is not, after all, confined to Chinese Singaporeans but can

be heard being spoken by those of other ethnic origins, especially the younger 60

ones. One 20-something Chinese Singaporean said, 'It would be hard to imagine

speaking polished English to our buddies. Somehow 'don't like dat, lah ' seems to

exude a greater sense of camaraderie than 'will you stop it?'. Prominent Singapore

author Catherine Lim said, 'I need Singlish to express Singaporean feeling. If I'm

speaking with my Singapore friends, I don't speak colonial English. I'd feel so false.' 65

Many concur that some expressions are best made in Singlish or they lose their

meaning and flavour. The quintessential 'lah' 'lor' 'meh' and 'hor' can actually

p y

vital role in binding people emotionally and giving them a sense of rootedness.

7 In the world of the arts, the argument is finely balanced. Kuo Pao Kun's 'Sunset

Rise', in which old men and women spend their last years together communicating 70

in a sprinkling of bazaar Malay, a little bit of Mandarin and Cantonese and a whole

lot of Singlish, is a truly Singaporean play about Singaporeans. Ming Cher's 'Spider

Boys', a semi-autobiographical story of street boys in post-war Singapore, is written .

almost totally in Singlish, which undoubtedly adds to its authenticity; published by

no less than Penguin, it was shortlisted for .the Montana New Zealand Book 75

Awards. However, books, films or plays which are mainly in Singlish do not cross

international boundaries easily. The film 'Forever Fever' had to be dubbed in

English for international release, and actor Nicholas Lee who plays Ronnie Tan in

the sitcom 'Under One Roof' claims it is marketable beyond Singapore because it

uses standard English, and no-ons would say that this sitcom is not Singaporean 80

just because a minimarket owner speaks standard English.

8 And so the debate continues. Many would wonder what all the fuss is about. After

all, this talk of becoming a world-class economy cuts no ice with the provision-shop

owner downstairs or your neighbour, the chicken-rice seller. These are the people'

the government has recently labelled as the 'heartlanders', who, unlike your 85

cosmopolitans, form the backbone of society. In fact, they are more likely to get

across to their customers better if they speak in Singlish.

9 The consensus seems to be that if you can code-switch, English and Singlish can

co-exist harmoniously. Speak standard English when you have to, but Singlish can

be the language of choice when you're among your own. But the playing field for

9

young Singaporeans would not be level if they did not or could not learn to code

switch. Thus, educational institutions, role models and society in general have to

improve their standard of English in order for the younger ones to be able to code

switch. And if Singapore can only master one form of English, the official preference

is for standard English rather than Singlish. 95

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9 Using only the arguments and facts from line 1 to 48 of the article, summarise the case for

believing that the increased use of Singlish and declining standards of English are harmful to

the interests of Singapore as a whole and to some of its citizens in particular.

Write your summary in no more than 120 words, not counting the opening words which are

printed below. Use your own wor s as f r as possible.

The growing popularity of Singlish

Singapore is a harmful development because .

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10 The attempt to discourage Singlish raises two issues:

how far such an attempt is practical and likely to be successful, and to what extent it is to be

welcomed.

Give your views on these two issues, illustrating your arguments by referring both to what

you have read in the article and to your own experiences .

]

General Paper - Paper 2 Nov. 2002