GLAMOUR girls strutting down OrchardRoad will face competition from the beau-ties of the insect world as the ButterflyTrail takes flight.

So far, 24 butterfly species have beenobserved around the trail, which featuresclusters of greenery selected to attractbutterflies. The trail will run from the Bo-tanic Gardens to Napier, Tanglin and Or-chard roads.

Spearheaded by Nature Society (Singa-pore) and sponsored by property develop-er Far East Organization, it is expected tobe completed by December next year.

It is hoped that 54 of Singapore’s 280butterfly species will be attracted to thearea.

The second major stop was added tothe trail yesterday at the Orchard Centralmall rooftop and Penang Road OpenSpace, next to Killiney Road Post Office.The Nassim Road stop, opposite The StRegis Singapore, was launched in June.

There will be five major stops alongthe trail. The other three to be developed

are the area behind Ngee Ann City, thespace opposite the Istana and a third atStamford Green.

The Nature Society hopes that the4km Orchard Road section is just thestart.

President Shawn Lum said: “The chal-lenge is to create stepping stones of greenareas for the butterflies, green corridorsthrough the city. The grand plan wouldbe to have these trails across the island.”

He added that Pearl’s Hill City Park,behind Outram Park MRT station, andMount Faber could be extensions to thetrail.

Mr Anuj Jain, a project officer with thesociety, said the members hoped to en-tice the black and yellow common birdwing butterfly from the forests out intothe shopping district and to designate itas Singapore’s national butterfly.

A butterfly breeding garden was alsoopened on the rooftop of Orchard Centraland is open to the public.VICTORIA VAUGHAN

BY ELGIN TOH

CHINESE clan leaders have expressedtheir concerns over the paucity of Chi-nese dialect content on local radio and tel-evision, Manpower Minister Gan KimYong told The Straits Times.

They did so during dialogues with thePeople’s Action Party Chinese liaison

group, which is headed by Mr Gan and isthe ruling party’s primary vehicle forreaching out to the Chinese-speakingcommunity.

Mr Gan said he understood the clanleaders’ concerns, but cautioned againstmoving too quickly.

“I have explained to them that the Gov-ernment has to take a balanced approachso as not to undermine the promotion ofMandarin as a common mother tongueamong our Chinese community,” he said.

Mr Gan’s remarks were in reply toquestions posed by The Straits Times inthe wake of the annual general meeting ofthe Singapore Federation of Chinese ClanAssociations on Oct 3.

Dialect was the most talked about is-

sue at the meeting, with at least five clanleaders voicing support for increasing dia-lect content in the broadcast media.

Their comments were prompted by theGovernment’s decision last month to re-ject the Censorship Review Committee’srecommendation to ease restrictions ondialect content.

Dialect programmes on radio and TVwere phased out by the Governmentwhen the Speak Mandarin Campaign waslaunched in 1979, to enable Singaporeansto master Mandarin more effectively.

Mr Gan said dialect-related concernshave cropped up during the eight to 10 di-alogues he holds with clan leaders eachyear.

He reiterated the Government’s posi-

tion that Mandarin gives Singapore aneconomic edge and helps to improve com-munication among dialect groups.

“The fact that Chinese Singaporeanscan speak Mandarin today is an outcomethat has been achieved over many years.We must be mindful not to reverse theprogress we have made,” he said.

He said the Government recognisedthe need for some dialect content for old-er people who know only dialect. This iswhy it takes a flexible approach, allowingsome dialect programmes on free-to-airTV and radio.

These include:� dialect operas telecast on Channel 8every Friday from 10am to noon;� news bulletins in six major dialects,each broadcast lasting five minutes, aireddaily over Capital 95.8 FM at 10.30am(Cantonese and Foochow), 11.30am (Teo-chew and Hainanese) and 12.30pm (Hokk-ien and Hakka); and,� occasional arthouse movies, with dia-lect, on OKTO channel.

There are also dialect programmes onpaid TV channels, such as TVBJ, Ruyi,Mei Ah, ETTV Asia and Xinya Azio.

Rediffusion’s subscription-based R01radio channel has one to two hours of dia-lect opera and storytelling daily.

In cinemas, dialect is allowed in somemovies, based on a “flexible and contextu-al approach”. The Government also doesnot restrict dialect content on DVDs andfilm festivals.

Some clan leaders interviewed saidthey understood Mr Gan’s points, buturged the Government to reconsider itsdecision, over time.

The vice-president of Singapore Hokk-ien Huay Kuan, Mr Perng Peck Seng, saidthat many among the elderly cannot af-ford paid content, and have to rely on themore limited free-to-air options.

Mr Tan Seng Heng of Singapore GnohKung Association said that most youngerChinese are already speaking Mandarin,not dialect, and a loosening of restric-tions would not reverse this effect.

But other clan leaders wanted the re-strictions to remain.

Mr Pang Lim Kwee of Singapore PangClan Association said: “Promoting dialectis going backwards. Speaking Mandarinwill help us communicate with 1.3 billionpeople in China and give us access to theopportunities there.”

He added: “In any case, if you starthaving dialect programmes on TV again,people will switch the channel becausethey are no longer used to it.”elgintoh@sph.com.sg

Minister explains needfor balanced approach,says some dialect showscan be found on free TV

Students (from left) Poh Gin Teng, Somasundaram Alagu and Ho Ting En from Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary) plant a tree yesterday at the PenangRoad Open Space, part of the Butterfly Trail, which is expected to be completed by December next year. ST PHOTO: AIDAH RAUF

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Butterfly trail takingoff at Orchard Road

Dialect: Govt awareof clan leaders’ views

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THE STRAITS TIMES WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13 2010 PAGE B2