I REFER to the letters on front-line staff who cannot understand or speak even basic English, and would like to give my feedback.

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We are a multi-racial nation and it’s getting more multi-racial by the day. There has to be one uniting language in which everyone can communicate with one another. This has to be English, although it could have been Malay.
However, we have neglected Malay (for the right economic or pragmatic reasons, I believe) for too long to revive it now. I believe the (economic) reasons for not promoting Malay as our principal language still remain.

However, to oblige a CITIZEN of one race to understand the language of that of another within one’s own territorial boundaries will only generate resentment and conflict (as we are already beginning to see). We don’t want to have the continuous confrontations of ‘why do I have to understand your language and not you mine?’, unless you want to say that one is more a citizen than another.

This topic has been vehemently debated on this ST/DB (the principal news media of the nation) on several occasions. I don't understand why our MIW have remained silent and not taken a stand on such a crucial issue confronting the nation.

Whichever language we decide to adopt as our common language, any foreign worker who wishes to come here to work will have to learn to speak that common language of ours, period.

'uniting' language .... 'unifying' would be a more correct word.

Speak English must pay more money lah.. Singapore gahmen tends to kowtow to employers what.. becos like somebody said.. if you don't give employers their way they will just pack up their bags and leave for another country.

I think the maids part is that they are scared the children will become terrorist if they speak the maid's language..

Are we penalising the wrong people here? I can live with a maid, even if she does not speak English, as long we can communicate in another language. However, I do not expect the same from a supermarket cashier and I do not want to have to struggle to understand what he is trying to say.

Are we barking up the wrong tree here? Why speak of "penalizing"? And why does the language have to be English if you can understand him anyway? Why the double standards?

As a sociolinguist specializing in the use(s) and users of English, I am amused when people make bare statements as these:

front-line staff who cannot understand or speak even basic English

What's "basic English", esp in the context of SG?

Moreover, they must be able to do it quickly and to people of various races who share a common language, English.

"Must"? "Quickly"? "Common language, English?" Or ideologies the writer takes for granted?

Originally Posted by boixosnois

There has to be one uniting [unifying] language in which everyone can communicate with one another. This has to be English, although it could have been Malay.

Really? Why?

However, to oblige a CITIZEN of one race to understand the language of that of another within one’s own territorial boundaries will only generate resentment and conflict (as we are already beginning to see).

"Will only"...really? It sounds more like an important proviso is missing, that is, "provided that the citizen is perfectly monolingual, the language spoken by another is not his/her and s/he happens to consider him/herself and/or his/her own language and linguistic (in)ability superior, and is unwilling to communicate with someone who does not speak his/her language as well as s/he does", quite a few provisos I would say. Pity the poor sod, worse if s/he'd thought him/herself "cosmopolitan".

Whichever language we decide to adopt as our common language, any foreign worker who wishes to come here to work will have to learn to speak that common language of ours, period.

Because?

'uniting' language .... 'unifying' would be a more correct word.

Nay, "hegemonic language" would be much more apt!

I have studied a number of contexts in which English is used, as a supposedly "unifying" language, and in the US from where much of the literature emanates, organizations like English First and US English have been around for a much longer time, and now we're trying to ape them? Many linguists, esp sociolinguists, studying the phenomenon have roundly criticized the hegemonic ideologies these organizations represent and yet in a country as "sophisticated" as SG, we're just beginning to ape them.

The US alone has over 400 languages in use on a daily basis, and although there are states which have proclaimed English an official language, the country as a whole has not. And yet when many S'poreans (in govt and lay people) think of the US or an American, the typical myth/stereotype is that Americans are native speakers of English whose English dialect/variety is a standard one we can or should aspire to and model after. While many Americans, a ballpark figure would be around 80%, are effectively monolingual, millions of them are not.

The biggest problem with trying to create an artificial "unifying language" is that it will never work, esp in an age of globalization. Short of linguicide and eventually genocide, you can never get rid of natural languages already in existence in a country. What you can do is to promote one language so much that other languages get sidelined, devalued and eventually obviated that whole cultures, customs, norms, bodies of knowledge, and identities are exterminated with them. It is already happening in not a few communities, even in SG, to varying extents. Languages need to be constantly used, evolving, and maturing to preserve the biodiversity we find on earth. Instead of celebrating and promoting pluralism, to which we really belong and partly why we are beautiful and successful, why are you advocating a return to hegemony and ethnocentrism? Or, do you really know what you're talking about?

Where is the evidence that speaking English, much less all of us speaking English, leads or would lead to greater economic benefit? How did China overtake some of the G7 countries within a generation to become the 4th largest economy to date? Where is the evidence that a significant portion of the country is speaking English, never mind basic English? I can't believe the people perpetuating all the myths out there, supposedly educated ones at that. Then again, why should I be surprised? It's all part of the all-pervasive hegemony and hegemonic influences. I, for one, would be the first to admit that having English as the sole "unifying language" suits me just fine since I derive most of my income from having a superior command of it, enough to be deemed capable of teaching it to others.

I am a Chinese and I obtained a B3 for Chinese at AO level.

I agree with the writer that frontline staff need to be able to communicate in English with members of the public.

In Singapore, as the language of instruction in the education system is English, most of us cannot communicate well in our MT though on papers we may have scored well in it. eg I wanted to get some mouth ulcer cream at a pharmacy the other day and the sales assistant requested me to repeat what I needed in Mandarin which was beyond me. What is the use of employing that sales assistant then?

If I. a Chinese, cannot communicate with him, isn't it worse for our fellow non Chinese citizens? This problem is also present in foodcourts where stalls are manned by foreign Chinese. It is unfair for customers to have no choice to use a language they are comfortable in or proficient in. Even our local illiterate or non-English educated hawkers try to communicate with their customers in smuttering English or monosyllabic English to get their messages through.

However, I disagree with the writer that 'we are penalising the wrong people' when maids have to pass a certain standard of English. Being a multiracial society with the Chinese making up the majority, maids are likely to be assigned to work in homes in which no one understands Bahasa Indonesia. From experience, I know that many cases of misunderstanding between employers and maids could have been avoided if not for the barrier of communication. Employers give instructions in English but the maids will carry out the duties wrongly as they cannot understand what the employers want. This will agitate the employers and leads to further friction between them.

One may argue that maids working in homes where there is no language barrier need not pass the test. But then, no one can assure that these maids will never be transferred to non-Bahasa Indonesia-speaking homes.

Hence, I feel that it is important for both maids and all frontline staff to be proficient in English if they intend to work in Singapore and be happy doing the jobs here.

If the gahmen's idea is to pack in more foreigners to compensate for a low birth rate or to make this place more cosmoplitan, why not pack in more English speaking Malaysians, Filippinos, Myanmese, Indians, Sri Lankans, Vietnamese, etc. I have been served by such English speaking immigrants ranging from professional to restaurant and sales people and I find them extremely capable and polite and appreciate being here. Why the apparent favouring of people from PRC who seem to fit in far worse than these other immigrants (which even the local chinese dislike).Just open the door wider for Malaysian Chinese, if the gahmen is afraid of upsetting the racial ratios too much.

I do not see why we ought to bend ourselves backward to accommodate people from the Lepubrik of China who insisting in imposing THEIR language on us. Just because to them we are also Chinese?

Or they have this mistaken notion that Singapore being a Chinese majority country, that other ethnic minorities OUGHT to speak Mandarin to them too? Just like the case in China? Where 55 minorities WERE subjugated to speak the mighty Han language aka Mandarin?

Oh by the way, I noticed that Professor Unewolke is in full form. We are all aware that you are a sociolinguist or whatever you call yourself. Do you not realise that you are being harsh on people who, unlike your goodself, are not aware of the subtleties and whatnot of linguistics?

So what if the writer says Basic English? Does that sentence alone grate on your nerves so much that you deemed it fit to give us all a lecture on Linguistics 101?

By the way, being a Singaporean surely you have some idea as to why boixosnois said the lingua franca could have been Malay. Or perhaps you have been living in angmoh countries for a long period of time that you totally forgot about your country of origin's history?

Your previous postings indicated that you are so proud of being able to master almost every other angmoh language. As part of your linguistics training. YET being an anak Singapura, you cannot speak a word of Malay? Sure, you can claim that being an ethnic Chinese, you don't see why you should.

But that alone smacks of misplaced arrogance, and it says alot about what sort of person you are. Any idea why our neighbours look down on us? Sure, you don't, since you have been living in angmoh countries for far too long. And have been eating too much kantang ;)