Talk:Singlish

The Wikipedia definition of dialect is imho not so clear. As I "feel" this word, "dialect" is appropriate for regional variants of languages, spoken natively by the people. Most Singaporeans do not have English as their native language, but use it as the common language in the city, outside their families and neighbourhoods. Maybe it is more a Pidgin language. Or are these dialects, too? That all depends on how you define it. I chose "version", because it was more neutral. I think I'll ask some linguist on this topic... -- zeno

Which one is more appreciate title, Signlish or Singapore English? -- Taku 21:24 Jan 5, 2003 (UTC)

I do not really know: It is mostly referred to as "Singlish", and explained as "Singapore English"

--Zenogantner 01:10 Jan 6, 2003 (UTC)

How come don't have sotong one meh!? Haven't signed up yet 4:41 Nov 15, 2003 (UTC)

Now sotong also can lah. --Jpatokal Nov 15, 2003

Singlish as a backward language and corrupted form of English

In the beginning, the immigrants (especially the Chinese) to Singapore and Malaysia had difficulties with English pronunciation due to lack of proper education. Nowdays, youngsters in Singapore and Malaysia are given proper education but yet, many had not changed. They continue to adopt the corrupted form of English by their ancestors. What made them even worse - they are proud of it too!!

Singlish is barrier to learn proper English. Those who learn standard English had problem understand Singlish. Although, there are difference between Australian and American English, but Singlish does not differ to standard English in such way. One wonders why one choose to speak Singlish at all, if it cannot be understood by English speakers around the world.

One should consider that Singlish is a backward language because it adopted the mistakes of spoken English by early Chinese, who never had the time, the chance nor the ability to learn standard English. Today, children in Singapore and Malaysia were given such opportunities.

Besides, Singlish, for many foreigners, Singlish is an annoying and digusting language. Not only speaking it gives the impression to foreigners that Singaporeans or Malaysian did not learn to speak standard English, but it gives foreigners the chance to laugh at the stupidity of Singapore and Malaysia. Speaking Singlish does not enjoy the same prestige of English as the following pointed out:

Singlish is a layman's (usually negatively charged) term that could mean any of the following:

1. Colloquial Singapore English that is used in informal contexts by someone who is highly competent in educated Singaporean English or Standard Singapore English.

2. Lower (mesolectal and basilectal) varieties of Singapore English used by the less competent speakers, producing utterances such as "He my teacher", "Why you say me until like that?", and "I got no enough money". Interlanguage or developmental varieties of English produced by some language learners at the beginning stages.

3. Standard English is taken to mean English that is internationally acceptable in formal contexts. In other words, someone speaking Standard English should be understood easily by educated English speakers all over the world.

Wah hao, did you get that from the Speak Good English site? But I added a Politics section to record the Garmen's disapproval of Singlish.

--Jpatokal 18 Nov 2003

Singlish - a way of celebrating European colonisation?

Uhh, no, I did not get it from the Speak Good English site. I am not even a Singaporean. But this is just common sense.

The Singaporean government used English as a medium in the early years, mainly due to the composition of multi-ethnical society. It was also a way to curb the Chinese Chauvinism, so that Singapore will not be a part of China. However, the majority of the ethnic Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia soon took this into the wrong context. Speaking English means to enjoying the "upper class prestige". Those who didn't learn standard English merely use English words to make up a sentence in Chinese grammar, so that they are not lacking behind or being look down at.

There are many countries in this world which do not use English as their language, but they are still doing really well. Germany, France and closer to the Asiatic mainland - Japan. What do the Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia speaks? Some ethnic Chinese even go as far as not to learn to speak their mother tongue - Chinese, but rather they chose to speak Singlish?

For some, speaking English can be seen as a way of celebrating British colonisation. Many Chinese do not think that the British had done bad deeds to their countries because the British had serve their interest well during the colonisation period - money and work. But one could look further how the British actually systematically exploited the resources of Malaysia and Singapore. The Chinese and Indian were mere slaves of their economy power house, while the Malays were completely useless to them, who only served as puppets. Colonisation is such a brutal process.

Let's admit this fact. We are ethnic Chinese / Indian / Malays, no matter how much good standard English we have learnt. We have to protect our own culture, instead of promoting other's culture. We need to understand our own culture more than we understand someone else's in order to learn who we really are. Promoting someone else's culture will see Singapore lost their own native culture. One may look at how the Asian in the USA lost their culture. But they are still not an integrated bunch within the white majority society. Racism is always there.

To those Singaporeans or Malaysians who cherish Singlish or whatever one wishes to call it. These people are mere a confused bunch.

Singlish for foreigners?

Oh by the way, I did not see any foreigners wanting to learn Singlish. Nor is the Singaporean government attempting to protect it.

"Speak English, not Singlish!"

Speaking Good English

Excerpt: Speech by Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew at the Tanjong Pagar 34th National Day Celebration, 14 Aug 1999

Standard English vs Singlish On this subject of education, let me state clearly the disadvantages of Singlish. There are as many varieties of English as there are communities that speak English. In spite of differences in accent and pronunciation, people in Britain, America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand understand each other easily because they are speaking the same language, using the same words with the same grammar and sentence structures. Singaporeans add Chinese and Malay words into Singlish, and give different meanings to English words like "blur" to mean "blank". Worse, Singlish uses Chinese sentence structure. In fact we are creating a different new language. Each family can create its own coded language; nothing wrong with that except that no one outside the family can understand you. We are learning English so that we can understand the world and the world can understand us.

It is therefore important to speak and write standard English. The more the media makes Singlish socially acceptable, by popularising it in TV shows, the more we make people believe that they can get by with Singlish. This will be a disadvantage to the less educated half of the population. The better educated can learn two or three varieties of English and can speak English English to native Englishmen 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 socially. They want to speak better English, not Singlish. Those Singaporeans who can speak good English should help to create a good environment for speaking English, rather than advocate, as some do, the use of Singlish.

Let me tell you what we did about Mandarin. Twenty-five years ago, we decided that we would not speak a special Singapore Mandarin, pronounced with Hokkien, Teochew or Cantonese accents, and with Malay words thrown in. To set the standard, I had our announcers on radio and television and school teachers retrained by teachers from Taiwan who spoke standard Mandarin. We also hired a few announcers for TV and radio from Taiwan to set the pace. Because we used standard Mandarin on TV, radio, and with teachers in schools, we now have a generation of young Singaporeans able to speak more of a standard Mandarin. The Chinese-speaking world outside Singapore can understand us.

We must take the same approach with English. Get our teachers retrained. Do not popularise Singlish. Do not use Singlish in our television sitcoms, except for humorous bits, and in a way that makes people want to speak standard English. We will see a difference in another one generation. The people who will benefit most are those who can only master one kind of English. Singlish is a handicap we must not wish on Singaporeans.

Your PM Goh said: Communicating with the World

Speaking Good English

Excerpt: National Day Rally Speech 1999 by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, 22 Aug 1999

Communicating with the World

Most of our pupils still come from non-English speaking homes. For them, English is really a second language, to be learnt almost like a foreign language, and not their mother tongue. For them to master just one version of English is already quite a challenge. If they get into the habit of speaking Singlish, then later they will either have to unlearn these habits, or learn proper English on top of Singlish. Many pupils will find this too difficult. They may end up unable to speak any language properly, which would be a tragedy.

           Gurmit Singh can speak many languages. But Phua Chu Kang speaks only Singlish.  If our children learn Singlish from Phua Chu Kang, they will not become as talented as Gurmit Singh. 

           We learn English in order to communicate with the world. The fact that we use English gives us a big advantage over our competitors. Parents send children to English language schools rather than Chinese, Malay, or Tamil schools, because they hope the children will get jobs and opportunities when they grow up. But to become an engineer, a techni­cian, an accountant or a nurse, you must have standard English, not Singlish. 

           We don’t have to speak English with British, American, or Australian accents. Most of us speak with a Singaporean accent. We are so used to hearing it that we probably don’t notice it. But we should speak a form of English that is understood by the British, Americans, Australians, and people around the world.  

           Nicholas Lee, who plays Ronnie Tan in Under One Roof, wrote a letter in The Straits Times (1 Jun 99) which hit the nail on the head.  He had been criticised because Ronnie Tan did not speak Singlish. His reply was that the programme Under One Roof was shown overseas as well as in Singa­pore. Programme series are very expensive to make.  If they are only shown in Singa­pore, they will surely lose money. If the characters spoke Singlish, viewers overseas would not understand it. 

           Nicholas Lee cited one local production, Forever Fever, which could not be released in the United States market because American audiences would not understand the Singa­pore English. So now they are considering removing the Singlish, and dubbing Forever Fever in English that Americans can understand. His conclusion was: “We should all be aware that the only way forward is to look outward, and if the future of Singa­pore entertainment lies in ‘Beng culture’, then I am afraid it is a very bleak culture.” 

           What Nicholas Lee said about sitcoms applies to many other activities. Whether we are publishing a newspaper, writing a company report, or composing a song, does it make more sense to do so for a 3 million audience, or for the hundreds of millions who speak English around the world? We cannot be a first-world economy or go global with Singlish.  

Pidgin English

Singapore is not unique in having a local flavour to the English it uses. Local types of English often sprout up in places where non-English speakers come into contact with English speakers, or where people speaking different tongues use simple English as a common language to communicate with each other. These languages are called pidgin English, or Creole. Eventually pidgin develops into a new language, which uses many English words, but mixed with non-English words, and using different grammar.

           Different kinds of pidgin English or Creole is spoken in Africa, in the Caribbean, and in the South Pacific. For example, in Jamaica they say: “Him go a school every day last year; now sometime him go, sometime him no go” [Jamaican Creole]. In Samoa when a person is very ill, he says “Mi siksik” [Samoan Plantation Pidgin English]. 

           These examples are not to make fun of anyone. This is simply the way people speak in these countries. The examples have a serious lesson for us: if we carry on using Singlish, the logical final outcome is that we too will develop our own type of pidgin English, spoken only by 3 million Singapo­reans, which the rest of the world will find quaint but incompre­hensible. We are already half-way there. Do we want to go all the way? We would be better off sticking to Chinese, Malay or Tamil; then at least some other people in the world can understand us. 

           I know that many of us do not speak English perfectly.  We studied in Chinese, Malay or Tamil schools, or came from non-English speaking homes even though we went to English schools. We cannot help it, and it is nothing to be ashamed of. But we should nurture the next generation to have higher standards of English than ourselves. We can help them by discouraging the use of Singlish, or at least not encouraging it. 

Upgrading English in Schools

Schools already organise many programmes and activities to encourage the use of proper English. They have Speak English Campaigns, they fine pupils caught speaking Singlish, and they run speech and drama programmes to promote good English.

           The Ministry of Education (MOE) has been working hard to upgrade standards of English in schools. First, it is revising the English Language syllabuses, to make them more rigorous and to strengthen the teaching of grammar. 

           Second, MOE will conduct a 60-hour course for 8,000 teachers who teach English Language in primary and secondary schools, to strengthen and update their skills.  The course will lead to the award of the Singapore-Cambridge Certificate in the Teaching of English Grammar. 

           Third, MOE is working with the Regional Language Centre to produce a handbook on common errors in English usage in Singapore. 

           MOE gave me some examples of improper written English found in schools: 

“He is very sporting” to mean “He is very active in sports”.

“I became boring” when the writer meant “I became bored”.

“He turned into a new leaf” instead of “He turned over a new leaf”.

           As for spoken English, how about this:  “Quick, quick. Late already. You eat yourself, we eat ourself”.

Phua Chu Kang

One of the problems MOE has getting students to speak standard English is that the students often hear Singlish being spoken around them, including on television. So they learn wrong ways of speaking.

Teachers complain that their students are picking up catchphrases like: “Don’t pray, pray” and using them even in the classroom. The students may think that it is acceptable and even fashionable to speak like Phua Chu Kang. He is on national television and a likeable, ordinary person. The only character who tries to speak proper English is Phua Chu Kang’s sister-in-law Margaret, and she is a snob. Nobody wants to be a snob. So in trying to imitate life, Phua Chu Kang has made the teaching of proper English more difficult.

I asked TCS why Phua Chu Kang’s English is so poor. They told me that Phua Chu Kang started off speaking quite good English, but as time passed he forgot what he learnt in school, and his English went from bad to worse.

I therefore asked TCS to try persuading Phua Chu Kang to attend NTUC’s BEST classes, to improve his English. TCS replied that they have spoken to Phua Chu Kang, and he has agreed to enrol himself for the next BEST programme, starting in a month’s time. If Phua Chu Kang can improve himself, surely so can the rest of us.