Singlish

http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/11/11/the-sound-of-singlish/

Haha I was just reading this article and the comments below it. A foreigner's perspective on singlish. I think its quite an interesting article and it does raise up a few points that are noteworthy.

A point raised up is that singlish is inherently part of Singapore's culture and heritage. The Singapore government has been embarking on the Speak Good English Campaign and it that sense, you can say that its the government's attempt to rid the nation of this language.
Singlish is apparently banned in all forms of media though obviously some traces can inevitably be found when you watch tv, that mainly because it is something that is so innate within us. Its not something you can just say 'don't do it'. Even so, do we really want to remove singlish from this nation?

This is something that is unique and it defines us, as some people raised up the point, no one speaks singlish except for Singaporeans, and people who can try to learn it never quite master it because they didn't grow up with it. Overseas, you can easily recognise that someone is Singaporean by the way they speak. As the government worries about how the new generation of Singaporeans may be losing their sense of identity here in this nation, eradicating a part of our culture isn't going to help.

Some people mention these advantages of Singlish, and they go to the extent of declaring the want for Singlish to become Singapore's national language. I think I joined the facebook group before, not sure if im still in it, but I do it mainly as a joke. I cannot imagine singlish being our national language, just as I cannot imagine hokkien being one either. As mentioned, singlish is like a dialect, something different from the original, and since we know the original, we are taught the original, it would be better that officially, we stick to the original. Yet official stuff remain in that section. How can we not add a little fun to our lives with a dash of singlish?

There are concerns raised up about why Singlish ought to be banned. For one, it is a mutilation of the English language. It is not real english, and it should not be used. Yet interesting points of which I never noted before are brought up about this. Other countries do have their own 'dialects' of english. Singlish isn't that unique in the world in the sense that it is not the only 'mutilation' of the language.


However I do agree that singlish is considerably much more different than the rest of the versions from the standard english (whatever that means). Yet the question is, even so, does it really matter? What is inherently wrong with a modified version of a language being used, as long as it effectively brings about communication, of which is the primary use of a language?

Of course, some will then say that indeed there is a communication problem brought up by the use of singlish. Foreigners from other countries may not actually understand what we are saying. The rest of the mutilations of the english language are better understood by people who speak standard english, but not singlish. singlish is difficult to understand. From this, a communication barrier arises.

In this aspect, I then agree that Singlish is not something that should be used at all times. Again, brought up by some people in the comments section, it is really a matter of knowing when to use which. I do not agree with people who mention that Singaporeans in general are capable of switching between the two. There are a good many Singaporeans who are incapable of separating the two languages.

As such, I do believe that singlish should not be eradicated, but it should not be promoted. singlish should remain as it is and let culture and society shape it. Education for singlish is not necessary, but education for english is, and the clear distinction between the two must be made. Students should be taught english, and perhaps in their lessons learn that english ought to be used in formal situations while singlish can be used in more informal ones (though it really depends). People of today's Singapore must realise that singlish is not the same as English, and for me, I do personally take them as two completely separate languages altogether, just languages that are founded upon the same roots.

Here ends my thoughts about Singlish. Yet before going off, something of note. Netspeak, is for me yet another language that springs from english. Take a moment to look at the way we communicate with one another virtually and how it is completely different from how we may communicate with others in real life. Take a random post I have on this blog, with all the 'lol's, smileys and 'haha's. So what, are we going to ban netspeak?

What is language? Must is necessarily conform to those rules that are given always? Is there anything wrong with having different versions?

Wow. I felt like I just did a History DBQ question 4 practice haha. And its on language, which is so TOK man.

P.S. I thought the comment about foreigners speaking singlish was so interesting. When foreigners speak singlish, it comes out a little weird, and it often brings about laughter. The foreigner is also immediately respected as they have come to our level (I almost said come down heh, just a semblance of how we may in the back of our minds register singlish as inferior) to speak with us. Its the same as us going to any country and speaking their language, its flattery towards the people there as it means we bothered to get to know their culture. Reminds me of Belchel haha.

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