On why we should not hinder the development of Singlish

Since independence,Singapore has always emphasized the policy of bilingualism. In Singapore, everyone needs to learn English and his/her own mother tongue. Campaigns such as the"Speak Good English Movement" and "华语 COOL!" has been running for many years to promote the learning of speaking good english and mother tongue. The Singapore Government discourages the use of so-called"Singlish ",or Singapore Vernacular English,as it believes in the need for Singaporeans to effectively communicate with other English speakers in the world. Being a small country, Singapore's economy relies very much upon trade links with other countries ,and therefore for economic considerations, the learning of Standard English is important for maintaining and communicating with other countries.

However, I disagree that we should discourage or hinder the development of Singlish in Singapore. Firstly, Singlish encapsulates our cultural roots of being in a multi-racial society. The vocabulary,grammar and pronounciation of Snglish is a great creation of Singaporeans. English during the colonial era was filtered out of English Language schools to be picked up by non-english speakers for communication purposes. This new form of english had substantial influences from southern varities of chinese, Indian English,Malay and Baba and become a very common language used in the streets,especially across different races. Singlish is now a fully formed and stabilised form of communication.

Because of the fact that Singlish is derived from many languages and dialects, some may question the use of Singlish as inappropriate because it is a"very mixed and impure" language. We must then question this statement; which language in the world can safely call itself "pure"? I am sure that the Standard English and Mandarin does not belong to the definition of being "pure languages". English itself draws many influences from european languages, such as Latin, French, and German(It is considered a West Germanic Language). These languages that had a strong influence on English has also been influenced by other languages themselves. Standard Mandarin itself is a language family that has undergone many changes throughout the 5000 years of Chinese history. Can we then call these languages "impure" and therefore not recognise their importance? We must understand that Singlish has a relatively short development as a language of around a hundred years, as compared to the above 2 mentioned languages, therefore it needs more time to develop.

There are criticisms to Singlish because of its percieved lack of literary value, however they must understand that each and every language is a creation by its people, and therefore it holds a certain level of value. There are already works written in Singlish ,such as Army Daze by Michael Chiang, Eh Goondu! by Sylvia Toh and No Parking on Odd Days by the late Kuo Pao Kun. These works usually hold strong social commentaries and is part of our small but ever growing Singapore culture.

Thirdly, there are fears that if Singaporeans get in touch with Singlish more and more often, the level of Standard English and Mother Tongue will drop. We must note that many people around the world learn a language that is different from their native language, but the fluency in their native language remains at a high level. We must also remember that many Singaporeans, especially the younger generations, can and continue to effectively code-switch between Singapore Standard English and Singlish. If given more time, Singlish will not serve as a handicap to learning English if people knew about the differences and importance about them.

Singlish continues to hold cultural significance in Singapore and is already an important part in many peoples' lives. Many have deemed Singaporeans a group of "Cultural Orphans" and we ,till this day, continues to search for our own identity. Undermining Singlish can have a adverse effect on the identity crisis. Therefore we should not destroy the existence or hinder the development of this special language.

All hail Singlish, La!