Chinese education in Singapore: As you sow, so will you reap

By Lim Mun Fah from Sin Chew Daily

Singapore used to be a Chinese educational bastion for Southeast Asia with the most comprehensive Chinese-language educational system. But the deviation of its educational policy had changed everything in just two to three decades. Nanyang University, a leading Chinese university in Southeast Asia for 25 years, became part of the history in 1980. As nearly 100% of students were enrolled in English stream primary schools, English became the first language for all primary and secondary schools in Singapore. Since then, Chinese education had basically disappeared from Singapore, leaving only Chinese language teaching.

Under such a circumstances, the Chinese language standard of the new generation of Chinese Singaporeans is low, it is not surprising even to hear some of them saying: “I hate Chinese.”

However, the Singapore government has carried out many reforms in Chinese language teaching over the past 40 years. A Chinese speaking campaign has also been carried out with the hope to change the habit of speaking dialects in Chinese families and make Chinese a common language for them.

However, just as Singaporean scholar Lee Guan Kin said: “The closures of Chinese primary and secondary schools, as well as the Nanyang University, together with the deviations of the bilingual educational system had rapidly deteriorated the soil quality of Chinese language and culture in Singapore, causing a significant cultural gap phenomenon.”

Therefore, a few decades after the Chinese speaking campaign was launched, even though the country is now having fewer Chinese Singaporeans who speak dialects, Chinese is still unable to replace dialects as the communication language in Chinese families. Instead, there is a rapid increase in the number of Chinese students speaking English at home. The latest data shows that the number of students who speak English at home has increased to the current 60% from 10% in 1980.

What are the far-reaching impact when Chinese families are no longer the mainstream? An editorial from Zaobao said that Singapore may someday become a single English society.

Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew is aware of the seriousness of the crisis, he said that they should start from the actual situation of the students, including to teach Chinese in English and having more creative Chinese teaching methods to enhance student’s interest in Chinese language.

Standing on the opposite shore, we are watching the decline of Chinese education in Singapore. We always think that the fundamental factor that causes the problem is the status of Chinese language in the country. Although the rapid rise of China has made the Singapore government to encourage its people to learn Chinese and improve their Chinese teaching methods, it is worth pondering whether it is correct to learn Chinese based on the motive of economic interests instead of emphasising the language’s cultural value and meaning.

The Singapore government had neglected Chinese while the Malaysia government had neglected English over the past few decades and clearly, they had paid a heavy price for their educational policies. This is what we called “it is easy to damage but it is hard to build” and “as you sow, so will you reap”! – mysinchew.com

Republished from Sin Chew Daily on 25 November 2009