Deteriorating interest and proficiency in second language

Nowadays, Singapore is slowly but surely losing its deep root of its Chinese culture and tradition. Singapore is slowly transforming from a country rich in Chinese tradition into a country whose people has little or no understanding on their root.

“Although the working language here is English, the country should still ensure that students of Chinese origin know their ancestor’s language, so as to have a deeper understanding on their root and Asian values” This was continuously stressed by Lee Hsien Loong on February 14 at the opening ceremony of the 10th “Chinese Culture Festival”.

English is used everywhere; when we communicate, when we work, etc. Everywhere we go, we usually hear people conversing in English. Hence, people tend to feel that English is much more important than Chinese. This leads on to students, the future leaders of our nation, into thinking that too.

Students are slowly losing interest in Chinese, and some even refuses to learn it. According to statistics from Singapore's ministry of education, 9.3 percent first year pupils of primary schools of Chinese origin used English at home in 1980, but the figure soared to 45 percent last year. There are actually quite a few reasons as to why students do not want to learn the language. Some flee from Chinese class because it’s too difficult while some say learning Chinese is of no value since putting efforts on this hard subject will not produce any economical results. For them, the mastery of English is a necessity to climb the social ladders, while speaking Chinese has by and by been shadowed into a symbol of failure. Some parents even tell their children to become an "elite in English" instead of a "master in Chinese". In a way, this is true as jobs that require proficiency in Chinese are not many, and these jobs are usually taken up by PRCs who come to Singapore.

However, I feel that Singaporeans are too overly concerned about the economical gains of jobs. Here are some things a typical Singaporean will want; a fixed and steady income, a “good” job and a happy family. I highlight the word “good” as I feel that there can be many different perceptions on the word “good”. Singaporeans feel that having a “good” job means having a job with high amounts of steady income, e.g. doctors, lawyers. However, many other people in other countries define “good” job as a job which they enjoy doing. I guess this cannot be helped, considering the competitive nature of Singapore’s educational system. However, no matter the circumstances or how crucial the need is to study English over Chinese, I feel that Singaporeans should not forget our deep roots and Asian values but continue to preserve the history and culture of our immigrant’s ancestors. If not, we can drift along with the tide and follow the latest trend or fashion in the world, but we will still be labeled as a rootless group with no sense of self-identification.

Imagine what would happen when someone asks a Singaporean about Singapore’s history and culture and the person is unable to give the correct answer? Just what kind of image of Singapore will be seen by tourists?

Hence, I really feel that Chinese is an important language for us to learn and understand and we should put in good effort into both English and Chinese. Although some may still argue that they do not have an interest in Chinese language, at the very least, they should be able to understand the history and culture of our immigrant’s ancestors.