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Essay-writing Practice. (Monday, September 21, 2009)
Recently, the winner of Miss Singapore World has once again sparked off the ever-ongoing debate on Singlish. She draws criticism for her poor command of English and her atrocious attempt at being understood. Some people wrote in to newspaper forums and claimed that Singlish should be something that we should be proud of, which I think is absurd and preposterous that people should think this way. It’s not that I expect Singaporeans to use with the Queen’s English all the time and speak like the British or Americans. However, Singlish is not something to be proud of. I don’t think the Chinese are proud of their Chinese-accented English, neither are the Japanese, Indians, Koreans or people of whatever ethnicity, you get the point. Anyway, I don’t think the Japanese/Chinese/Koreans or whoever can be used as an excuse. The predominant language in such countries are Chinese/Japanese/ Korean etc, however the dominant language here is English. Yes, our National Language is Malay for historical reasons, but almost everyone, if not everyone speaks with English here. So why is it that we have Singlish, if our English is so commonly used? Isn’t that a factor to consider? How is Singlish something worth to be proud of? It makes our speech incomprehensible and projects an uneducated, uncouth image of Singapore. It is something we want to shake off and proper English is what we should work towards. Singlish is not something to be preserved and practiced. I admit that I do speak Singlish, it is not uncommon to hear ‘lah’, ‘lor’, ‘leh’ and an occasional “WALAO EH!” Heck, I even type Singlish out sometimes, it’s under uncouth ranting. I agree that Singlish is something that cannot be eradicated in a fortnight. However, I think that we must learn how to switch from ‘Singlish’ mode to ‘English’ mode. In casual, informal settings like at home, with your family and friends, I think it is okay to speak Singlish and add in the occasional ‘hors’ and whatnot. But one must learn to adapt and be able to make that transition into formal settings. How is it acceptable to speak Singlish in a public interview, during a presentation or in any formal settings? Is this implying that having National Identity is more important than actually being understood? It doesn’t mean Singlish is acceptable if everyone is using it. I emphasise that I’m not being elitist because I admit I use Singlish too. But one must make that transition and know when it is acceptable to speak in slang and when is it not. I’m still going to continue with my usual speech patterns anyway. This was just a huge block of crap that I typed out while waiting for my hair to dry last night. Anyway I went to watch the actual video and she wasn’t speaking Singlish, it’s just that she has horrible pronunciation. I am practicing writing for literature next year. Look, blogging is not neccessarily a waste of time! It helps you practice your English-writing skilss and allows you improve in terms of expression. To tell the truth, I am procrastinating. Whenever you plan to get yourself into the mugging mode on, let’s say, Friday, it usually only happens next Wednesday, when reality hits you. You are procrastinating because you don’t want to switch on the mugging mode NOW; therefore you give yourself a goal you know you will not achieve. That’s my theory and also something I practice. I NEED TO START WORKING AND MUGGING. NOW. My hair is round now. |