The agony of learning Chinese in Singapore

The past few days saw accounts in the newspapers of some people recounting the terrible time they had trying to learn Chinese. One described how rebellious he was during Chinese lessons. His teacher got a stroke, and he attributed it to his rebelliousness. Another family seeing their two sons struggling with Chinese, and spending so much time on the language to the exclusion of other activities uprooted themselves and left the country.

Clearly, learning Chinese left many traumatised. Some had to contend with facing an uncertain future because they didn’t make the grade.

Learning Chinese, even for the able ones, left many jittery. I recall some of my relatives’ children, who were above average in the subject, filled wth anxiety whenever there was spelling and dictation the following day. Countless hours were filled memorising supposedly beautiful phrases, and practising writing the characters.

I’m glad the authorities have come to realise that with the present generation you can’t teach Chinese the way it was taught before. This is the generation of Facebook, Twitter, the Internet, SMS and IM. This is the generation that delights largely in visual and musical distractions.

Hopefully, the present generation of students will have a more pleasant experience learning Chinese.

OK to use English to teach Chinese in Singapore schools says MOE

The Education now says it’s okay to use English to teach Chinese.

How times have changed!

Thousands of students from English-speaking homes and others who struggled with Chinese had had their lives changed forever. Without a pass in Chinese they could not enter the local universities so some packed up and left Singapore for good while many other families spent a fortune sending their kids overseas for an education.

The dogmatic and rigid way Chinese was taught is now being faulted.

Now the political elite are seeing the light. Possibly because their own children or grandchildren are struggling with the language.

Using some English to teach Chinese is common sense really eg to explain the meaning of a word or expression. Why beat around the bush when an English equivalent can be given?

In fact, millions of Chinese in China are learning English this way ie teachers use Chinese to explain the meaning of a word or expression (the other way round).

However, there’s a problem here. What if the Chinese teacher doesn’t know English seeing that there are many PRC teachers in our schools? Then they must use a bilingual dictionary or learn English.

All that emphasis on Chinese in Singapore should result in many speaking and using the language in their daily lives, don’t you think so?

But the sad truth, from my observations, is that once they’ve thrown away their dreaded Chinese textbooks when they left school, for the majority Chinese is gradually forgotten like Algebra, Calculus or Chemistry.

Much ado about nothing?

Singapore’s MRT shocking use of Singlish

MRT passengers will not have failed to notice the in-your-face admonition by Phua Chu Kang not “to play, play” but to give way to those leaving train cabins.

While the government is trying to encourage people to speak correct English, I’m flabbergasted to see that MRT is doing just the opposite.

MRT I can understand is trying to inject some humour into the situation but clearly it’s got its priorities all mixed up.

Some senior management people in MRT either love Singlish or the TV serial “Phua Chu Kang”. It seems PCK is still very much alive – at least to MRT senior management.

Foreigners will have their suspicion confirmed that Singapore has a somewhat quirky variety of English.

Our MRT is among the finest in the world and this blunder, though only of a lingusitc nature, is something we can do without.

Already getting people to speak correct English is an uphill task. We don’t need MRT to bestow on Singlish some form of credibility.

Do MRT’s senior management people know what they are doing?

This is why Yishun Library is probably the worst Singapore public library

The new Yishun Library in Northpoint is without doubt an impressive public library but its users are less so.

The high noise level is the bane of genuine library users who need the peace and quiet traditionally associated with libraries to do their reading and research.

Library users flout library rules and display a boorish ignorance of eitquette. Take this girl (in her early twenties) for instance seated beside me. Every now and then she’d take a sip from a huge paper cup.

I glanced in her direction a few times in a disapproving manner but she didn’t take the hint.

Losing patience I said, “I thought you’re not supposed to drink in the library?”

The others seated nearby looked up.

Forthwith the culprit stopped drinking.

A blatant defiance of library rules.

Why 2 Singapore directors fined

Two directors were fined $330,000 under the Securities and Futures Act.

Their offences? For giving misleading statements to SGX (Singapore Exchange) and for insider trading.

The fines are peanuts to them. To protect investors the courts should hand down custodial sentences. In this case they could have been jailed up to 7 years.

People will think twice and very very carefully, if a spell in Changi prison is mandatory. If one steals even 10 dollars, one squats in a jail perhaps for a week. If company directors cause people to lose thousands if not million of dollars shouldn’t they be facing the four walls of a prison as well?

Only stiffer sentences for this sort of offences can investors feel safe.

Asian Cup – why Thailand beat Singapore

Thailand beat Singapore 3-1 last evening at the National Stadium in Singapore. In the first half, a nervous Singapore conceded a penalty. But in the second half, Singapore came back strongly and had several chances to at least equalise.

Many Singaporeans are ambivalent towards this so-called Singapore team that consists of many foreign imports. The stadium was not even half full.

If our soccer heroes of the past were playing at this level of international soccer, the stadium is guaranteed to have 60,000 screaming supporters.

It’s a bit harse to say this but many find it hard to emphatise with this Singapore team. Honestly, how many players can you name off the top of your head? I know there’s one Shah Alam, another called Duric or something. I know I’m not alone in this. Others I’ve spoken to are in a similar predicament.

Occasionally, I’d go to the Jalan Besar or National Stadium to watch a soccer match but the Singapore team just does not evoke the same passion as yesteryear’s team of Dollah Kassim (gelek king), Quah Kim Song, Mat Noh, Suriamurthy, Samad to name a few. Am I alone in feeling this way?

Look at the Thai team. Everyone is a Thai. No foreign imports. The same goes for other teams in the region.

When Vietnam beat Singapore last year in the AFF Cup, all their players were Vietnamese so I applauded their victory, and were happy for them. If they had won with foreign imports I’d have been cynical.

Even if Singapore had won last evening I’d not have felt any pride in the achievement. Indonesians I spoke to cynically referred to our foreign imports as a factor in the defeat of their national team in an AFF Tournament (Tiger Cup).

Some may argue that most countries rely on foreign imports. True, but not those in ASEAN.

It’s time we groomed our local talent, and built a truly Singapore national team and not a “rojak” (of different nationalities) team.

One powerful reason why National Library Board doesn’t deserve the Singapore Quality Award (SQA)

Last evening I was surprised to see not one but two security officers in Yishun Library. This is a good response to public feedback.

Observing them, I couldn’t help but come to the conclusion that they are fighting a losing battle. Kids still run about in the library right under their noses, and library users talk loudly as though they’re strolling in a bookstore.

Over the years letters in the Straits Times Forum complained about noisy libraries. The National Library Board (NLB) trotted out the customary response: users must be more responsible.

Result? Noisy public libraries have become the norm because of NLB’s tolerance. Even its flagship library in Victoria Street, where NLB is headquartered, is plagued with noise. Regular announcements appealing for co-operation speak volumes.

Admittedly, NLB has chalked up many outstanding achievements but in my view if it can’t maintain silence in its libraries then it doesn’t deserve the SQA.

8 reasons why ICA does NOT deserve the Singapore Quality Award.

I read with disbelief news that Singapore Immigration and Checkpoints Authority has won the Singapore Quality Award (SQA).

In my view ICA does not deserve the award for the following reasons:

1. Many letters of complaints in the newspapers about Woodlands Checkpoint perennial traffic congestion
2. Traffic congestion is still the norm
3. Slow moving traffic on exiting checkpoint after customs clearance as there is only one lane and too many humps
4. Too much unnecessary red tape eg officer verbally verifying your name
5. On most days, too few counters are open
6. Old-fashioned toll payment system unlike Malaysia’s Touch and Go card
7. No attempt to reconfigure the checkpoint to ensure a smoother and faster immigration clearance
8. Public feedback not taken seriously

To be a worthy winner of SQA, the following criteria should be satisfied:

1. smooth and free-flowing traffic AT ALL TIMES OF THE DAY
2. ALL immigration counters remain open EVERY DAY
3. a pleasant experience in going through the ICQ

The official response to all this is that security is paramount so slow-moving traffic is unavoidable. With this mindset it’s not a surprise then that officialdom is trapped in their inability to think out of the box.

That ICA is a winner is indeed baffling.

If the award had specified Changi Airport Immigration Checkpoint I’d have no hesitation in applauding it.

CCS fines bus operators for price-fixing.

Bus travellers to Malaysia and Thailand must have cheered at news that 16 bus operators have been slapped with a $1.7 million fine for price-fixing by the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS).

CCS has made the point very clearly that a business association fixing prices for its members is contravening the law. For them to claim ignorance of the law is absurd and laughable.

CCS’s crackdown has received widespread coverage in the media and public approval.

CCS should now have the coffee shops and their associations in its cross hairs.

CCS should publicise its contact details to enable the public to provide it with feedback.

CCS fines 16 Singapore coach operators $1.7 million

Most bus travellers to Malaysia would certainly applaud the action taken by the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) against 16 coach operators for price-fixing.

I recall asking them why the need for fuel surcharge when the price of oil had gone down dramatically they replied, “True, that’s why we charge you less now.” (Their buses use only subsidised fuel in Malaysia.)

The $17 million fine will deter other businesses from hoodwinking the public.

CCS should now be zeroing in on the coffee shops to determine if they too are guilty of any price-fixing with regards to coffee/tea prices.

Even if it’s 10 cents, price-fixing is still illegal.

Well done, CCS!