Govt efforts to produce bilingual S’poreans successful, says PM

SINGAPORE — The Government’s efforts to produce Singaporeans who are bilingual have been successful, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday, amid concerns that standards of Mandarin in the Republic are falling.

Speaking at a gala dinner to mark the 75th anniversary of Chung Cheng High School (Main), Mr Lee said Singaporeans should not compare today’s standards with those of the 1950s. “We need to take a different perspective: If we did not introduce the bilingual policy, promote Mandarin and start SAP (Special Assistance Plan) schools, Singapore might be a completely English-speaking society,” said Mr Lee, who spoke in Mandarin.

“To achieve the standards of Mandarin we have now, in an environment where English is the lingua franca, is quite an improvement,” he added.

Mr Lee said SAP schools have been successful in producing students who are bilingual and bicultural, but when they were set up, it was not clear whether they would succeed.

Mastering both Chinese and English as first languages in the environment then was quite a challenge for students. “People had begun to value English over Chinese, as English was the working language and perceived to have more economic value.”

But with determination, government resources and the commitment of teachers, students and parents, SAP schools have worked out, he said.

Mr Lee said the policy direction is to ensure that Singaporeans are rooted in their mother tongues and culture, and the Government will continue to help Singaporeans achieve their potential in mother tongues.

Besides SAP schools, the Government is promoting Mandarin in all schools, he noted. For instance, 30 per cent of Chinese students took Higher Chinese at O-Levels last year — almost double the rate in 2000.

Yesterday also saw the administration building and the entrance arch to Chung Cheng High School (Main) — built in the ’60s — gazetted as a national monument. Together, they are the 66th monument to be gazetted by the National Heritage Board (NHB).

Ms Jean Wee, director of the preservation of sites and monuments division at the NHB, said the school has met the criteria on many accounts — the building is at least 30 years old, has contributed significantly to the nation’s history by meeting the needs of Chinese education then and possesses “architectural merit”.

For instance, the school is one of the few that married traditional Chinese aesthetics with Western architectural principles, she said.