Processes to be strengthened to avoid repeat of error at Speak Mandarin Campaign

SINGAPORE — Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu has described the wrong use of a Chinese character at the launch of the Speak Mandarin Campaign as a “serious mistake”, adding that organisers have assured processes will be strengthened to prevent a repeat of such incidents.

Organisers of this year’s Speak Mandarin Campaign had used a wrong word in a display at the launch event on Monday (July 10), showing a Chinese character meaning “showing disrespect” instead of the one that means “read”.

Both characters are pronounced “du”.

In a statement released on Wednesday (July 12), Ms Fu said: “It is a serious mistake to make, much less by an advocate for the proper use of Mandarin. The Speak Mandarin Campaign team has assured me that processes will be strengthened to prevent such incidents from happening again.”

She added: “The Chinese language is wonderfully intricate, and the slightest variation in strokes can result in distinct characters with completely different meanings.”

Photos of the Chinese phrase “listen, speak, read, write” — with the incorrect word for “read” — featured prominently on the stage podium when Ms Fu launched this year’s campaign.

The error was pointed out by several people in the audience and also drew the ire of online users, with some commenting that it was an embarrassment.

Ms Fu thanked the public for raising concerns on this issue, saying that “the proper use of words in any language, especially in our multi-cultural society, is very important”.

On Tuesday, the organisers made public apologies on Facebook in both English and Mandarin. In a note, they said that the erroneous character for “read” was wrongly picked in the production process.

In the same note, they also added in Chinese: “This is our mistake... We will be more vigilant about this in the future. This episode is something we can learn from.”

Acknowledging the gaffe, a spokesperson for the campaign said: “These are two distinct characters with different meanings. The character in error is not a part of the slogan, nor is it a slogan. It is also not intended.”

Despite the mistake, Ms Fu said she hopes that the public will continue to support the Speak Mandarin Campaign.

The campaign was first launched by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1979 to get Chinese Singaporeans to speak standard Mandarin instead of using various Chinese dialects such as Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew.