Govt policy against Chinese dialects may be ripe for review
Although I do not belong to the Pioneer Generation, I enjoyed the edutainment music videos in Hokkien, Cantonese and Teochew launched by the Government as part of its policy outreach to older Singaporean Chinese who may not understand English and Mandarin.
Although I do not belong to the Pioneer Generation, I enjoyed the edutainment music videos in Hokkien, Cantonese and Teochew launched by the Government as part of its policy outreach to older Singaporean Chinese who may not understand English and Mandarin.
Not only are the productions informative, they are also creative, with witty renditions of familiar popular tunes and visuals from Chinese fables such as Journey to the West as well as Canto-pop tunes.
For a country that has systematically de-emphasised the use of Chinese dialects with more than three decades of the “Speak Mandarin Campaign”, it is pleasantly surprising that we are still able to compose and perform such songs so smoothly in Hokkien, Cantonese and Teochew.
From the hundreds of thousands of views chalked up by the videos, many Singaporeans probably share my views as well.
What is unfortunate is that such videos will not get as much play time on our radio and television stations, even though they will get limited airtime.
Ironically, on new media, these productions would have reached younger people rather than the intended audience — the pioneer generation — who are probably more reliant on the traditional television and radio.
These productions do not just show off the creative talents of Singaporeans, but also the desire to recognise the historical linguistic heritage of their forefathers.
The Government has been active in acknowledging the role of the pioneer generation. But the same generosity is not reflected in media policies, in providing them greater public access to information, materials and entertainment in the various Chinese dialects.
Doing so would also help foster intergenerational interaction. In many Singaporean households, we have ended up with a linguistic generational divide rather than dialogue.
We need to reconsider the policy against our linguistic heritage.