tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post7802901241781556228..comments2023-10-29T21:57:52.748+08:00Comments on The Grand Moofti Speaks: Singapore: Make Mandarin Compulsory for All RacesImran Ahmedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07677353270839486354noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-66921198217660732282010-03-03T09:49:29.258+08:002010-03-03T09:49:29.258+08:00Hi Jeff,
Great to hear from you again. I believe ...Hi Jeff,<br /><br />Great to hear from you again. I believe your comment underscores the importance in communicating and understanding - unfortunately, not everyone is as adept at languages as your family or your Indian friend! Certainly not me ... lol.<br /><br />I look forward to hearing from you again in the future.<br /><br />Kind regards,<br /><br />ImranImran Ahmedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677353270839486354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-19296523533346287012010-03-03T09:33:22.742+08:002010-03-03T09:33:22.742+08:00Hi everyone,
I used to know this Indian man who c...Hi everyone,<br /><br />I used to know this Indian man who can speak so many dialects and mandarin that even the chinese dare not speak to him for fear of losing face!<br /><br />my grandparents, uncles, father can speak fluent malay. the funny thing is when they go to the markets, they speak malay to the indian grocer who is equally adept as well.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11920916870181374260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-69600735883083174232010-01-13T21:56:36.771+08:002010-01-13T21:56:36.771+08:00Hi Sundri,
Thanks for the clarification.
I gues...Hi Sundri,<br /><br />Thanks for the clarification. <br /><br />I guess the priorities of the younger generation have changed and, unfortunately,learning the Chinese dialects is not at the top of their list.<br /><br />I look forward to your comments again soon.<br /><br />Kind regards,<br /><br />ImranImran Ahmedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677353270839486354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-58809834963154579442010-01-12T16:40:49.484+08:002010-01-12T16:40:49.484+08:00Hi Imran
I missed out one more thing that you rep...Hi Imran<br /><br />I missed out one more thing that you replied to Ray. It about Mandarin being integration among Singaporeans. I think Mandarin was brought to intergrate all chinese people.Its quite sad that this generation chinese don't even speaks Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese etc.sundrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12661712500524581069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-47066774564859146672010-01-10T21:57:48.805+08:002010-01-10T21:57:48.805+08:00Hi Sundri,
Thank you for visiting my blog. I am g...Hi Sundri,<br /><br />Thank you for visiting my blog. I am glad you found the articles interesting and took the time to write and share something about your own family. <br /><br />You have a unique background which underscores Singapore's geography diversity. It is a nation which has brought together and welded many cultures and ethnicities.<br /><br />Just to clarify, I am not suggesting Imran Ahmedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677353270839486354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-57534261426435695152010-01-09T22:19:39.912+08:002010-01-09T22:19:39.912+08:00Hi Imran,
Very interesting reading your blog. I h...Hi Imran,<br /><br />Very interesting reading your blog. I have somethings that I would like to share about my family roots and languages that we use. <br />I am the fifth Indian decendance form my mathernal side. My mother speaks malay, hokkien and english. She told me all those people around her age group speaks malay wherether their are Chinese, Malay or Indian. They did not study malay but sundrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12661712500524581069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-60389791344902188112009-09-30T10:23:48.652+08:002009-09-30T10:23:48.652+08:00Hi Ray,
I am glad you came across my article and ...Hi Ray,<br /><br />I am glad you came across my article and thank you for taking the time to respond.<br /><br />Malay, as you know, is the National language only due to legacy reasons and is (for all practical purposes) an anachronism. As far as I am concerned, English is the lingua franca in the city-state and should remain so in the future.<br /><br />My argument for making Mandarin compulsoryImran Ahmedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677353270839486354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-71773051422588766512009-09-29T18:24:02.530+08:002009-09-29T18:24:02.530+08:00i'm a 17 year old foreign student living in si...i'm a 17 year old foreign student living in singapore and after reading this article i decided i must reply.<br />i'm half indian and half filipino.<br /><br />All i've got to say is. Why learn a foreign language when 3/4 of the new Generation Singaporeans can't even speak/understand basic conversational Malay,This after all is the country's National Language. Honestly how canRayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12194977668551918966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-26430433895925211562009-08-21T21:41:33.863+08:002009-08-21T21:41:33.863+08:00Hello T,
Thank you for reading my blog and taking...Hello T,<br /><br />Thank you for reading my blog and taking the time to post a comment.<br /><br />Your insights are quite revealing and I only have one point to add. Yes, there is no impediment to learning Mandarin as a second language but I wish to see 3 languages being taught in the schools here - not all to the same proficiency but at least some functional literacy.<br /><br />I am sure you Imran Ahmedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677353270839486354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-45237074609858632112009-08-21T20:27:08.481+08:002009-08-21T20:27:08.481+08:00Mandarin is not the mother tongue for the vast maj...Mandarin is not the mother tongue for the vast majority of Chinese-Singaporeans. Their ancestors came from southern China and so their ancestral mother tongues would be Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese etc. I was forced to learn Mandarin at school as my IC states 'Chinese' but nobody in my family speaks Mandarin, nor has anybody in my family going back to day one ever spoken Mandarin. So Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13644959958863839577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-76780297942036472492009-08-21T14:32:32.822+08:002009-08-21T14:32:32.822+08:00Hi Jezebella,
Thank you for reading my blog and t...Hi Jezebella,<br /><br />Thank you for reading my blog and taking the time to post a comment.<br /><br />I disagree with you on this matter. I believe that it is to precisely to level the playing field between the majority Chinese speakers and the minority non-Chinese speakers that it is important to have everyone learn Mandarin. Over time, it will remove reasons for any sort of a 'glass Imran Ahmedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677353270839486354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-63933358387925126462009-08-21T12:59:37.054+08:002009-08-21T12:59:37.054+08:00Making Mandarin a compulsory for all is a dangerou...Making Mandarin a compulsory for all is a dangerous move, considering our multi-racial background. Already Chinese Singaporeans are the majority here, and enjoy more benefits (at least they don't go through as much discrimination) than the minority races there. Making Mandarin compulsory thus may drive a wider divide. <br /><br />But it is also correct that as China continues growing, Jezebellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15621432754752964448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-872061517579064642009-08-20T20:58:44.028+08:002009-08-20T20:58:44.028+08:00Hi Meera,
Thanks for the kind words and taking th...Hi Meera,<br /><br />Thanks for the kind words and taking the time to comment on my article.<br /><br />I think you should have written the piece instead of me as you have made your points so eloquently and your personal experiences are a testament to your words.<br /><br />There is absoultely nothing more that I can even try to add to your comments!<br /><br />I hope that you will keep visiting Imran Ahmedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677353270839486354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-71034046814714836622009-08-20T19:06:07.696+08:002009-08-20T19:06:07.696+08:00Hi Imran,
You have a very interesting post here a...Hi Imran,<br /><br />You have a very interesting post here about making a tri-lingual society. And I must say I agree! I'm a Singaporean who just happens to be ethinically Indian. Having gone through the Singapore education system, I learnt how to speak English and Tamil. But I don't feel like learning Tamil has in any way benefitted me. To begin, nowhere in Singapore is Tamil used, annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07211922575388234136noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-3014144132680933892009-08-20T00:02:04.909+08:002009-08-20T00:02:04.909+08:00Hi Ange,
Thank you for taking the time to read my...Hi Ange,<br /><br />Thank you for taking the time to read my post and making the effort to respond to it.<br /><br />I can tell that I have touched an issue which you feel strongly about - and so you should. <br /><br />I am happy that you shared your opinions as in matters such as this, building a social consensus is the only practical way forward. I understand that not everyone will agree with Imran Ahmedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677353270839486354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-67399074797984670532009-08-19T20:08:05.510+08:002009-08-19T20:08:05.510+08:00Hi Vignesh,
Thank you for reading the blog and fo...Hi Vignesh,<br /><br />Thank you for reading the blog and for taking the time to write a comment.<br /><br />I am glad you like the idea but you do raise a good question about what language the Chinese should learn - I guess the language of their choice? <br /><br />To be honest, I was a little apprehensive when I posted this article as I thought it may offend some people. However, I felt that Imran Ahmedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677353270839486354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-58368624069426369622009-08-19T16:34:45.994+08:002009-08-19T16:34:45.994+08:00hi Imran,
I like your idea of teaching our citize...hi Imran,<br /><br />I like your idea of teaching our citizens to be tri-lingual. However, I was wondering what third language the Chinese majority may have as a choice? Malay? Perhaps, in the past. Tamil? I seriously doubt it, seeing that more Tamil folks are learning chinese anyway or rely on Malay significantly. Regardless, this is not the point I'm making.<br /><br />I approve of learningUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09169573778491929661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-73466351917161447772009-08-17T20:44:38.506+08:002009-08-17T20:44:38.506+08:00Hi Miles,
Thank you very much for your kind words...Hi Miles,<br /><br />Thank you very much for your kind words about my blog and for leaving a comment. It is always encouraging and to receive feedback - positive or negative.<br /><br />You may be right about the tri-lingual approach but my focus is to get the debate flowing and get people to question ideas which hitherto have remain untouched. I also felt that as a 'minority immigrant' IImran Ahmedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07677353270839486354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1565039339558342817.post-15838398562236316302009-08-17T17:39:07.385+08:002009-08-17T17:39:07.385+08:00'Making the next generation of Singaporeans tr...'Making the next generation of Singaporeans tri-lingual will increase social cohesion among all races and is an idea whose time has come. Ethnic and religious fault lines will decrease as inter-ethnic communication increases further.'<br /><br />Speaking only from a American perspective, who worked in Singapore for several years, I disagree with the approach of being Tri-Lingual[Gov'tMDHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01527394500298962334noreply@blogger.com