Bilingual Policy In Singapore

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Effects of Singapore’s bilingual policy The late Reverend Father Edward Becheras, founder of Catholic High School, once said: ‘The way of Catholic High School is a way made of two rails — Chinese and English — those who follow... shall obtain the scope of a sound education’. In a multiracial country such as Singapore however, there probably exist more than two rails given that our four official languages are English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil. The diverse nature of these languages therefore make it imperative that a small nation such as ours adopt a policy of bilingualism – insisting that students are adequately adept in both the English language and a mother tongue. Having come such a long way since independence, this policy is not without its effects. Unquestionably, it has brought the nation economic success. Yet, this has come at the expense of the richness of our diverse culture that is so unique to us. By remaining steadfast in its bilingual policy, not only has it led to the dilution of our culture, it has inevitably brought about the widening of generation gap and ironically, the inability of a student to master a mother tongue. Being a tiny island bereft of natural resources at its disposal, Singapore can only rely on its people in order to advance and progress. As such, it is vital that our only resource be proficient in not just their mother tongue but the English language too. With English being the lingua franca, it can help facilitate with communication with fellow citizens and foreign investors alike. The early years of Singapore’s independence were turbulent and one wrought with racial riots. Having just been separated from Malaysia, we were still searching for a sense of self and an identity. The implementation of the bilingual policy thus stemmed from this search for unity and the need to break down language barriers that exists
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