Day Six. (Freakin' blogger wouldn't allow me to have line spacings)

I blew it.

My throat is in excruciating pain.
I find utmost arduousness in speaking per se.

Perhaps it's some sort of like, tonsil infection, like what my friend once had before.
I truly believe this to be not just an ordinary case of sore throat.
¶
I'd better get it examined.
¶
-
¶
I found a 'Today' newspaper lying on the floor of my room.

It was a 5th May issue, and why the blazes would I have such an OUTDATED and UNREAD issue lying on the ground haphazardly pretty much gives you an idea of how organized my room is.

So I chanced upon this... particularly intriguing article, and I'm here to share it with you.
¶
-
¶

ENGLISH, CHINESE OR ROJAK?

The perennial concern has been the falling standard of English language competency, and Singlish has been singled out as the major culprit. The problem is compounded by pro-Singlish arguments about forging a unique Singaporean identity in our manner of speech and preservation of roots and culture.

¶

If Singlish is all about the kiasu and the lah, it is not a problem. But when Singlish endorses bad English, it explains why there is so much disquietude.

¶

To address the problem, we have to begin by being able to tell the difference between expressions such as "I don't like char kuay teow with hum, lah" and "I no like char kway teow, inside got hum one."

If, apart from bad English, Singlish is also frowned upon because of the wide use of mother tongue expressions, would the teaching of dialects, therefore, compound the perceived problem?

¶

Even among the Chinese Singaporeans themselves, a new Anglo-Chinese tongue - unlike Singlish - is fast evolving. A typical example of this Anglo-Chinese communication goes like this: "Ni de office zai na li?" (Where's your office?) "Zai Raffles Place, Hen kao jing MRT station." (It's located at Raffles Place, pretty near to the MRT station.)

¶

Will the marrying of two major languages in time come to pose similar problems as Singlish, though the issue is not one of grammar and structure? In a way, we can proud that Singapore has become truly bilingual. But the downside is that we may end up mastering neither language, conveniently borrowing expressions from one or the other to make up for our inadequacies.

¶

-

¶

And that's the end of it.

Shall end here (took me long enough).

Peace out~