A fortnight ago Felicia and I spoke to Kelvin about planning and executing a project of our own. To be honest I still haven’t got a concrete plan about what to propose, but I’m still obstinate about doing something related to social journalism :) So here’s my first research report! And probably my last too since we are leaving CDC soon. Perhaps, just perhaps, Danny might want to consider publishing this on Voices? Yes, Danny?

Rock the See-Saw

It’s time to tip the scales in favour of our dialects

In a rural school in Norfolk, England, the battle to revive the local dialect has gained accreditation for its growing success. As pupils eagerly learn the semantics of words such as ‘tittermatorter’ (which means seesaw in English), plans to continue the program are underway even as the funds allocated are running dry.

9759 miles across the globe, in sunny island-state Singapore, the government remains intransigent on its policy to restrict the use of dialect, despite several calls to liberalize the policy all these years. While concessions are made occasionally to serve the needs of the elderly and the arts community, ‘such concessions should not undermine our Speak Mandarin campaign,’ insists the Senior Minister of State.

It took a national crisis to jolt the government into realizing the limitations of its dialect policy. When SARS struck the country in 2003, it became clear that certain groups of Singaporeans were denied access to accurate information about the lethal disease, due to their inability to understand English and Mandarin. Concessions were made; Information on SARS was conveyed in the common local dialects on TV. And yet, as memories of the harrowing episode fade, the plight of these people who were once neglected remains cul-de-sac.

Dialect remains as an obstinate language barrier, between those who have no inkling how to speak the language (mainly the youths) and those who cannot speak in any other tongue (mainly the elderly). The problem is particularly acute in certain sectors in society that have close contact with the elderly, such as the medical and social service fields. Hospital managements have had to roster some dialect-speaking nurses to be on a given shift to make sure doctors and patients understand each other.

The overly-stringent policy may also be the cause of the demise of the local culture associated with the dialect. Dialect operas hardly interest youths beyond a quick glance and an uninterested shrug. Dubbing of movies that contain dialect has also resulted in some confusing, if not ridiculous, translations where the original meanings become distorted. No wonder members from the Programme Advisory Committee, who were once staunch supporters of the dialect policy, are starting to feel uncomfortable.

This hints that there is a need for a more long-term, sustainable policy on the use of dialect, instead of merely making concessions whenever the need arises. A well thought-out plan would make our society more inclusive to the group of Singaporeans that can only communicate in dialect, and effectively address the problems of the disappearing dialect arts scene. And with some luck, some of us may even know how ‘see-saw’ is pronounced in dialect.

*Survey is carried out on 20 youths between the age of 16 to 25