October 6, 2021

Singapore’s Speak Mandarin Campaign was launched on 7^th September 1979 by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The campaign was part of broader efforts to effectively implement the state’s bilingual education policy which aimed to promote the usage of English and one of the state’s official mother tongues. Chinese Singaporeans were encouraged to replace their usage of dialects with Mandarin. The campaign proved to be successful. However, critics have pointed out that the success of Speak Mandarin Campaign also had the unintended consequence of reducing the number of dialect speakers and erasing the history and cultural significance of dialects in the collective memory of Singapore.

In ‘Hokkien as a Heritage Language of Citizenry in Singapore’ (Issues in Language Studies, 2020), Lecturer Jyh Wee Sew (NUS Centre for Language Studies) argues that learning Hokkien cultivates a collective resilience to the personal and individual challenges encountered in our everyday realities. Through the analysis of a contemporary Taiwanese variety show that employs Hokkien as a medium of communication, he asserts that Hokkien has the potential to nurture effective citizenry in Singapore.

As a lecturer at the NUS Centre for Language Studies, Mr Sew has observed an increased interest in Chinese dialects as evidenced by the demand for language modules focusing on teaching spoken Hokkien. Dialects continue to be used in everyday life in Singapore. However, Singapore risks losing the dialects and by extension, their cultural significance, if there continues to be a decrease in dialect speakers in successive generations of Singaporeans. Riding on the increased interest in dialects, he notes that teaching younger Singaporeans how to communicate in Chinese dialects could reverse the erasure of a significant part of Singapore’s collective memory, allow younger generations to participate in local history, and supplement the linguistic hegemony of Mandarin with a cultural understanding of Singapore’s spoken dialects.

With a focus on Hokkien, Mr Sew demonstrates how speaking a dialect gives speakers access to a range of cultural ideals, norms, and mores that collectively contribute to the common good. He highlights this by elucidating the ways in which Hokkien proverbs can be relied on to transmit values such as resilience and self-confidence, and shows that these values could in turn supplement state discourse on public values. Mr Sew frames the instruction of Hokkien as something that could potentially enrich citizenry in Singapore and benefit the state.

The article also raises examples of Hokkien proverbs and discusses how they could benefit the individual and the state. For instance, the proverb “Each blade of grass begets a dew; great effort begets the future. Be prepared for the future”alludes to the importance of hard work as a basis for a brighter future. Mr Sew draws parallels between this proverb’s intended meaning and Singapore’s public discourse on self-improvement and its commitment to the principles of meritocracy. To emphasize the value of Hokkien proverbs as a resource to strengthen state discourse, he compares how the values they espouse are aligned with the mission statement and values of the Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth.

Mr Sew concludes that the heritage status of Hokkien and other spoken dialects risks becoming a historical memory if the state chooses not to intervene. If this occurs, then Singapore loses ways of thinking and being that these dialects afford its people. As a result, Singaporeans may lose important ways of engaging in civic and national education, promoting values of self-improvement, resilience, and confidence, and contributing to the common good. He advocates for the promotion of Chinese dialects by highlighting the potential benefits state intervention could bring to Singapore and the public good.

Read the article here!