Speaking Chinese

There has been a lot of discussion in Singapore recently about how the Chinese language (Mandarin, basically) should be taught in schools. It was sparked two weeks ago by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s acknowledgement that the Government had made a mistake by teaching the Chinese language at standards that are too high.

Before I go on, you’ll need to know a few basic facts:

1. The bilingual policy in Singapore schools since I was a kid dictates that your first language is English (all subjects are taught in it) and you must learn a second language, which is chosen according to your race (in general, if you’re Chinese, you learn Chinese, if you’re Malay, you learn Malay and if you’re Indian, you learn Tamil. Those are the major races in Singapore, if you’re something else you can learn whatever you want). They call our second language our mother tongue.

2. There are several different langauges spoken in households, the main ones being English, Mandarin, Tamil and Malay. Some families speak only one of the languages at home and some use a smattering of a few (including Mandarin dialects).

3. Kids who come from households that speak only English or mainly English and go to school with other kids with that same background, for lack of practice at home, are often pretty bad at their second language despite having to learn it from the age of 7 up til 18(myself and most of my friends included).

To make sure the kids now who are mainly English speakers become more effectively bilingual, the Government wants to take a “tailored approach” and concentrate on teaching them to listen, speak and read in the language, rather than write. The idea being that learning to write in Chinese is too hard and so has hindered the grasp of the entire language for some of us.

The discussion has led some to criticise Chinese teachers, which led to my friend Melanie’s post.

Melanie blogged about her struggle with learning Chinese in school and the East-West cultural divide in the Singapore society whereby:

a) My [English-speaking] friends take pride in how hopeless they are in Chinese (no guesses as to which schools they are from). Inversely, there is this subconscious condescension towards people who speak predominantly Chinese. Damn post-colonial hangups.

b) My [Chinese-speaking] friends totally cringe when I attempt to speak in Chinese with them. There is this disdain of my “alien [western-ness]” and lack of pride/knowledge of my “roots”.

While living in Singapore, I felt both that inexplicable condescension towards Chinese-speaking Singaporeans and the conflicting shame of not being able to speak Mandarin fluently (and with the right accent), despite being ethnically Chinese. Today, however, I’m questioning my embarrassment (I already know the former attitude is dumb).

At home, among Singaporeans, I identified myself as Chinese. But since coming to America, I’ve had to reevaluate that identity to distinguish myself from Chinese nationals (especially after visiting China on a work trip and realising I had no connection whatsoever to the “motherland” and her people). I have come to the conclusion that I am more Singaporean than I am Chinese. In fact, I’m not even sure I know exactly what it means to be Chinese beyond what it is to be Asian.

My family moved to the Southeast Asian region (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore) several generations ago and assimilated with the local Malay culture. I don’t know of any relatives who still live in China. The traditional food we have at Chinese New Year is always Peranakan (a result of Malay-Chinese influences). None of my living elders speak Mandarin (that includes my grandparents). Both my grandmas, who were born in the region, are effectively polygots– they speak English, Malay and a few Mandarin dialects but not Mandarin itself. I communicate with them in English. My parents can also speak those languages and the barest minimum of Mandarin but are predominantly English speakers.

To get really literal, if my own mother doesn’t speak Mandarin, how can I call that my mother tongue? Why should Chinese be my enforced second language?

I was wondering about whether I would want my kids (if I have them) to be able to speak Chinese fluently. And I came to the conclusion that it’s more important to me that they understand and are able to speak Singlish (our brand of English infused with words from Malay, Tamil, Mandarin dialect and various other locally spoken languages) than anything else. Because that, and not Mandarin, is an integral part of my identity. And being able to speak my supposed mother tongue fluently is less a cultural marker for me than it is a possible economic advantage.