We have moved to the US almost 20 years ago. How has the time flown so quickly!! I distinctly remembered that dark and cold winter when we first arrived and settled in Los Angeles from sunny and warm Singapore.
Many people asked me what prompted us to make such a drastic move to uproot the whole family from the comforts of our home in Singapore but need must…because at that time, Mandarin was an important language to master before anyone can think of being accepted into the colleges in Singapore. Suddenly, all the Chinese school going children are faced with the added pressure of compulsory learning of the Mandarin language in school.
The Speak Mandarin was launched by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on September 7, 1979, with the aim of simplifying the language environment and improving communication among Chinese Singaporeans.
Singapore adopted a bilingual education policy in 1966, where English was promoted as a first language to ensure that the country would keep up with the global economy. Besides English, students studied their respective mother tongues – Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil to remain in touch with their cultures and heritage. However, it was reported that many Chinese still preferred to speak dialects, such as Hokkien and it was believed that the use of dialects diluted the bilingual education policy. Parliamentary Secretary to the then Ministry of culture, Ow Chin Hock, cautioned that if the trend continued, the Chinese community would become an English and dialect-speaking one, with Mandarin becoming a minority language. Ow stressed the importance of communicating with Chinese speaking people from other countries as well as its economic advantage.
In August 1979, a committee – comprising representatives from the press, cultural and educational bodies, industrial and commercial trade affiliates, as well as clan associations – was formed to oversee the launch of the Speak Mandarin Campaign. It was tasked to coordinate the plans and activities of these various groups and to avoid the duplication of programs. The Speak Mandarin Campaign was launched with the following aims in mind:
a. To simplify the language environment for Chinese Singaporeans;
b. To improve communication and understanding among Chinese Singaporeans; and
c. To create a Mandarin-speaking environment conducive to the successful implementation of the bilingual education program.
The initial target audience of the campaign were Chinese Singaporeans, to encourage them to speak Mandarin instead of dialects so as to help them better appreciate their culture and heritage. The goal of the campaign was for Mandarin to become the common language for Chinese Singaporeans within 10 to 20 years, which the government hoped to achieve through joint efforts from civic, commercial and other organizations in promoting the use of the language.
It has become a nightmare for English speaking families who had to grapple with the compulsory Mandarin language as a subject in all levels in schools. Singaporeans are well known to be very competitive, even amongst themselves. So, overnight, it was very lucrative to be a Mandarin tutor as parents want to make sure that their children, not only make the grade but excel in schools and not ‘lose out.”
It was unfortunate that my younger daughter fell victim to the very unforgiving education system in Singapore. There are no second chances and if one does not make the grade, it will be practically a career suicide even before one has left school, let alone start a career!! Yes, it is that bad and sad.
So, from then on, there was a steady exodus of English speaking Singaporeans who had the opportunity to seek greener pastures (with lesser peer pressure) overseas. We are one of those families. Do follow me on our move to the United States in 2000 under the “USA Blog”
It was a whole new world for us in the US and we are now all happily settled in our adopted country and my two girls have settled down with families of their own. I am happy to say that my children have carved a niche for themselves in the US. If we hadn’t made the move, It would have been a “pressure cooker society” which they will be all growing up in. Personally, I have no regrets. It was definitely not an easy ride for Singapore to be coming from a third world to a first world country in just 5 decades. Somewhere has got to let and it is in the quality of life of most Singaporeans. There is NO LIFE!!
The adults are working many long hours (sometimes during weekends) and their children are overscheduled in all their extracurricular activities before and after school. It was not the life that I have envisioned for my three children. Now that they are all grown, I am so glad that I had made that sacrifice to move out of my comfort zone for more opportunities and a better future for them.
It is by no mean feat for them all. My eldest daughter is a scientist (cancer research) my younger daughter is an assistant city attorney and my only son is a freshman in UC Berkeley major in Engineering.
Follow me as my family and I have embarked on a new journey in the US.
Cheers!