Stem decline in use of Chinese language here....

Two decades ago, if you were to board a bus and you encountered a group of students from Chinese High School or Nanyang Girls' School, you would not fail to notice that they all converse in Mandarin. But today, they have switched to English, which is not their mother tongue, and the steady decline of spoken Chinese in Singapore is noticeable. While other countries have displayed fervour in learning Chinese, we have a slow erosion of the language at our doorstep.

To me, to give up learning Chinese, which is the mother tongue of the majority race in Singapore, is equivalent to being bereaved of our roots. This distinctive language has one of the longest histories in the world, with which only those who come close in contact with can appreciate the magnificence and exquisiteness of it. It is a waste indeed to lose the splendor to be aware of where we really came from, the glory of our ancestors and the bona fide identity of ourselves.

So, where actually does the core of this problem lie? From what I see, it could be the over-emphasis of the English language as the universal and must-know language so as to survive in the modern world. For many years, the government has been trying to encourage and promote the usage of Standard English, in the hope that Singaporeans will have an edge over others in terms of communication ability when they venture overseas. However, with the rise of China at the moment, which may prove to be an even larger economy with tons more opportunities, Singaporeans should not neglect the necessity to be once again acquainted with our very own language, the Chinese language. If English can bring us far in the future, Chinese can definitely bring us further.

In rejoinder to this essential, the government has actively propped up the erudition of Chinese, especially in schools. The new Chinese 'B' syllabus introduced aims to assist those who are extremely weak in the language, in order not to erode their interest for Chinese. While the government has played their part to help, we as Chinese should also keep up with their efforts. At the end of the day, the onus is on us to have the passion for the language, given that the path has already been laid for us in a more interesting and friendly manner now.

When all's said and done, it is really up to us, Singaporean Chinese, to salvage our language and culture, and to pass the light on to our future generations.