A Common Language ?

At the dinner last Thursday, the banker next to me started talking about LKY.

He had met LKY in 2004 and he was seated next to him at a dinner. He was then a senior banker at Citibank. They used to organise an annual global thought leaders program and they have previously invited George Bush, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. That year they had invited LKY.

LKY had at that dinner said that the government in 1965 had to focus on 4 key things to make Singapore work. One of them was to ensure that there was a common language spoken and understood by all Singaporeans which would be English.

I was reflecting on this yesterday. When I was in school, primary school education was compulsory and we were all taught in English.

But I was sitting across a Chinese woman yesterday at Toast Box, who was clearly Singaporean who could not speak a word of English to me, even though she wanted to communicate. And this is not an isolated incident. There are many Singaporeans and especially the older ones of all races who cannot speak English. How did that happen?

Dif they not go to school? What did they learn in school or did they simply forget the language? Strange.

If this was meant to be a key principle underlying Singapore’s growth, then surely it has been a flop. There are many Singaporeans who cannot communicate in English. So how would Singaporeans communicate with each other?

The problem is now compounded by the fact that we now have brought in so many foreigners who cannot speak English. I have been to restaurants, especially Chinese restaurants, and the staff cannot speak a word of English.

It is strange no one talks about this in Singapore. Many countries now insist on language skills before they are allowed a work visa. In our case I suppose knowing a official language without English will suffice?