Ramp up learning of national language

WHAT Mr Teo Kok Seah wrote struck a chord with me ("Understand anthem to appreciate profound meaning"; last Saturday).

While we hold the National Anthem dear to our hearts, how many of us know exactly what we are singing?

I was watching an international game show on TV recently and was embarrassed when two foreign participants on a scavenger hunt of sorts in Singapore found it hard to find 10 people who could sing Majulah Singapura.

It is timely to reflect on our lack of proficiency in Bahasa Melayu, our national language.

Much has been said about the importance of the language for political, economic and social reasons, given that we are a nation located in the heart of a Malay-speaking region ("Big Idea No. 5: Speak the national language"; June 14).

Much can be done to ramp up the teaching and learning of Bahasa Melayu.

The Ministry of Education could consider introducing a non-examinable basic conversational Malay programme into the primary school curriculum.

Also, MediaCorp could incorporate English subtitles into more of its Malay programmes, while The Straits Times could introduce a "Learn Malay" column in its Life! section, like what it did years ago to promote the learning of Mandarin.

The People's Association could work with the National Trades Union Congress, Singapore National Employers Federation and the various chambers of commerce to bring Malay-language courses to the workplace.

Even the Singapore Armed Forces and Singapore Civil Defence Force could teach more of their national servicemen the language, given their interactions with their counterparts from Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

For a nation that prides itself on achieving progress, it has been an uncharacteristically slow learning journey for Bahasa Melayu, but it is still not too late to ramp up Singaporeans' knowledge of the language if we set our hearts and minds to it. Majulah Singapura!

Edwin Pang
ST Forum, 15 Aug 2014

Understand anthem to appreciate profound meaning

SINGAPORE'S birthday celebrations present an opportune moment for us to really learn and understand the lyrics of our National Anthem.

School children all over the island sing the anthem daily, but we can hardly conceal the fact that a significant proportion of Singaporeans do not understand the lyrics.

For instance, how many adults and children really understand the meanings of "rakyat" (people), "bahagia" (happiness) and "bejaya" (success)?

Merely mouthing the lyrics is akin to going through the motions.

In order to fully appreciate the beauty and profound meaning behind our National Anthem, we have to learn the rudiments of Bahasa Melayu, our national language, as advocated recently by Professor Kishore Mahbubani ("Big Idea No. 5: Speak the national language"; June 14).

To this end, national broadcasters should insert English, Chinese and Tamil subtitles when televising the National Anthem on TV daily.

Teo Kok Seah
ST Forum, 9 Aug 2014