No dilution of Mother Tongue's importance & exam weightage?

I agree and support the Government’s decision of making no dilution to the Mother Tongue language’s importance. By giving the subject an equal weightage as other subjects, is a wise move I feel. Even though the issue of reducing the Mother Tongue’s weightage was first aroused by a potential group of English-speaking parents, who argued the penalization to pupils who excel in all subjects but Mother Tongue, but still the idea of reducing its weightage is definitely not the solution to the nation’s struggle with Mother Tongue and it does not benefit the nation too.

Bilingualism is vital and essential as our competence in it will enable us to gain advantage in the 21st century globalized world economy today and also gives the people an identity.
MR. THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION emphasized on this when he gave a speech on Saturday, 27 August 2005 at the SPH NEWS CENTRE saying “Bilingualism confers on us a special advantage, both as an economy and as a people. The economic advantages are well known. But it is not just functional competency in a language that we aim to achieve. Bilingualism allows us to retain our distinctiveness as a people - our sense of identity and pride in who we are. Bilingualism will help us keep our competitive edge, as well as help us remain cohesive and confident as a society.”

In an article called “A NEW WORLD ECONOMY” from BUSINESS WEEK.COM, shows that China and India are becoming the next leading Asian giants that will integrate with the rest of the world. It states, “China and India, by contrast, possess the weight and dynamism to transform the 21st-century global economy. The closest parallel to their emergence is the saga of 19th-century America, a huge continental economy with a young, driven workforce that grabbed the lead in agriculture, apparel, and the high technologies of the era, such as steam engines, the telegraph, and electric lights. Also, given their young populations, high savings, and the sheer amount of catching up they still have to do, most economists figure China and India possess the fundamentals to keep growing in the 7%-to-8% range for decades.” These statements shows us how huge the opportunity that our people have with cooperating with these two nations. Therefore, learning and mastering our own Mother Tongue language and encouraging our younger generations to do so is definitely a need.


Besides the importance of how Bilingualism can help us be all-rounded, the reason why I agree to the no dilution in Mother tongue language is also because I feel that many people are actually concerned about the problem and ultimately does not want to resort to lowering the weightage.
In an article "MOTHER TONGUE, THE WAY FORWARD" in TODAY ONLINE, PRIME MINISTER LEE HSIEN LOONG had mentioned, "I see a positive side in the public responses. There has been agitation and there has been fear and I think we need to calm this down. But there has also been strong support for the Mother Tongues languages which in fact reflects the success of our bilingual policy." Deep down, many Singaporeans actually wants postive and effective solution to this problem.

In conclusion, i feel that the importance and standards of Mother Tongue should never be lowered. It not only gives us the advantage in the globalized world but also tells us our real identity and roots. Both factors are equally important to make us a better individual. I strongly feel that lowering the weightage of the subject is a sign of escape from the problem. We should all the more support the Government's plans of making new educational implements, changes and approaches to the language and strive for a better attitude to learn and master our Mother Tongue.

COMMENTED BY: REBECCA HO TSUEY ZHEN (107063N)

Sources from:
http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/speeches/2005/sp20050827.htm http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_34/b3948401.htm http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC100512-0000151/Mother-Tongue,-the-way-forward