Four-five rocks!

9 December 2008
Linguists speak up for Singlish
The Straits Time, Part B – Home

About the article:
More than 40 academics worldwide have published research papers/books on Singapore English (Singlish) after being drawn by the evolving nature of it. They say that it is very valuable as a living tongue that is evolving all the time and it reflects the multicltural liguistic background of our country. An academic state that Singlish and standard English can and do co-exist. There is no evidence that Slinglish affect standard English in a negative way.

Thoughts:
When I first read this article, I was surprised that many people from other countries (English, especially) are so interested in Singlish. To us, it is just another ‘language’ we speak everyday. However, they see it as something very special. In Singapore, there are basically four different languages – Mandarin, Malay, Tamil and English. These four languages are completely unrelated, but we can make Singlish out of it. It is Singlish that bond Singaporeans together. When you go overseas and come upon a person speaking Singlish, you will know it immediately that he is a Singaporean. Singlish is not a language to be picked up easily for people speaking standard English. Thus, it is very special to us, Singaporeans!

Jolene Chia.