Singlish

Proud or ashamed?

This is a topic that has already been overdebated, overdiscussed, yet highly overlooked. So much so that its been taken as a safety net to encompass laziness, distorted creativity and without a clear idea of what is right anymore.

Singlish isn't wrong. I never felt it was.. its our most comfortable way of speaking and it represents a mix of languages and dialects, not possible in any other country. Nothing is wrong unless it is measured up to a 'standard'.

But the very fact that we call it 'singlish'.. it does mean that the origin still lies very much in the english language. Unless it is a language of our very own, somewhat like korean or japanese, then can we say that we shouldn't try to compare singlish to standard english.

Here's how wikipedia defines it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singlish

Singaporeans have so often been laughed at for speaking and writing bad english. True, we are free and simply not wrong to speak singlish as we like in our daily lives, but we do not live as frogs in a well. We live as part of a larger world - a world where there is something called standard english.

We have been taught to be proud of our own language. And truly, that has been the way for quite a while now. However, it has become the excuse for another type of language that I'll prefer to call, 'bad singlish' - where new spellings for words are invented, where grammar is incomprehensible, where everything is shortchanged.

I'm seeing new inventions almost everyday. Yes, the government would love for us to be more creative, but probably.. not in this manner.

In the words of how someone was dissed in a foreign forum, I would also love to say "will it kill you to write in proper english?" "is it tiring for your fingers to finish spelling a word?"

Its really scary looking at how the new generation speaks and writes. How will it be like when its my turn to send my kids to school, knowing that the new generation of teachers can't speak and write any language correctly.

As I emphasize again, Singlish is not wrong. It is part of our culture. But it has become abused and distorted.

Anyway, an interesting forum that I came across...
http://www.bebeyond.com/Forum/Profile/Jeames.html

If you are bored, feel free to have a read =)