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I REFER to the letter, 'It's Singapore, serve us in English first, please', by Miss Ellouisa Chen (May 3). I am shocked that she thinks that just because this is Singapore, she should be greeted in English by sales assistants in a boutique.
Serving customers in English does not make the service more professional at all as Singapore is not a Western country.
Not all Singaporeans are at ease conversing in English. Some would rather converse in Mandarin, Malay, or other languages.
Just because Singapore is a cosmopolitan country does not mean we should converse with customers only in English.
A salesperson should first assess whether a customer would rather speak English or Mandarin before speaking in the preferred language. That is how cosmopolitanism should be defined - fluency in both languages and not merely pleasing English speakers.
A Chinese customer would obviously be expected to be at ease in Mandarin - not only by foreign staff but also by Singaporeans.
Singapore permanent residents who come from Asian countries make up about 18 per cent of Singapore's population. Furthermore, a majority of Singaporeans are Chinese.
We cannot assume that all Chinese Singaporeans come from English-speaking backgrounds.
So, while I agree that frontline staff should at least master the rudiments of English, it is ridiculous to say that sales assistants should always serve in English.
Carol Lim (Miss)
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