For subscribers
Keeping the mother tongues alive: Singapore's bilingual challenge
Pragmatic concerns underlie language attitudes. Using the mother tongue at home and attracting youth are key, observers tell Insight
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
ST PHOTO: GIN TAY
Tee Zhuo
Follow topic:
"Logically, the decision is obvious. Emotionally, the choice is painful."
That was how then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew described the "stark choice" of pairing English with Mandarin, and not other dialects, in bilingual policy at the launch of the Speak Mandarin Campaign in 1979.
