Reading, writing in mother tongue 'equally important'
Speak Mandarin Campaign's first chairman says being able to speak well is not enough
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As the first chairman of the Speak Mandarin Campaign in 1979, former politician Ow Chin Hock was given a daunting task by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to replace all Chinese dialects with Mandarin as the unifying language of Chinese Singaporeans.
Despite considerable resistance on the ground, the campaign has met with much success over the years, with the support of Chinese trade and clan associations as well as the media.
