could.
#87. Replace English and Mandarin with Hokkien and Cantonese. English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil becomes Hokkien, Cantonese, Malay and Tamil. Sorry, Tamils, you are still last even though you were already last last time. At least now we'll get to see what your accents sound like in Hokkien. Or Tamil.
87 things S'poreans would do if Harry Lee left, if only they
Re: 87 things S'poreans would do if Harry Lee left, if only
After all, what is Singlish but a passive, classic kiasu compromise to dumping English for Hokkien? I mean Hokkien for English?
J/K.
J/K.
Re: 87 things S'poreans would do if Harry Lee left, if only
Harry Lee has left the building. But it will take a miracle of mammoth proportions to undo almost two generations of what I consider to be linguistic ethnic cleansing and brain-washing.
Re: 87 things S'poreans would do if Harry Lee left, if only
Left the building? No way! He's still MM Lee as far as I know. I think MM must stand for "Mothballed Minister"
Re: 87 things S'poreans would do if Harry Lee left, if only
Well, for what it’s worth...
Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew resigns http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13400296
Lee Kuan Yew steps down http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?id=18941
As the opening line goes in the 三國演義 Romance of the Three Kingdoms:
「話說天下大勢、分久必合、合久必分。」 Empires wax, empires wane.
Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew resigns http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13400296
Lee Kuan Yew steps down http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?id=18941
As the opening line goes in the 三國演義 Romance of the Three Kingdoms:
「話說天下大勢、分久必合、合久必分。」 Empires wax, empires wane.
Re: 87 things S'poreans would do if Harry Lee left, if only
Kámsiạ tạkgẻ.
It'll take a miracle! Yea, forsooth, maybe one day we'll step into the light rail station in Singapore and hear the Cantonese announcements following the Hokkien ones. Colloquial Cantonese and Hokkien with lots of un-Sino words that don't have a "right" kanji.
And let's not forget the Malay and Tamil!
For a city to run "official Cantonese" and "official Hokkien" at the same time? That would change Asia.
Now there's no officially Hokkien cities along the lines of a Hong Kong or a Macau, but in a way Penang is the closest thing. I don't know if U guys saw the loaded tweet about this in the other thread or not.
Three different Straits Settlements. Singapura and Labuhan turned off the tap, but Pulau Pinang kept the Hokkien running. Pulau Pinang punya kuasa! Dengan suasana bagus.
#86
Always call him Harry Lee, at least English and Singlish. It may take a generation to work up the courage.
It'll take a miracle! Yea, forsooth, maybe one day we'll step into the light rail station in Singapore and hear the Cantonese announcements following the Hokkien ones. Colloquial Cantonese and Hokkien with lots of un-Sino words that don't have a "right" kanji.
And let's not forget the Malay and Tamil!For a city to run "official Cantonese" and "official Hokkien" at the same time? That would change Asia.
Now there's no officially Hokkien cities along the lines of a Hong Kong or a Macau, but in a way Penang is the closest thing. I don't know if U guys saw the loaded tweet about this in the other thread or not.
Three different Straits Settlements. Singapura and Labuhan turned off the tap, but Pulau Pinang kept the Hokkien running. Pulau Pinang punya kuasa! Dengan suasana bagus.
#86
Always call him Harry Lee, at least English and Singlish. It may take a generation to work up the courage.
Re: 87 things S'poreans would do if Harry Lee left, if only
Well, Taiwan's Eva Air 長榮航空 does in-flight announcements in both Mandarin and Hoklo, and they even throw in Hakka for the pre-takeoff safety instructions. This one I definitely remember upon landing at Chiang Kai Shek International Airport:
各位貴賓、我儂【要】到「中正機場」、請縛安全帶好勢、感謝。
kok-ui kui-bin, gua-lang bue kau Tiong-Ciaⁿ Ki-Tiauⁿ, chiaⁿ pak an-cuan tua ho-se, kam-sia.
各位貴賓、我儂【要】到「中正機場」、請縛安全帶好勢、感謝。
kok-ui kui-bin, gua-lang bue kau Tiong-Ciaⁿ Ki-Tiauⁿ, chiaⁿ pak an-cuan tua ho-se, kam-sia.
Re: 87 things S'poreans would do if Harry Lee left, if only
I miss the Xiamen Hokkien announcement heard in Xiamen Airlines before.
人生路眞長，白鷺常湊陣 (tàu-tīn)。更再一每 (tsìt-pái) 感謝您乘坐廈門航空兮航班。飛機更置滑行，請您毋通拍開行李格 and so on......
人生路眞長，白鷺常湊陣 (tàu-tīn)。更再一每 (tsìt-pái) 感謝您乘坐廈門航空兮航班。飛機更置滑行，請您毋通拍開行李格 and so on......
Re: 87 things S'poreans would do if Harry Lee left, if only
Êⁿ? Where are the other 86? 
Singlish is indeed a "translation" of Hokkien (or Southern Chinese), English words with H/SC way of pronunciation and H/SC grammar, of course with some H/SC and Malay words too! Singaporean Mandarin usually also carries many H/SC terms & grammar, although the pronunciation is already a step closer to "Standard Mandarin" if compared to Malaysian or Indonesian Mandarin.
It's easier to get rid of Mandarin rather than English here, but both are quite "impossible" now. English is the lingua franca and the most acceptable language among different ethnics. Actually quite a lot of Chinese Singaporeans are complaining about PRC nationals here who cannot speak English. Nowadays what I hear about Mandarin's importance is always tied to the rise of PRC as a global power, and practically never to being Chinese. Following the tradition of Strait Chinese (Baba & Nyonya) who didn't feel less Chinese while speaking their version of Malay, many Chinese Singaporeans prefer to speak English/Singlish and do not see that as being less Chinese in the sense of 唐人 (and none that I know of want to be associated with PRC anyway, while ROC/TW is just another foreign country).
I'd be very happy if Hokkien (or a form of mixed Hokkien-Teochew as commonly found here) can be listed among official languages here and used in public announcements & media. If it is so, I believe Cantonese will demand it too, which is good also; not sure about other Chinese groups. Given the need of Singapore to survive as a transit city, English is always here to stay (unless English is no more the global lingua france). And Mandarin is useful still, can be taught as an important foreign language [much like English in Indonesia: though the result is not so good due to lack of good teachers and environment to practice, actually many Indonesians studied English since primary school or even kindergarten/nursery!].
I don't remember whether in plane or at 桃園 airport that I heard the announcement in Hoklo after Mandarin, much to my delight! Is it still continued now? How about in Xiamen or other places? Btw this remind me about KLIA having certain announcements in Malay, English & Japanese but no Mandarin/Cantonese. Some announcements that certain flight was going to take off soon had Mandarin though.
Singlish is indeed a "translation" of Hokkien (or Southern Chinese), English words with H/SC way of pronunciation and H/SC grammar, of course with some H/SC and Malay words too! Singaporean Mandarin usually also carries many H/SC terms & grammar, although the pronunciation is already a step closer to "Standard Mandarin" if compared to Malaysian or Indonesian Mandarin.
It's easier to get rid of Mandarin rather than English here, but both are quite "impossible" now. English is the lingua franca and the most acceptable language among different ethnics. Actually quite a lot of Chinese Singaporeans are complaining about PRC nationals here who cannot speak English. Nowadays what I hear about Mandarin's importance is always tied to the rise of PRC as a global power, and practically never to being Chinese. Following the tradition of Strait Chinese (Baba & Nyonya) who didn't feel less Chinese while speaking their version of Malay, many Chinese Singaporeans prefer to speak English/Singlish and do not see that as being less Chinese in the sense of 唐人 (and none that I know of want to be associated with PRC anyway, while ROC/TW is just another foreign country).
I'd be very happy if Hokkien (or a form of mixed Hokkien-Teochew as commonly found here) can be listed among official languages here and used in public announcements & media. If it is so, I believe Cantonese will demand it too, which is good also; not sure about other Chinese groups. Given the need of Singapore to survive as a transit city, English is always here to stay (unless English is no more the global lingua france). And Mandarin is useful still, can be taught as an important foreign language [much like English in Indonesia: though the result is not so good due to lack of good teachers and environment to practice, actually many Indonesians studied English since primary school or even kindergarten/nursery!].
I don't remember whether in plane or at 桃園 airport that I heard the announcement in Hoklo after Mandarin, much to my delight! Is it still continued now? How about in Xiamen or other places? Btw this remind me about KLIA having certain announcements in Malay, English & Japanese but no Mandarin/Cantonese. Some announcements that certain flight was going to take off soon had Mandarin though.
Re: 87 things S'poreans would do if Harry Lee left, if only
It reminds me of the end of a horror film when they think they have finally killed the zombie. The picture in the article looks a bit like that too.Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew resigns http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13400296
Lee Kuan Yew steps down http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?id=18941