Tuesday, May 12, 2009
:) My Singapore
current mood: lethargic
National day is not around the corner, but I have a major urge to blog about my homeland.
As times goes by, we are bombarded with faces around us that we know are not from our homeland. They come into this less-than-700m2 –piece-of-land, made it like their own, dragging their families around, registered their names as a Permanent Residents(PR) of Singapore and are employed here on a full time basis.
The reason that I am blogging is to express my undeniably strong hatred for one group of such foreign talents (only because I am this polite) who are dumb enough to work in a position that requires ENGLISH as a medium for conversations when they cannot utter a single simple word of it.
Simple English like,
“I want one Oreo Crush with jelly and one Chocolate Oreo with pearls please. Thank you,” you would reckon they would understand (plus it being in the Menu) you would have expected them to jump right off their seats and whip us up our drinks.
But NO; they stood there asking you over and over, what flavoured drink you asked for, speaking to you in simple MANDARIN plus some English words like “Chocolate” , “Oreo” and/or “pearls or jelly”, with hopes that you could at least understand part of what they are asking.
Yes, majority of the citizen in my homeland is Chinese. But what makes the country’s official language Mandarin, or any other language for that matter. We live in society that most are proud to call, multi-racial. If so, why the language barrier? Were we not thought to speak the good English when we were younger? Yet when we are out there, in the real world, these foreign talents refuse to learn speaking in simple English before their employment and trouble us non-Mandarin speaking citizens with this language barrier. Then why did we painstakingly learn grammar, vocabulary or adjective for that matter? Is it not important for employers to hire employees who have some basic knowledge of English – especially when the employment is in Central Business District area?
Many movements and such are brought about by citizens here about the importance of being understood in Mandarin. How about a new one? Be understood in SIMPLE English, just for the foreign talents out there.
Yes, even my English language is not perfect. But truth be told, I am easily understood by many around me. Good English = being understood NOT good Mandarin = being understood.
My country is Singapore. With a population of more than 4 million, and mostly, English speaking citizen, I think its time the government emphasize on the importance of speaking good English; especially PR and anyone working here.
I strongly believe that when you work in a shop, retail or F&B, you are the ambassadors of Singapore to the tourists arriving. It’s a pity if they look down upon us, just because these foreign talents can neither understand nor communicate to them in simple English.
And I have yet to blog about my utterly disgusted point of view of some retail assistant. &Trust me, shops with Singapore Service Star stickers are where you can get the best retail experience.
UNO, I know that even if no one agrees with me, you will. Right? :)
Dear World, let’s all improve our language skills. PLEASE.
`fimaaa
❤ imperfectly written at 4:13 PM
