because of the 'elistist' attitude in the letter. remember charles chong and mere mortals?

Although there's no dialect in Malay, I'm fully supportive of the teaching of dialects. It's part of our culture. Let's uphold it!

Its not about the teaching but to completely bar dialects is .... with the added word Stupid.

are they really banning the use of dialects? im in favour of not spending resources TEACHING dialects. it's something we learn on our own

80% of the people with the Dialect Hokkien on their NRIC cannot speak Hokkien. Are we really learning on our own?

Actually it wasn't such a big issue... it was the word Stupid that was used that caused such an uproar.

but my question is, why do we need to learn dialects in schools aka academic institutions?

i won't go so far as to call it stupid, i love culture. but i don't think it is feasible in today's globalised context.

yeah.. but that's what the letter's sort of about right? i think it misunderstood the NTU study, and dumbly pissed everybody off

I wouldn't mind attending a dialect class. Why not an elective?

I think its because of the stupid reason they give

Wa hokkien puppet opera... dying.

if it's an ungraded elective, perhaps. our young are stressed out enough.

so what's next? do we think that the govt. is killing a dialect, simply not doing enough to save it? or is it up to us to preserve it?

i don't think the govt is trying to kill dialects off, but have i mistaken the reactions of Singaporeans that they are angry with the

government for this reason?

or are we angry with the government for replying in an unsavoury way?

nope. I'm not angry with gahmen. I am fedup with the way this guy put it.

xtralicious * lycan2046 points taken and agreed on. Thanks for the clarification -)

They did ban all media from airing dialects in 1979?

since 1979...

I may not agree with gahmen policies. but I didn't think there's a better way to implement it.

they also banned guys from having long hair in the 70s. Singapore had no rock culture in the 70s

xtralicious yah.. haha, Kevin Mathews was telling me

Yep. they ban it when I was still in Pri 2 or 3.

xtralicious hahaha.. dont worry, me too.. but in Singapore, subversion is probably better than open activism.. shhhhh

hahaha.. long hair = rocknroll = drugs = potheads = economy goes to the dogs

very long term thinking leh

kitaro was banned from entry becos of his long hair.

serious? i thought he performed in the 90s?

maybe need to google that.

I firmly believe that this issue needs discussion not dictation.

people should come at this from all sides, as opposed to come straight into a anti-PAP gov't trying to destroy us standpoint