Since the results of the logo design competition. prizes to the - PDF document

gives me great pleasure to be here It this afternoon to award Since the results of the logo design competition. prizes to the winners were announced lost month, the winning logo has become a familiar sight many, keeping the Mandarin-speaking to message very much alive. This together with other competition, competitions held in connection with the Promote the Use of Mandarin Campaign, is part of the national publicity to help our people understand the significance, scope and objectives campaign. and of the As a result, the initial fear, anxiety campaign misgivings among many English-educated Chinese concerning the have been largely removed, particularly two TV forums given after the a few are still sceptical by the Prime Minister recently, Only the main objective But publicity alone, however, cannot achieve which is to make Manderin the common language of of the campaign, moterialize with the communication among This con only the Chinese. creation of a Mondarin-speaking environment for Chinese Singaporeans - home, in the markets, hawker centres and shops. Efforts should now at and speaking of focus on the learning Mandarin. Hence, the Mandarin classes being run by the Ministry of Culture, boards, the NTUC, statutory In terms of statistics, some 3,300 Civil and the People’s Assocation. Mandarin classes at 23 centres thrice weekly while servants are attending at Association's 47 community at the People’s centres, 51 Mandarin classes have been or will be organised for over 800 participants. *

3 course for civil As far as the Mandarin servants is concerned, the results have been more than satisfactory. A recent survey shows that the majority of the participants were highly motivated, adopting Q positive attitude towards the course. A questionnaire survey on attitudes end expectations conducted on 1,703 particpants in 62 Mandarin classes (Ok 56% of th e total participants) reveals that 85% were pleased to attend the course while about 75% felt that the course Was useful to them. In fact, the response to such courses has been very encouraging; even to dote, the Ministry of Culture still receives requests from the various ministries for the enrolment of their officers. In view of this, my a Ministry will approach the Ministry of Finance to consider increasing the number of these classes. In planning Mandarin courses in the future, we will take into consider&ion some of the observations we made on the present course participants A pre-course evoluation of the Mandarin proficiency of a random sample shows that many of them hod no difficulty of 457 officers, in listening and understanding Mandarin. In fact, some of then had had a few years of Chinese education. The emphasis should therefore be on encouraging the participants to speak and practise the language as often confidence and fluency usage as possible in order to attain and correct of words phrases and expressions. The enthusiesm shown by these officers the learning of towards Mandarin and the good response to the Mandarin classes at community centres show that many English-educated have been convinced of the usefulness and importance of the language. Another target group of Chinese Singaporeans yet to be won over are the less-educated ones Such as hawkers, and stallholders shop Despite their support for the compaign, they still tend to assistants. use .-.. /3

use dialects in the hawker centres and shops. The reason is not but deeply ingrained speech habit. innorance of Mondarin a More efforts direction. in therefore be channeled towards this In fact a speech must this month, to organize Mandarin classes earlier I urged the hawkers with the help of perhaps, the Environment Ministry and the Housing the Singapore Chinese Board. Towards this common objective, Chamber which is one of of Commerce and Industry, the organizers of the campaign, can also play a big role in the the and clan associations to urging run Mandarin closseS for their members. especially one involving NO national. compaign, so sensitive an a issue OS language, he launched without some misconception and can apprehension in Some guarters. reaction among the strong You will recall some sections the decision of the Chinese population against of the then TV serials RTS to dub popular Contonese into Mandarin. Many reasons flavour excitement, authenticity, etc. were expounded, such as lack of fervour, But all proved to be unfounded. are indications more people There that now are enjoying Sword and Dragon Sabre", which OS the serial., "Heaven the first Cantonese serial to be dubbed caused the controversy. had survey, conducted over a six-week period, According to the latest SRS the Mandarin version by 322,000 viewers, of this serial is now enjoyed viewers for the as compared with 826,000 last. two episodes of the and the first four episodes Cantonese serial. “The Romantic Swordsman” and Dragon Sabre" over a of the Mandarin version of "Heaven Sword previous six-wee'.: period. This is proof that viewers value the some initial After quality of a production, not the language used. resistance, Chinese Singaporeans are now enjoying the dubbed programmes. issue associated campaign Another controversial with the Mandarin the naming of in birth- Was the use of Hanyu Pinyin for the new-horns Since we are now making efforts towards the day great certificates. when ..,../4.

when Mandarin will be widely used among the Chinese Singaporeans in our society, it is only logical to standardize the spelling of Chinese However, as Hanyu Pinyin is a names in the long-run. names and business completely new way of spelling Chinese names, standordization is to be when people are more familiar with the system. In the implemented only meantime,' however, parents who choose to use Hanyu Pinyin for their children's names may do so at the Registry of Births and Deaths where there is a guide on surnames in Hanyu Pinyin for reference. Efforts hove been made to popularise the use of Hanyu Pinyin. The SBC will soon broadcast and telecast a course on Hanyu Pinyin for those 13-week who But due to the legal and social are interested in learning the system. complications of Chinese surnames, it may be involved in the Hanyu Pinyin, business sector and clan associations better, es a first step, for the to adopt the use of Hanyu Pinyin. Chamber of The Singapore Chinese Commerce and Industry play a role in respect. could this Chamber of Finally, I would like to the Singapore Chinese commend Commerce having contributed and Industry for so much towards the promotion The Logo Competition is just one of the Speak Mandarin Campaign. Design of the many examples of its support and efforts. However, as the success can only be objective involves a long-term process, compaign’s ensured through effort, no doubt that it will sustained and I hove continue to join in the national effort to work towards the emergence of a for Chinese Mandarin-speaking environment Singaporeans. My congrotulations, too, to the winners of the logo Design Competition.