Bilingualism helps the young bridge different perspectives in fragmented world: DPM Heng

SINGAPORE – Bilingualism, one of Singapore’s most fundamental policies, helps the young bridge different languages, cultures and perspectives as the world becomes increasingly fragmented.

It also has cognitive benefits, while providing Singaporeans with a competitive advantage amid Asia’s economic growth, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Saturday. 

However, with language habits evolving, everyone must help to ensure the young can reap the benefits of bilingualism and to make it part of their lives beyond the classroom, he added. 

Mr Heng was speaking at the inaugural Bilingualism Carnival organised by SPH Media and held at community hub One Punggol in Punggol Drive on Saturday. 

The event included activities on topics such as coding, nature and culture, as well as performances and films in the three mother tongue languages of Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. It is supported by the Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism, in partnership with PAP Community Foundation Sparkletots and National Library Board.

The fund, set up in 2011, started with a call from the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew to Mr Heng, who was then Education Minister. 

Mr Heng said Mr Lee wanted to strengthen efforts in building bilingualism at a younger age, and started the fund to do so, contributing a substantial sum himself. 

He said: “Mr Lee never stopped thinking about how to help our students become bilingually proficient. He called this his ‘lifelong challenge’… On the 100th anniversary of Mr Lee’s birth, I am glad that we are continuing to take up this challenge, to make further progress.”

DPM Heng noted that almost half of residents here now speak English most frequently at home, compared with around one-third in 2010. 

But he added that, while the use of English helps connect people to each other in Singapore’s multiracial society and to the world, the use of a mother tongue connects people to their values, culture and heritage.

He said proverbs and idioms in the mother tongues capture the wisdoms of the different cultures.

For example, kong rong rang li in Chinese teaches the importance of love between siblings, while Tamil idiom thanthai thai pen emphasises the value of filial piety.

And the Malay saying ke mana tumpah kuah kalau tidak ke nasi, which translates literally as gravy needs to go with rice, suggests that children are moulded by the values of their parents.