The decline appears to remain as a major lingering worry for 81-year-old Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew in his sunset political years.

The new generation of ethnic Chinese appears, under study pressures, to be continuing to downgrade the language, studying it only to pass exams and then quickly discarding it.

This could, Lee fears, adversely impact the nation’s future. It could lead to Singapore losing its Asian identity if the various races – especially the ethnic Chinese – lose their mother tongues and cultures.

In recent weeks, Lee, who nowadays only intervenes in serious matters that bother him, had been working overtime to try to arrest the slide.

He himself had launched the bilingual policy and evidently wants to make it succeed before he leaves the scene.

Under the policy, English is the common language in schools but it is mandatory for students to study and pass their mother tongues – Mandarin, Malay and Tamil – according to their races.

It was created some 40 years ago when the British left, even before China emerged as an economic powerhouse.

Since then, the study of Chinese has been gaining impetus among people around the world.

As the boom continues, job and business opportunities are rising for professionals who speak the language. The bilingual policy is also giving Singaporean businessmen a value-added advantage there.

So, theoretically, there should have been a rush here to master the language – instead, interest has been waning.

One reason is that many youths remain inward-looking and naively trusting that the government will always be able to provide jobs for them at home.

“You don't need to be good in Chinese to succeed in Singapore,” a bilingual professional recently said. “Do you think not speaking Chinese will seriously hamper your career? In most cases, I don't think so.” Another, a young civil servant, said the government should not compel people to study Mandarin.

About 25% of ethnic Chinese, aged 17 to 29, told a recent poll they did not think it was necessary for Chinese Singaporeans to speak Mandarin at all. Three-quarters, however, held the opposite view.

After four decades of bilingual education, this has come as a surprise. It appears consistent with another finding that some 23% are not fluent in the language.

Ordinarily, most people can be good only in one language. Besides, Chinese is a tough language for the English-educated to master.

Students and professionals are already burdened by an enormous load of complex and high-tech subjects that their parents never had to deal with, including science, computers and new business methods.

A rising number is feeling the pressure, even without Mandarin. The language is being pushed to the backburner both at home and at the workplace.

The students’ complaints are nothing new. Over the years, some of those who could not cope went to study abroad to avoid it, contributing to the brain drain.

In his first Parliament speech in two years, Lee articulated for two hours, urging parents to use Mandarin at home to give their children a good start.

His speech came with a new Speak Mandarin Campaign. Plans are afoot to use multilingual signboards at Changi Airport, and MRT and bus stations next year.

Bilingual problems, too, affect the Malays and Indians but to a lesser extent. Two other panels are reviewing the learning and usage of Malay and Tamil.

The government’s solution is to maintain the schools’ bilingual policy. But it has loosened its requirement for entry into university.

Instead of regulating it, Lee is now changing the system to allow parents to decide how much Chinese they want for their children.

At the top end, the government has an elite programme to breed a special class of Chinese scholars with a steep knowledge of the culture. More are sent to study in China’s top universities.

Learning Mandarin is not just for the economy. Keeping the mother tongues also aims at keeping Singapore as an Asian society despite its strong emphasis on English.

In his speech, Lee equated language with cultural identity. He has always said that Chinese, Malays and Indians cannot learn or retain their cultures and traditions by using only English.

Lately, he said his heart was with former Foreign Minister Sinnathamby Rajaratnam who wanted to create a multi-racial Singapore with a common culture by converging individual customs and traditions.

But his head told him this would take a long time, if at all possible. It would be nigh impossible to persuade the various races to give up their individual cultures for the sake of creating a new society.

Lee said his solution was for everyone to keep his own culture but with loyalty to Singapore.

A botched effort could result in Singapore losing its “Asianness” and vastly influenced by everything Western.

Elaborating, Lee said learning of the mother tongue would continue, but now the ethnic Chinese would be allowed to choose how far they – or their children – should go in either language.

“I will give you a series of options. You want Chinese as your master language? Go ahead. You want English?

“But remember, the choice is yours. If you make the wrong decision over your child’s capability, don’t blame the Government.”

Will it work? The public verdict is mixed.

“Dumbing down the Chinese syllabus may make students hate it to a lesser extent,” said one online letter. “It will not make more Chinese embrace its learning.” Others disagree, saying that removing study pressures and making teaching of Mandarin more interesting will work.

“Singaporeans are a pragmatic people. As China flourishes, they will want to take advantage of it and learn the language as much as they want to excel in Science and Maths,” said one Singaporean living in China.

But writer MadMax puts in a caveat: “Whether or not the Chinese language is promoted, Singaporeans are losing their individual cultures regardless.

“Globalisation is a certainty, and we are all being assimilated. Resistance is futile.”

o Seah Chiang Nee is a veteran journalist and editor of the information website littlespeck.com (e-mail: cnseah2000@ littlespeck.com )

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