A confused society
新加坡华人的身份在外国人的眼中是『四不像』。
不信？看看一下一名新加坡华人和一名外国人的对话....
S: I am s Singaporean,
F: But u look Chinese。
S: I am a Chinese
Singaporean/ I am a Singaporean Chinese.
F: So do u speak
Chinese?
S: Yes, but not
fluent.
F: But u r a Chinese.
S: I am a Singaporean
Chinese, not Chinese from China.
F: But your great
grandfather is from China?
S: Yes, but I was born
in Singapore, so I am a Singaporean Chinese.
F: So your great grand
father speaks Chinese?
S: He speaks dialect.
F: Do u speak dialect?
S: No, I don’t.
F: Why not?
S: Because our country
has a Speak Mandarin Campaign that is so successful that the new gereration
practically do not speak dialect anymore.
F: So u should speak
very fluent Mandarin since it’s so successful?
S: No. That campaign
was effective before, but not anymore.
F: Why?
S: Because most people
speak English nowadays. We have a Speak Good English Campaign.
F: So English is your
national language?
S: No!
F: So what is the
national language of Singapore?
S: Malay.
F: What?
S: Yes, Malay!
F: Do u speak Malay?
S: No.
F: Why not?
S: Because I am not Malay.
F: Then why is your
national language Malay?
S: That’s another long
history lesson.
F: So your national
language is Malay and nobody speak it?
S:The Malays speak
Malay. That’s their mother tongue. We have 4 races : Chinese, Malay, Indian
& Eurasian. Each speaks their own mother tongue.
F: So your mother
tongue is Chinese?
S: Yes.
F: But u can’t speak
it fluently?
S: Yes.
F: Does the Malay or
Indian speak fluent mother tongue?
S: More fluent than
the Chinese speaking Chinses I supposed.
F: Why?
S: Because that’s
their mother tongue.
F: Then why can’t the
Chinese?
S: Because we speak
English mainly in school.
F: I last heard that
Singapore has bilingual policy.
S: Yes., we have, we
do learn mother tongue in school.
F: But u cannot speak
Chinese fluently.
S: Yes.
F: Why?
S: Because our
contry’s working language is mainly English, there is not much places to use
the language, perhaps omly with our grandparents & when we buy things in
the market.
F: Then how is that
bilingual?
S: I don’t know.
F: So u are a
Singaporean Chinese who can’t speak your national language & cannot speak
your mother tongue fluently & can only communicate in English with a
strange accent.
S: What’s wrong with
my accent?
F: I don’t know, it is
just weird.
S: Does it sound
British or American?
F: Neither. I thought
u should sound British since u have been colonized before?
S: No, that was long
long time ago, dude..
F: How come u try to
sound American?
S: Because I watch a
lot of Hollywood movies.
F: Your English still
sounds weird.
S: Oh, we call it
Singlish.
F: So what are u
really?
S: I am a Singaporean.
…..
没有评论:
发表评论