People’s Power Party (PPP) leader Goh Meng Seng has taken to Facebook to argue that Singlish should be made the nation’s second national language.
Mr Goh took to Facebook on Monday (July 27) to make a unique proposal. Before doing so, however, he brought up an issue concerning Singlish.
According to a 2015 report by BBC, Singlish is a sort of hybrid language spoken informally in Singapore. It is comprised of phrases containing English words which have been fused together with words from various other languages. Despite Singaporean campaigns championing the cause of speaking “good” English, as well as the notoriety of Singlish as “street language,” the colloquial Singaporean English has thrived all these years.
Mr Goh, however, shared a Facebook post addressing the supposed attitude some have about Singlish. “Someone want(s) to cancel Singlish because it is deemed as lower class language,” he said. In stark contrast to this alleged attitude, Mr Goh argued, “I say let’s make it our second national language.”
Posted by Goh Meng Seng on Sunday, 26 July 2020
In response to this, however, many Facebook users did not take Mr Goh’s proposition seriously. “Stop being a troublemaker,” said one. Another said that Singapore had much more pressing matters to attend to, writing, “We have too many issues which til today, are still unresolved. Why create another one?”
However, Mr Goh did not seem take these comments to heart, standing firmly by his convictions. He not only argued, “There is no rule that says a nation cannot have more than one national language,” but he also cited how countries like Finland have two national languages.
Mr Goh also said that Singlish should be considered a language for the “Fusion Class.” Furthermore, he said, “When you are overseas and meet Fellow Singaporeans, what will bond you together as one united people? Singlish. That’s how powerful this language is.”
Still, a few netizens made reference to Mr Goh’s political losses.
