Netizens say Malaysian MP who said Singaporeans “not that fluent” in English was “rage-baiting”

SINGAPORE: After a Malaysian Member of Parliament opined that he doesn’t believe that Singaporeans “are very fluent in English,” earlier this week, some Singaporean Reddit users said that he had been “rage baiting.”

On Tuesday (July 16), a suggestion for Singaporeans to teach English in Malaysia was discussed in a parliamentary Q&A session.

The Malay Mail quoted Tebrau MP Jimmy Puah as saying, “I welcome the government’s efforts to co-operate with the Singapore government to get volunteers from there and teach English here, but in my opinion, I don’t think they are very fluent in English.”

“In fact, I think many of us experts in Malaysia are fluent in English. Will the government engage with experts such as retired teachers?” added Mr Puah.

The issue was first reported in the wake of a June 12 joint press conference with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong at Putrajaya.

Mr Anwar suggested that Singaporeans teach English in Malaysia, mentioning that he later qualified for a “volunteer programme” to boost English proficiency in Malaysia and strengthen ties between the two countries.

The Malay Mail reported that there is already an education project with a new curriculum involving the exchange of programmes and teacher training in the works that Johor and Singapore are collaborating on.

Local Reddit users, however, appeared to feel that Mr Puah’s remarks were meant to trigger a reaction.

“Tbh the ‘not that fluent’ comment is a ragebait. The core argument is why aren’t they looking for local volunteers first before sg? Which is kinda valid,” wrote one.

A commenter wrote, “Singapore is always a convenient target for Malaysian politicians, this is nothing new la.”

Another said that while Singaporeans’ pronunciation may be “goofy” due to Singlish, the city-state’s overall literacy rate is quite high.

“Chances are if you give a document to some random ah beng on a street, they’ll be able to read it,” they added.

One commenter pointed out that based on the 2023 EF English Proficiency Index, Singapore ranked second overall, while Malaysia placed 25th. In Asia, Singapore topped the list, while Malaysia ranked third.

Others opined that Singaporeans perhaps code-switch more easily than Malaysians do. /TISG

Read also: Can’t they find random white people?’ — Malaysians react to Anwar’s suggestion for Singaporeans to teach Malaysians English