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Most of our grandparents communicate in dialects, however there is currently a severe language gap between kids and their grandparents. Our young generation today are not able to speak or understand dialects and this has led to a very sorry state of cultural erosion among our generation and our kids.

Other than being able to communicate with one's grandparents, why are dialects important? It is important to preserve our cultures and heritage. Once these disappear, they will be gone forever. Aside from Chinese dialects, there are also Malay and Indian dialects. These dialects should be viewed as key parts of Singapore’s culture and heritage. Some Singaporeans fear that by the next generation, no one in Singapore will communicate in dialect.

Therefore we wonder if is it time to make it compulsory to learn a dialect in Singapore schools.

If we implement learning dialect in schools, we do not need to learn dialects in the same way that we learn English and Chinese on an academically intensive basis. We can teach dialect as a third language, as we do French, German, Japanese and other foreign languages. In fact, we can teach dialects on a more casual basis in primary and secondary schools. This will not contribute to Primary School Leaving Examination or O-Level scores, but students should be expected to attend classes. Teachers can also teach students how to use dialects in certain social settings. Learning should be fun so that students remain engaged and focused.

It has been more than 40 years since the Speak Mandarin campaign kicked off. Its task was to encourage Chinese Singaporeans, who were long used to speaking dialects, to use more Mandarin. Founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew once said that to continue using dialects outside homes and schools is to interfere with the process of getting Singapore’s young to use Mandarin as their social language.

Mr Lee Hsien Loong, the current Prime Minister, has said that even though there was still room for dialects here, it is not pragmatic for dialects to be used more widely and mastered alongside English and Mandarin. He added that the trade-off between emphasising bilingualism and not promoting dialect use has allowed Singapore to maintain good English and Mandarin standards. 

From an economic perspective, knowing dialects such as Cantonese and Hokkien will also help a great deal with doing business in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

​What is your view on this? Do you agree or disagree?

About 2,000 Grab drivers have voluntarily signed up and are committed to be part of the service initiated by ride-hailing operator Grab as they announced on Wednesday (12 Feb 2020) that it would begin rolling out a new service that offers dedicated 24-hour service for healthcare professionals travelling from work - called GrabCare.

GrabCare will begin its pilot on Friday for healthcare professionals working at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).  Grab said the drivers have voluntarily committed to providing on-demand transport services for healthcare professionals to increase their likelihood of getting a ride before and after their shifts.
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“The tireless work and unwavering dedication of our healthcare workers to treat and take care of patients have inspired us and many of our driver-partners to do more. GrabCare is our small contribution to rally the community together to support our fellow Singaporeans in times of need, and ensure  healthcare workers get a stress-free and hassle-free ride daily," said country head of Grab Singapore Yee Wee Tang.

The video below was created with the intention to reach as many dialect speaking seniors in Singapore as possible. As such, the creators of this video has chosen to use everyday Teochew, Cantonese and Hokkien that most Singaporeans are used to and thus, may include some words from other languages too. In similar manner, they have also included English and Mandarin subtitles.

The creators of this video hope this helps to bridge the communication gap between dialect-speaking seniors and our healthcare professionals, volunteers or simply anyone who is less fluent in dialect.

Please help us to share this with anyone who may find it useful. Let's overcome this battle together! 🙏

​Anyone, who has ever been in an overcrowded or uncomfortable public toilet, will value a good toilet design. The usual demands placed on a high-profile, high traffic and heavily used facility requires extra thoughts for each process.

​A well-designed public toilet has to be:
(a) Clean and dry
(b) Well ventilated
(c) Easy to maintain
(d) Carefully planned layout with maintenance in mind
(e) Friendly to persons with disabilities and special needs

However, due to the current Coronavirus situation faced worldwide, taking responsibility for our hygiene is important to combat the virus spreading around the world from Wuhan, China. We may not have hand sanitiser in all public spaces. It is available only in places such as hospitals and clinics, and some shopping centres.  

Some members of the public have suggested that it is therefore now the time for the Government to pass a law and order the removal of all main doors of public toilets by the end of this year so that users do not have to touch the doors after they wash their hands thus preventing the spread of viruses & germs.

The main entrance shall preferably have no door, and the cubicles, urinals and mirrors shall be away from the line of sight from the main entrance. For example, the  door can be replaced by offset entrance maze which blocks the view yet allows easier, hands-free access for public usage.

​What is your opinion on this?