TR EMERITUS

作者：南山 沉寂多时的新加坡双语教学问题，最近又因该国政府资政李光耀的一段讲话，再次浮上台面。 李资政 (MM Lee) 在为当地“华文教学中心”主持开幕致词时说：政府早年实施的双语政策，从一开始就走错了路，学校规定学生听写、默写的教学方式简直是“疯狂”的。 李先生深感内疚地继续说道：学生透过死记硬背就能同时学好两种语文的教学方法，是走错了方向，他将在有生之年把过去的错误完全纠正过来。 李先生强调，他要所有年轻教育工作者都明白这就是他们未来的发展方向，要使用资讯科技，戏剧游戏以及任何一种能抓住学生学习兴趣的方法，让他们喜欢上这种语文，认为是好玩的，以后就会使用。 显然的，李光耀认为，以往的双语教育方式错估了学生的学习能力，以为他们能以同样的程度掌握两种语文，着重听写、默写等死记硬背的学习方式，造成很多孩子排斥华文。 其实，华文华语是华人的母文母语，华人占新加坡总人口百分90以上，因此华文华语本来就是大部新加坡人的共同语文。 上个世纪，5、60年代，新加坡的华文学校到处林立，华文教育欣欣向荣，发达鼎盛。东南亚唯一的华文大学～南洋大学，也就在此时应运而生。 当时，新加坡华人学习华文，使用华文被视为是天经地义，顺理成章的事。 但是处在殖民地时代的新加坡，英文英语被定为官方语文，部份华人为了迎合官方需求，就逐渐舍华文而亲英文。 后来更因为政治因素，华文教育屡遭压制，华校学生受到排斥，以致屈居下风。 在独立斗争期间，有些接受英文教育的政治人物，为了政治目的，只好死背硬记，恶补华文。 独立之后，政府变本加厉，使到华校变质，南大也被关闭。 如果说，新加坡的年轻一代，提不起兴趣学习华文，那怕与上述的环境变迁有直接或间接的关系吧！ 今天有人说新加坡双语政策下的华语教学是“温室里的语言”，因为新加坡的大环境，使到华文华语出了课室就萎靡凋谢，变成没有土壤的语言，又如何扎根成长呢？ 根据一位南洋理工大学教育学院中文组的学生透露：学生一进教育学院，老师就直截了当地告诉她们两件事：第一，华文老师一定要明白，英语和华语在新加坡绝 不可能平行，其阶级性必然存在。在新加坡，懂得英语是前提，而懂得中文是附加。第二，教导和学习华语的最大价值是对于社会规范与道德伦理的灌输。 更令人匪夷所思的是，新加坡教育部长黄永宏竟然对报界表示：教师不应忌讳用英文教华文，用英文教华文是行得通的。 以前只听说，某外国大学中文系是用英文教华文，没想到新加坡很快就步其后尘。在新加坡，两种语文，主次分明，影响孩子学习兴趣者，乃因政治主导与干涉所致，不是吗？ 来源：http://www.intimes.com.my  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Singapore's ministers will receive less pay this year with Singapore just emerging from one of its worse recessions in recent years. Even after the wage reduction, their salaries are still among the highest in the world. The annual take home pay of top civil servants will fall by up to 22 per cent this year as they will not be getting the annual annual variable component (AVC) or GDP bonus. Salary adjustments for administrative Officers, political, judicial and statutory appointment holders to benchmark their salaries to the private sector will also be put on hold, according to a statment from the Public Service Department. The third phase of these adjustments, due in January this year, was deferred as a result of the recession. The first two adjustments were made in April 2007 and January 2008. PSD said the annual salary for the ministerial grade (MR4) will fall by 22 per cent to $1.49 million, and that for the entry Superscale grade (SR9) will fall by 15 per cent to $338,100. The annual salary of U.S. President Barack Obama is about US$400,000 or SG$562,000. Singapore leaders have always claimed that they deserve to be pay high salaries because they are the "best talents" in the country and many have taken a "pay cut" to join the government. However, it is unlikely that some of the ministers are able to earn their present salaries if they return to their original jobs before joining politics. Minister of Environment Dr Yaacob Ibrahim was a professor before he stood in the elections. He probably earns between $10,000 -$15,000 a month at the most. MM Lee Kuan Yew claimed that he would be able to earn more than what he is earning now in the private sector. Lee is Singapore's first Prime Minister from 1965 - 1990 after which he was "appointed" as the Senior Minister. He became the Minister Mentor in 2003 after his son Lee Hsien Loong took over the position of Prime Minister from his precedessor Goh Chok Tong. The Prime Minister's Office has one Minister Mentor, two Senior Ministers, two Deputy Prime Ministers and two Ministers without portfolios. It is not known if the elder Lee who will be 87 years old next year, will continue to stand as a MP in the next general election due by 2011.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent The top student in this year's Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) is a China national Qiu Biqing, 13, from  Qifa Primary School, who achieved an aggregate score of 290, with four A*s and a Distinction in Higher Chinese. She could barely speak any English when she moved here from China in 2006 with her family. Her father, Mr Qiu Guo Hua, 45, is a research fellow at the National University of Singapore, and her mother, Madam Xie Xiaojin, 42, is a research assistant there. It is not known if they are PRs or citizens. Six other top PSLE students are also from neighbourhood schools. These primary schools include South View, Greenridge, Gongshang and Rulang. The number of China students studying in Singapore's schools is not revealed by the Ministry of Education. Besides those already studying in Singapore, a number of them come on government scholarships to pursue their tertiary education in Singapore. While Channel News Asia made no mention of Qiu's nationality, it was highlighted by the Straits Times which has been trying hard to revamp the image of China nationals working and living in Singapore. Yesterday, the Straits Times gave prominent coverage to a Fu Yun, a new citizen from China who was awarded the "Good Neighbour Award" by the People's Association though there are four other recipients. Ghost writers have also appeared frequently on the Straits Times Forum defending the new migrants from China. After an Australian tourist wrote in to complain about a China service staff who could not speak English, the Straits Times published a leter from a Singapore Indian a few days later sharing his positive experience with a PRC customer service staff. Due to the declining birth rate among locals, the ruling party is trying hard to increase the population via immigration especially from China and India to maintain the racial balance in Singapore. About 76 per cent of Singapore's populations are made up of ethnic Chinese. They usually have less children per head than the Malays. In Malaysia, Chinese now consists only 25 per cent of the population, down from 40 per cent in 1957 when Malaysia attained independence. Though Singapore is predominantly a Chinese society, the ethnic Singapore Chinese has more in common with the Singapore Malays and Indians than the mainland Chinese. Singapore Hokkien is a hybrid of the native Min-nanese dialect from Xiamen and Bahasa Malaysia. Singapore Chinese are also more accustomed to Malay food such as Mee Rebus, Mee Siam, Lotong and culture than those from central and northern China where the newcomers are largely from. Unlike other developed countries like Australia, Canada and United Kingdom, the Singapore government is very liberal or lax in its immigration policies. There are few criteria imposed on PR applicants such as their length of stay in the country or their fluency in the English language. In the United Kingdom, one has to stay there continuously for a period of five years before one can even apply for a PR while for Australia, one must stay two out of five years in the country. There seems to be no such restrictions in Singapore. One China national by the name of Zhang Yuanyuan who caused a furore in Singapore blogosphere lately with her public, if not outrageous proclamation of her allegiance to China revealed that she got her PR within 2 months of application after she started work as a Chinese language teacher in a private school. Zhang originally came to Singapore on a student's pass with only a diploma from an unknown institution in China. For prospective Singaporeans who wish to work in Australia or Cananda, they must first pass a basic English proficiency test here at their own expense. Over in Singapore, one need not pass any language tests to apply for PR or citizenship. In fact, the Singapore government is so generous that it will provide free language courses for the newcomers out of a $10-million Community Integration Fund. Ms Qiu will be continuing her secondary education at Raffles Girls School and she is likely to excel in her academic studies. However, it is a big question mark if she will pursue her tertiary education in Singapore or even stay on in Singapore after she completes her studies. Like many of her compatriots from China, she may decide either to return to China or seek greener pastures elsewhere. Singapore may end up "incubating" talents for other countries rather than winning and keeping their hearts here.  Read More →