Being Bilingual is Beautiful

I just came back from a business trip in China and Hong Kong. In China, I worked with the local people. Most of them could not speak or hear English, even the educated ones. Some could read simple English though. We dealt with Westerners, Indians and Filipinos there. In the many meetings, the Chinese, our partners, appeared clueless, because they couldn't understand a word in English. Suddenly, I felt myself so important and useful because I understood both languages. I became their interpreters and helped bridge the gaps between the customers and suppliers. Although, I must admit my standard of Mandarin is not polished, it is enough to converse with the local Chinese. I was held with high regard in the group, just for being bilingual. Furthermore, my strong ability to document all the work done by the Chinese and present to the Westerner counterparts, made my presence so important.

I felt fortunate that the education I was given in Singapore has geared me to posses such soft skills so important when conducting business at international level. In those days when I was a student, Mandarin was never held a high regard socially and when you spoke it with your friends, you were deemed as 2nd class. I even despised myself for knowing how to speak in the language. Today, I just regret that I didn't put enough effort in improving my Mandarin. I was brought up in an English speaking family and couldn't speak a word of Chinese when I started school. My parents couldn't speak well in the language either. I was like deemed to be the more "angmoh" type. I struggled with my Chinese subject all my years in school and had never done well in the subject.

Our MM Lee, recently reiterate the importance of nurturing Mandarin to our young today. He has relentless, all his life, stressed the importance of learning Mandarin. Today, as being a third generation of Chinese immigrants in Singapore, I am grateful to him for his long running initiative which still very much alive today. The only gripe I have though, is the ban in Cantonese language over TV in Singapore since the 70s, that has caused me the inability to speak Cantonese in Hong Kong. For that, I lose the edge to my Malaysian counterpart who possess the Cantonese speaking knack, picking up from the countless Hong Kong dramas they usually watch. One point that I don't quite agree with MM Lee is that dialect will interfere with learning Mandarin. Children has the ability to pick up several languages simultaneously.

Nonetheless, looking at the economic outlook for the next few decades, China is continuing to its quest as a big economy powerhouse. It has become the 3rd largest economy in the world today. Being a Singaporean, we are just a little sailboat which needs to sail with the wind. Possessing the skill of the 2 most important languages, it's like having a powerful engine and a powerful sail in the boat. In order to differentiate ourselves from Mainland Chinese, is to possess the ability to bridge between the East and West. In the very cosmopolitan nature that Singapore has, it is our very edge against the typical mainland Chinese. It takes a generation to learn a language. To those non-Chinese speaking Singaporeans, my advice is to go forward to pick up that language. You will learn to appreciate.

Related links:
1. Speech by MM Lee Kuan Yew
2. Yahoo News