Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 3)

Singapore's pragmatic approach towards English has been best summed up by its current Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, in the following statement: “Our mother tongues carry with them values, ancient cultural heritages and a sense of identity. To lose some of this, because we need to speak Engli...

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Main Author:	Quayum, Mohammad Abdul
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	The Daily Star, Bangladesh 2014
Subjects:	PE English PI Oriental languages and literatures PN Literature (General) PR English literature
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/38104/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/38104/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/38104/1/Quayum._the_daily_satr._Jan_18.pdf

id	iium-38104
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-381042018-06-20T08:12:21Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/38104/ Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 3) Quayum, Mohammad Abdul PE English PI Oriental languages and literatures PN Literature (General) PR English literature Singapore's pragmatic approach towards English has been best summed up by its current Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, in the following statement: “Our mother tongues carry with them values, ancient cultural heritages and a sense of identity. To lose some of this, because we need to speak English, an international language of business and science, is painful, but it is a rational trade-off to make.” Owing to this cosmopolitan outlook and business environment, English has emerged as the pivotal, bridge language in Singapore. In fact, English is so widely used in the country and has become such an integral part of the society, that the concern there, unlike in Malaysia, is, as Thumboo explains, “how to prevent other mother tongues from weakening.”Notwithstanding this fear, which is a valid and legitimate one, especially since language is associated with identity, writers in English have taken full advantage of the situation and have made significant advance in all the genres – poetry, fiction, nonfiction and drama. In the early years of independence, some scepticism was expressed towards literature (poetry in particular) as it was seen as a “luxury” (Lee Kuan Yew's phrase) that Singapore could ill afford. But that scenario has changed as Singapore is now trying to marry commerce with culture and turn itself into an Arts hub. In the manifesto of the Ministry of Information and the Arts, it is stated as a priority objective that, “To ensure sustained growth in the long run, Singapore must forge an environment that is conducive to innovations, new discoveries and the creation of new knowledge.” The Daily Star, Bangladesh 2014-01-18 Article NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/38104/1/Quayum._the_daily_satr._Jan_18.pdf Quayum, Mohammad Abdul (2014) Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 3). The Daily Star. http://www.thedailystar.net/print_post/english-in-malaysia-and-singapore-7212
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
topic	PE English PI Oriental languages and literatures PN Literature (General) PR English literature
spellingShingle	PE English PI Oriental languages and literatures PN Literature (General) PR English literature Quayum, Mohammad Abdul Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 3)
description	Singapore's pragmatic approach towards English has been best summed up by its current Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, in the following statement: “Our mother tongues carry with them values, ancient cultural heritages and a sense of identity. To lose some of this, because we need to speak English, an international language of business and science, is painful, but it is a rational trade-off to make.” Owing to this cosmopolitan outlook and business environment, English has emerged as the pivotal, bridge language in Singapore. In fact, English is so widely used in the country and has become such an integral part of the society, that the concern there, unlike in Malaysia, is, as Thumboo explains, “how to prevent other mother tongues from weakening.”Notwithstanding this fear, which is a valid and legitimate one, especially since language is associated with identity, writers in English have taken full advantage of the situation and have made significant advance in all the genres – poetry, fiction, nonfiction and drama. In the early years of independence, some scepticism was expressed towards literature (poetry in particular) as it was seen as a “luxury” (Lee Kuan Yew's phrase) that Singapore could ill afford. But that scenario has changed as Singapore is now trying to marry commerce with culture and turn itself into an Arts hub. In the manifesto of the Ministry of Information and the Arts, it is stated as a priority objective that, “To ensure sustained growth in the long run, Singapore must forge an environment that is conducive to innovations, new discoveries and the creation of new knowledge.”
format	Article
author	Quayum, Mohammad Abdul
author_facet	Quayum, Mohammad Abdul
author_sort	Quayum, Mohammad Abdul
title	Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 3)
title_short	Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 3)
title_full	Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 3)
title_fullStr	Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 3)
title_full_unstemmed	Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 3)
title_sort	literary traditions: english in malaysia and singapore (column 3)
publisher	The Daily Star, Bangladesh
publishDate	2014
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/38104/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/38104/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/38104/1/Quayum._the_daily_satr._Jan_18.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T20:54:41Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T20:54:41Z
_version_	1777410225371873280

Literary Traditions: English in Malaysia and Singapore (Column 3)

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