Sunday, September 13, 2009

English

Has anyone seen an online version of today's article on our less than eloquent Miss Singapore World? It is in the LifeStyle section of the Sunday Times.

If you have, please send it to me. This is one that should be kept for posterity.

Splashed all over the article and on the front page of LifeStyle were large prints of Ris Low's mispronunciations but the article was seemingly made out to be one in her defence instead.

The irony of it. I never knew SPH could be this creative. It definitely got more than just a chuckle from me.

Seriously though, I think the article is a good read because there are a few points in there on the fundamentals of good english that I fully agree with. The most important one being speaking grammatically correct, proper English.

Also the bit about accents. I don't think speaking with an accent equates to speaking good English. That's a giant fallacy based on the very skewed perception of the western culture's dominance in Asian society.

But I did find something alarming in the article, the people of the Speak Good English Movement actually felt Ris Low is forgiveable and should not be drawing any flak. Their view, in short, is that most Singaporeans actually speak this way and because she is part of the norm it is fine for her to be speaking this way.

That's saddening really. No wonder we churn out beauty queens like Ris Low.

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Apprehension

On Facebook,

"A is trying to stay positive despite the circumstances."
Me: What's up bud? Mulling over the elections?
A: I feel like I'm at the finale of a chapter in my life. I'm scared of what comes next, while I used to be excited about it.
Me: You sound like a suicide bomber.