Why did Lee Kuan Yew abolish the Chinese language?
It was a difficult decision for Lee Kuan YewIn his later years, Lee Kuan Yew recalled, "At that time, he was extremely reluctant to face this fact. At the same time as he declared independence, he also announced one more thing, that is, the official language was changed to English and the Chinese language was abolished. ”
As for why you do itLee Kuan Yew explained that "language is the bridge between Singapore and the world".
Today we will talk about this topic in detail.
Post-independence Singapore is clearEnglish as the official language, abolishing the status of the previous official language of Chinese charactersAnd promulgated a series of decrees on de-sinicization and de-Chinese characters across the country.
First of all, the first step isAbolish the dominance of Chinese characters in SingaporeIn order to do this, Lee Kuan Yew made it clear in his public statement that neither Chinese, Malay nor Tamil could reasonably represent Singapore.
Lee Kuan Yew meticulouslyEnglish was selectedThis language, which does not divide among any one people, is the official language. In this way, the generation of *** can be avoided. At the same time, Lee Kuan Yew used an executive order to coerceChinese is no longer compulsory in primary schools in Singapore
And it is widely promoted in the fields of education, administration, and commerce. As a result, Mandarin (i.e., Chinese) has been relatively demoralized and is no longer the only official language.
In primary and secondary education, English is the main language of instruction, while Mandarin is taught as a second language. In addition, Singapore has also reduced the proportion of Mandarin in the curriculum and lowered the requirements for Chinese language learning.
As Singapore's sense of national consciousness grew, the uniqueness of Singapore's culture began to be emphasizedto distinguish it from traditional Chinese culture. This has led to changes in the way some cultural events and festivals are celebrated to better reflect Singapore's cultural identity.
After this series of operations, Lee Kuan Yew beganA nationwide campaign to remove ChineseThis is to fully use English in books and newspapers nationwide, and limit the circulation and number of Chinese newspapers. The other is to ask for the whole countryCommercial plaques must be in English as the first language.
Lee Kuan Yew chose English as his official language for several reasons:
Singaporeans are mainly divided by ethnicity: the Chinese (Han) ethnic group is 2.42 million, accounting for 741%；Malays accounted for 440,000, accounting for 134%；Hindi ethnic group is 300,000, accounting for 92%；The remainder are of mixed Euro-Asian descent, accounting for 33%。
Although Han Chinese are predominant, there are 25 percent of other ethnic minorities in Singapore, and Lee Kuan Yew has always opposed Han chauvinism.
Singapore, on the other hand, was a British colonyBritish culture, laws, institutions, etc. have all had a profound impact on it. As the official language of the colonial period, English has become widely used in Singaporean society and has become a common language among different ethnic groups.
advocated by Lee Kuan YewThe "Singaporean" culture emphasises equality, inclusion and diversity, as well as mutual respect and understanding between different ethnic groups in order to achieve mutual prosperity and development.
The choice of English as the official language will help reduce ethnic contradictions and conflicts caused by language differences and maintain social stability.
English as a global languageFor an international ** and financial center like Singapore, it has extremely high practical value. The use of English can facilitate communication and cooperation between Singapore and other countries around the world, and promote economic development.
Lee Kuan Yew bluntly said that he was "grateful" to the British"Because of its rule, it's easy for Singaporeans to learn English. He also gave examples of Vietnam, where it was previously ruled by France, and it was much more difficult to learn English again. “
English makes Singapore better and faster to integrate into the world, which is conducive to attracting foreign investment.
Singapore's choice of English is, of course, extremely correct. Because English is the world's common language, Singapore is a small country, and if it wants to develop, it has to attract foreign investment, and in order to create a better business environment, language docking is the first step.
Lee Kuan Yew implemented all-English education in Singapore, abolishing all Chinese education, including the then famous Nanyang University.
Singapore follows the Commonwealth education system and uses English for the most part in learningExcept for the Chinese Department courses, all other courses are taught in English.
English education is based on the Cambridge standard in the United Kingdom, and its education system has strong strength in Asia and even the world, not only cultivating batches of local talents, but also attracting countless foreign students.
By learning English, Singaporean students can be exposed to a wider range of knowledge and information, and improve their international competitiveness.
To sum up, Lee Kuan Yew abolished Chinese and implemented English education correctly, and the working language was set as English, which was conducive to integrating with world civilization and making Singapore develop rapidly for a period of time.
But,This is also only possible in Singapore, the British colonial background, the world shipping route of the Strait of Malacca, far from the native continent, the world's strategic location, these are all indispensable reasons, Singapore's success lies in Lee Kuan Yew's vision, but also in its superior geographical location.