Did I actually spend time writing this? Yes. It's for the anon tagger's edification, if he ever appreciates it.

Right. There has been another post by the famous anon tagger on my tagboard. I had thought of giving him the same cold treatment (i.e. ignoring him), but later, I thought that his tags reveal some ignorance on his part as to Singlish, Standard English (Singaporean) and English English (does it still exist today? researchers beg to differ, in fact.) Also, there are parts of his tag that smack of either malice or lack of good values. So, I have decided that for once, I will do that fellow a service, as well as clear some doubts for all interested others. I had initially tagged the below responses, but I find that a bit too long for a tagboard, so I have collated all of them here:

hmm ... this is interesting.. anon and the pretender, you need to be aware of the difference between English standard grammar, and Singlish grammar. These 2 forms of grammar refer to the way we construct our sentences, and is also different from the Singaporean way of speaking standard English, which we sometimes erroneously refer to as Singlish as well.

For your information, most of us adults can speak and like to speak Singaporean-accented Standard English (more intonation variants, as well as at staccato fast speed that foreigners find difficulty in understanding), international-accented Standard English (easier to be understood by foreigners), and Singlish (the localised form of English mixed with the grammar, vocab/slangs and intonation of other Singaporean languages/dialects). We enjoy using our own Singlish, in fact, but we also realise, especially in the work place (local and international), that we need to use Standard English to communicate effectively.

Therefore, in school, all of us have to speak to you students in Standard English, so that you will be able to effectively converse in all 3 forms of English in future. This is the most crucial time of your language acquisition. (And please don't hypothesis that Singlish will be understood by the rest of the world in the near future... we are still currently too small and insignificant for the rest of the world to learn our language.)

So, we would be doing you students a dis-service if we were to happily talk to you guys in Singlish or very Singlish-accented English. (By the way, in case you mistake my verbal English usage - it is pure Singapore-accented Standard English. I can't do the British or American way of speaking English.)

You also have to know that first, Singlish is not understood by other English-speaking countries (not even China, because they learn standard English there; their spoken English is of the American accent version, because that's American media and American teachers are the main exposure points for them). Second, Singlish is still very imprecise in its expressions, so in all major social and business events, functions and needs, Singlish can't fulfil the communicative task effectively/precisely. That's why we all have to learn and use standard English. We need to communicate with the rest of the world effectively.



Then you ask - but is this fair? Well, grow up.. life is never fair. We need to know that in your life, u have to adhere to different spelt AND unspelt rules of diff organisations, whether you like it or not. That is part of life in any country and any system. So it's the same for rules/expectations in the school. You just jolly well grow up. And so, in terms of rules, expectations and high demands, it's not about being 'closed minded' or old-fashioned .. i m most open-minded, if u know me well, but u just have to learn that there are decent and universal norms/values that you need to learn to have AND work with.

Finally, to the first 'anon' and the other fellow pretending to be from 3-4 (have I ever taught 3-4??), shame on you for writing such stuff on Teachers' Day. It speaks volume about your values and upbringing, or rather, the lack of it.

So anon and the pretender, please reflect and grow up. When we educate, motivate or discipline you, it might be at times torturous, but ultimately when u enter the working world, u reap the real benefits. So grow up. Our task as teachers is not to please you, but to educate you as well as prepare you for life. You may not see the purpose of it now, but you will many years down the road, and that's all we are concerned with.

Note: The vid is, probably, a response to recent education developments in Singapore as to which form of English or spoken English is preferred today. In fact, most are already quite annoyed with being told that native English speakers may make better English teachers than our own Singaporean English teachers. Seriously, are we less competent in language teaching than the supposed 'native' English speakers? So that's what the whole issue in the Ruby Pan vid is about - that we are as native speakers of English as those from UK or other places, and that last line of hers in the vid is a tongue-in-cheek highlighting of that - observing that in the world today there are many different English(es) (acknowledged by all researchers and professors of English linguistics), but sadly in Singapore, some English is more English than others. So does that mean that we have to kow-tow to the supposed 'native' English speakers from Britain (now, does that mean English English, or Scottish English, or London English, or Yorkshire English, or Manchester English or what? There are so many variants!)