Becoming proficient in English has come at a cost for many Singaporeans

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The decision to teach Mandarin as the main mother tongue language to Singaporean Chinese also meant that mastery over dialects was lost.

Translations may be readily available for most languages of the world, but they would not be able to provide more nuanced appreciations of each language. This can be a disadvantage, especially in the case of languages in which context is important.

A decline in mother tongue language competencies also signals that the knowledge we hold about our own identities is getting diluted. Language is an important repository of one’s culture and heritage.

English-speaking Singaporeans can have an edge in the job market over their peers from other countries who learn the language later on in life. It also makes the country attractive to foreigners from English-speaking countries.

For the multiracial population, English is a common language that is also seen as neutral, because it is not assigned to any of the official racial categories as a mother tongue language. It can bring Singaporeans from different races together.

many markets are emerging in South-east Asia, where English is not the first or even the working language. Speaking the language most common in these countries would be a definite advantage.

Qn: To what extent has your society paid too high a price for success?