70% of Singapore's citizens are Chinese, why did the Chinese language be abolished? Lee Kuan Yew: Unless the Chinese knock me down

In Singapore, more than 70% of the Chinese people are spoken, but the official language is not Chinese, but English, which sounds quite unusual.

The driving force behind it is Singapore's "Father of the Nation" Lee Kuan Yew, who faced the opposition of the Chinese community and even released cruel words: "If you want Mandarin to be the master, you must defeat me first." ”

What the hell is going on? Is it Singapore's cultural roots being cut down, or is it a choice that has to be made in order to survive?

Lee Kuan Yew's early years

Lee Kuan Yew was born in Singapore on September 16, 1923, to a Chinese family who immigrated from Meizhou, Guangdong, China.

His father Li Jinkun opened a small shop and sold some groceries, and his mother Cai recognized that his mother was in charge of the family's affairs, and his life was not rich, but it was also stable. He is the eldest and has been expected by his family since he was a child.

In the 1930s, he attended the prestigious Raffles Institution in Singapore, a British school with consistently top grades, poor English and mathematics.

In 1942, the Japanese occupied Singapore, and his studies were interrupted. Those years were not good, he sold things on the black market, and also worked for the Japanese propaganda department, translating English documents.

This time made him see how important language is in troubled times, and it also made him wonder how a small place can stand firm. After the war, in 1946, he scraped together money to study in England, first at the London School of Economics, and then transferred to Cambridge University to study law.

In 1949, he graduated with a double first-class honours degree, which was top-notch.

In 1950, he returned to Singapore, married his classmate Ke Yuzhi, and began to work as a lawyer, specializing in helping trade unions and workers fight lawsuits, which is quite down-to-earth.

In 1954, he and a few friends formed a People's Action Party (PAP) to get Singapore out of British colonial rule. In 1955, he became a member of the Legislative Assembly and began to fight against various forces for self-government.

In 1959, the British relented in Singapore's self-governing elections, and the People's Action Party (PAP) won, and he became prime minister at the age of 36. What was Singapore like at that time? The streets were in tatters, the job was unemployed, and race relations were in shambles, and he knew he had to do something big.

In 1963, Singapore joined the Federation of Malaysia in an attempt to break free from colonial status.

Unfortunately, within two years, racial issues and political differences made it difficult for everyone to get by. On August 9, 1965, Malaysia kicked Singapore out and was forced to become independent. Lee Kuan Yew went on TV that day and said it was his most uncomfortable time.

After independence, Singapore is a small broken island, 581 square kilometers, 2 million people, 75% Chinese, 15% Malays, 10% Indians and other ethnic groups, no water, no resources, life is not easy.

The choice to abolish the Chinese language

After Singapore's independence, Lee Kuan Yew had to find a way to keep the island alive.

At that time, 75% of the people were Chinese, and Cantonese, Hokkien, and Mandarin were everywhere on the streets, and shop signs were all in Chinese characters.

But he didn't do it, and in 1966, he made English the official language, and the dominance of Chinese was gone. The Chinese Entrepreneur Association took a bunch of people to the Prime Minister's Office to petition, saying that the Chinese language is our root and cannot be thrown away.

Lee Kuan Yew directly scolded back: "You want Chinese, you can, knock me down first." This is too hard to say, but there is his calculation behind it.

First, location. Sandwiched between Malaysia and Indonesia, both of which speak Malay, Singapore has a delicate environment. It also borders on the Strait of Malacca, which is a major trade artery, and if you want to make money, you have to do business with the world.

Lee Kuan Yew felt that English was the international lingua franca, and that this little legacy of British colonization had to be put to good use.

Second, the issue of race. In 1964, there were race riots in Singapore, with Malays and Chinese battling and bloodshed, resulting in many casualties.

Lee Kuan Yew saw very clearly that if the Chinese language was the boss, the Malays and Indians would definitely feel that they were being pushed aside, and that sooner or later the society would have to make a big deal. English is different, it is not biased, and it can pull different ethnic groups together.

Third, the economy needs to eat.

In 1965, Singapore was horribly poor, with a per capita income of less than US$500 and an unemployment rate of 14 per cent. Lee Kuan Yew understood that in order to turn over, he had to attract foreign capital, build factories, and engage in trade.

Who in a multinational company will invest in you to learn Chinese? English is hard currency, and without English, you can't even knock on the door.

How did you push it?

Beginning in 1966, the English policy was rolled out in an all-round way. In the school, the Chinese textbooks were put away and replaced with English textbooks, and the teacher had to quickly learn to teach in English. All government documents were changed to English, and civil servants worked overtime to turn over documents.

The street signs have also changed from Chinese characters to letters, and the Chinese people are not happy to see it. In 1967, some people in Chinatown took to the streets to protest, shouting to defend the Chinese language, and burning something.

Lee Kuan Yew was very tough, and some people scolded him for betraying the Chinese, saying, "I'm doing what is good for Singapore." ”

However, he did not completely ignore the Chinese sentiments, Chinese, Malay, Tamil are still the official languages, and the school implements bilingual education, so that students can learn English and their mother tongue. "English is the tool, culture is the root, don't get confused," he explains. ”

The Chinese community doesn't do it, thinking that this is cutting its own roots. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry took the lead in making trouble several times, and some people got together in private to scold Lee Kuan Yew for "selling his ancestors".

For example, in 1968, when a Chinese school refused to teach in English, the government shut it down, and students had no place to attend classes. This matter was quite stiff, but Lee Kuan Yew did not let go, saying that if he was disobedient, he had nothing to talk about.

Singapore's take-off

After the English policy was introduced, Singapore really changed.

In the 1970s, the Marina Bay Marina Marina was busy, with cargo ships coming one after another, loaded with cargo destined for the world. Factories in the Jurong Industrial Park have sprung up, and companies from the United States and Europe have come to invest.

In 1971, when the British withdrew their troops, Lee Kuan Yew converted the military base into a commercial area, and attracted more investment. In 1970, the per capita GDP reached $943, in 1980 it exceeded $5,000, and in 1990 it reached $14,000. This speed is like riding a rocket, and it has transformed Singapore from a poor ghost to a rich Asian man.

When English became the main character in school, children, whether Chinese, Malay or Indian, had to learn English, and all the chatter on the playground was in English. The signs on the street still have Chinese characters, but there are more English, and the boss greets the guests with a bit of English.

There were fewer ethnic conflicts, and there was no big mess after 1969, and everyone was slowly able to mix together.

On November 28, 1990, Lee Kuan Yew ceased to be prime minister and became a senior cabinet minister, continuing to advise the country. On May 14, 2011, he retired from politics for good.

On March 23, 2015, he died of pneumonia at the age of 91. It rained in Singapore that day, the national flag was lowered in half, and tens of thousands of people saw him off. After he left, Singapore was already full of high-rise buildings, the port was busy, and it became a star in Asia.

In Lee Kuan Yew's View of the World, he wrote: "English connects us to the world, and it is the lifeblood of Singapore. This policy was scolded a lot back then, but later everyone mentioned him, and they admired him more. A tough guy who took the island out of a desperate situation.

Why is this controversial?

The English policy has brought Singapore into line with the rest of the world, with an economic boom and stable race relations. From a small broken island to a financial center, the 50-year turnaround battle has been fought beautifully. English is a tool that is worth using, multinational corporations are coming, trade is smooth, and per capita income is rising.

The Chinese community feels that the cultural roots have been chipped.

75% of the people are Chinese, but Chinese is not the main language, and many people are unbalanced. Although the mother tongue is left in bilingual education, English is the boss, and the status of Chinese is still a little lower. Some older generations feel that the identity of Singaporean Chinese has faded, and the cultural inheritance has been broken.

Lee Kuan Yew knew that Singapore had to be realistic if it wanted to survive. Small countries have no capital to talk about feelings, and survival comes first. He chose English not because he liked it, but because it saved his life. He also tried to preserve his mother tongue, but the priority was definitely the national interest.

1965: GDP per capita 480 US dollars, unemployment rate 14%, 75% Chinese; 1990: GDP per capita was $14,000, unemployment was less than 2%, and the economy was dependent on manufacturing and finance.

2015: GDP per capita of $55,000, one of the world's financial centers. What does this number mean? The English policy has indeed given Singapore wings, and the economic take-off is not blown.

Hong Kong was also a British colony at that time, and English was important, but Cantonese has always been the main language, and Mandarin has also come up after the handover; Singapore is unique in this way, completely putting English on the stage and Chinese standing back.

Why is it different? Hong Kong has China to rely on, Singapore has nothing, can only rely on its own to break in, Lee Kuan Yew's move is a gamble, and the result is that the bet wins.

After Lee Kuan Yew left in 2015, Singapore's port was still one of the busiest in the world, with more high-rise buildings and more internationalization. However, there are also voices saying that the mother tongue level of the younger generation of Chinese has declined, and the sense of cultural identity has weakened. The government is still promoting bilingualism, but the primacy of English has not wavered.

epilogue

Lee Kuan Yew's abolition of the Chinese language, is it a cultural concession or survival wisdom? It's hard to say it all size-fits-all.

He chose English under pressure in exchange for the rise of Singapore, which could not be credited. But the resentment of the Chinese community is not unreasonable, and the cultural roots are suppressed, and no one feels uncomfortable.

Resources:

1. Singapore's Prime Minister emphasizes improving Chinese education: Bilingualism can deal well with both Eastern and Western countries CBN August 21, 2024

2. Lee Kuan Yew: Chinese will never become the lingua franca of Singapore Study Abroad 2015-04-05