When I Was Young

Letter from Huang Wenwu

I WAS reading at a bookstore but was interrupted when a kid cried out: “That is my one!”

I shuddered. Where did she pick up such grammar? One wonders if we’ve made any progress from 20 years ago, when I recall such Singlish phrases were commonplace at my kindergarten.

Back then, teachers pronounced “pepper” and “paper” the same way, and I only learnt how to produce the “th” sound much later.

What success indicators are we using in the Speak Good English Movement? What must be done to get rid of the curse of bad English?

From TODAY, Voices – Friday, 17-April-2009