Background
In his 1999 National Day Rally Speech on 22 Aug '99, Prime Minister Goh Chok
Tong highlighted the necessity for Singaporeans to speak good English. He
emphasised that Singaporeans learn English in order to communicate with the
world, therefore, Singaporeans should speak a form of English that is understood
by the British, Americans, Australians and people around the world. Thus, for
Singapore to go global and become a first-world economy, it is essential that
Singaporeans speak good English.
Previously,
on 14 Aug '99, Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew had also highlighted the importance
of speaking good English, saying "we are learning English so that we can
understand the world and the world can understand us".
Objective
The mission of the Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) is to promote the usage of
good English among Singaporeans.
What is Good English?
Speaking good English means using grammatically correct English during
conversations, where rules for constructing sentences are strictly adhered to,
and avoiding words and phrases from local dialects and Malay. As such, accent is
not an issue though the pronunciation should be accurate.
From this information, we can conclude that it is clear that the government is trying their best to get Singaporeans to speak proper English and not Singlish. However, in the recent Sar-vivor rap, Phua Chu Kang was allowed to use singlish in the lyrics of the rap, this shows that the government knows that it is impossible to eradicate singlish. They are making use of the fact that it fosters a national identity among the people and instills team spirit which was required to overcome the SARS “test”.