sgwhatsup - Chinese bloggers remind people that English is Singapore's first language and they shouldn't expect everyone to speak Mandarin

[EJB]

If English is our first language, our anthem is not.

 

[matrix05]

Hotel front desk is Chinese man from Pinoy lah. You want him to speak Chinese, he prefers you speak tagalog

 

[tian_yibang]

Pls understand this -

National or "Original" language = Malay
Official or Working language = Angmoh
Ethnic-based or 3rd language = Own mother tongue or preferred casual language ie. puotonghua, chinese dialects, malay dialects, tamil, sanskrit etc

ie. just look at our national anthem lyrics, army crest motto, drill commands etc

Neway its true, some Tiongs cum here as tourists and they sexpect we converse to them in chinese else they conclude as we discriminate them

 

[Balian]

Citizen population (3.6 m) is only 60% of total population (6m) based on June 2024 report.
Additionally there are about 20k new citizens annually, so its at least 300k new citizens in the past 15 years.

malaysian accent is more common in Singapore than singapore accent

high chance people you encounter in public are none Singaporeans

 

[saffronsatire]

Like this cannot meh? Try asking them to ask the hongkies to speak mandarin lor, or u speak mandarin to hongkies

Hk esp. service staff nowadays change attitude le. The ppl in general not as pagro as the past.

 

[touchring1]

i go japan holidays...
it's the other way..

sometimes.. the PRC pretends to be japanese and dont speak chinese to you.
just in june, i went tonkatsu shop ordered .. I speak english, she speaks japanese.
then a japanese customer came in and say "ni hao" to her... and she replied in chinese. lol

actually, how do you know? a lot of the chinese working there are the northern type, single eye lid, very fair and indistinguishable from japanese, especially, when they put on the same thick makeup. I took a while to figure out my tour guide is chinese.

 

[accucore12]

Even if we speak,, i think most of us forget how to write chinese liao.

 

[tian_yibang]

Hotel front desk is Chinese man from Pinoy lah. You want him to speak Chinese, he prefers you speak tagalog

Many tourists or ppl dun realize that MAJORITY of our service/retail/medicare etc front line workers are "foreigners" , only that handful nia are locals undergoing internship or part time

ie. USS majority of those actors/mascots/performers etc escorts are actually interns de

 

[RuneArmour]

actually, how do you know? a lot of the chinese working there are the northern type, single eye lid, very fair and indistinguishable from japanese, especially, when they put on the same thick makeup. I took a while to figure out my tour guide is chinese.

Northern chinese, koreans and Japanese all have similar facial features

 

[Ethan_]

POHMA Him!

In singapore, you speak english to the service industry staff, sometimes it's a hit and miss. Coz Chinese might be the correct language.

Maybe only at PMET level then is adopt english only policy.

Start with English. If the other party know other languages, then use the language they familar with may be more service oriented if one know. But cannot expect lah.

 

[MiG123]

The country’s a mess thanks to decades of PAP no standard open leg policy.

Some newcomers prefer one language, others can’t speak or prefer another language.

until locals go out don’t even know what language to speak these days

 

[Medicated Oil]

One day, there will be majority of them staying here who dun want to piak English.
And what can the admin do about it ?

 

[BlackWing1977]

I placed my order in English.
No response from the cashier.
Tried a few times also no response.
When I piak mandarin, then she got reaction.

That is why conflict will arise from this kind of situation... if you work in the Singapore even if cannot speak fluent english at least must be able to converse in simple english phrases and acknowledge the customer order not just keep quiet. That is very bad service attitude... remember there was once a video of a Malay or Indian (forget what ethnicity already) lady who went to sheng siong to buy fish and end up the staff cleaning and cutting the fish dun speak a single word of english... end up she make a video complaining online and get bashed by some who supported the chinese staff...

 

[batman_888]

Remind them Malay is our national language.

confirm he won't know this

 

[Medicated Oil]

That is why conflict will arise from this kind of situation... if you work in the Singapore even if cannot speak fluent english at least must be able to converse in simple english phrases and acknowledge the customer order not just keep quiet. That is very bad service attitude... remember there was once a video of a Malay or Indian (forget what ethnicity already) lady who went to sheng siong to buy fish and end up the staff cleaning and cutting the fish dun speak a single word of english... end up she make a video complaining online and get bashed by some who supported the chinese staff...

I see it this way.
As more and more tiong food outlets are setting their stores here, do their staff really need to piak English if they are serving chinese dishes ?
I rem that there are already some tiong food outlets who dun have other language on their menu.
Are the local who is the minority now telling them what to do ?

 

[BlackWing1977]

I see it this way.
As more and more tiong food outlets are setting their stores here, do their staff really need to piak English if they are serving chinese dishes ?
I rem that there are already some tiong food outlets who dun have other language on their menu.
Are the local who is the minority now telling them what to do ?

Chinese food does not mean only Chinese can order and eat... dun forget Singapore is a international tourist spot.... it serves not just local chinese or chinese nationals, they have to be capable to serve locals of other ethnicity and international customers... unless they want to put a signboard that says they only willing to serve Chinese customers...

 

[coolmyth]

Reminds moi I go holiday in HK, I asked a question in English, they replied in Cantonese.

wa si hokkien lang! wa meh seh kong hu wei!

Moi learn long ago. Sometimes, its not the language. Its your body language, tone of voice etc, that can build relationships. Even if you are a duck and the other party is a cheeken.

 

[ahnyaahnya]

I placed my order in English.
No response from the cashier.
Tried a few times also no response.
When I piak mandarin, then she got reaction.

Me have to ask other people in the queue to translate

 

[clearsky7]

i go japan holidays...
it's the other way..

sometimes.. the PRC pretends to be japanese and dont speak chinese to you.
just in june, i went tonkatsu shop ordered .. I speak english, she speaks japanese.
then a japanese customer came in and say "ni hao" to her... and she replied in chinese. lol

I’m thinking most of them are Taiwanese instead of prc. They are known to adore Japan.

 

[DigDub]

Ya many mainlanders dunno sgreans can speak mandarin. They thought we are some high class westernized society.