Former MM Lee proposes S$100m bilingualism fund
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SINGAPORE: Singapore's former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has proposed a S$100 million bilingualism fund to enhance the teaching of mother tongue languages to pre-schoolers.
Speaking at the launch of his new book, "My Lifelong Challenge: Singapore's Bilingual Journey", Mr Lee said the money will be used to expose pre-schoolers to both English and their mother tongue in the first few years of their life.
Mr Lee also said it will also be used for key projects to raise the capability of schools and the community in promoting bilingualism.
The Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism will supplement efforts by the Education Ministry.
To kick-start the fund, Mr Lee will autograph 200 special edition copies of his latest book which will be sold at a minimum of S$10,000.
He will donate the proceeds of the signed copies - of at least S$2 million - to the Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism.
Mr Lee will also add another S$10 million of his own money to the kitty.
In addition, businessmen Philip Ng and Ong Beng Seng have donated S$5 million and S$2 million respectively.
President of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chua Thian Poh has pledged S$1 million.
The Khoo Teck Puat Foundation has also pledged S$1 million.
Mr Lee's three children will collectively donate S$200,000.
In 1980, one in ten primary one students came from predominantly English-speaking homes.
This proportion grew to nearly six in ten in 2010.
The new book by Mr Lee tells the story of his 50-year struggle to transform Singapore from a former British colony into a nation, where everyone who knows English also knows his own mother tongue.
In it, he also reveals why he did away with vernacular schools in spite of violent political resistance, why he closed Nanyang University, why he later started Special Assistance Plan schools, and why he continues to urge all ethnic Chinese Singaporeans to learn Mandarin.
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the horse is dead
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Former MM Lee proposes S$100m bilingualism fund
Singapore languages all declined and ruined by this old fool anglophile bastard.
In it, he also reveals why he did away with vernacular schools in spite of violent political resistance, why he closed Nanyang University, why he later started Special Assistance Plan schools, and why he continues to urge all ethnic Chinese Singaporeans to learn Mandarin.
Will he also reveal why he faked himself as chinese to suppress chinese?
Tell us more about your ties with japanese intelligence during WWII. I want to know more.
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strange that an "anglophile" would push mandarin and all that..
or do you think he was overcompensating?
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Originally posted by the Bear:
strange that an "anglophile" would push mandarin and all that..
or do you think he was overcompensating?
It must be a balancing game lah.
After he destroyed all the chinese schools, closed down nantah, there was a backlash against him, so had to come up with "speak mandarin campaigns" and all that to counter the attacks against him.
Singapore is 75% chinese, you want to kill off the chinese education is not easy, it must be gradual, advance a bit, retreat a bit.
Advance a bit retreat a bit.
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Another big waste of money.
Once he dies, the state will be a lot richer.
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Door opens for return of political exile
South China Morning Post February 27, 1999
BARRY PORTER in Singapore
POLITICALl exile Ho Juan Thai has been told he is welcome to return after 22 years - if he is prepared to be interviewed over his allegedly racially inflammatory speeches during the 1976 general elections.However, Malaysian opposition politician Abdul Razak Ahmad is still persona non grata.
Mr Ho fled to Britain in 1977 after unsuccessfully standing as a candidate for the opposition Workers Party during the 1976 election, which now Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's People's Action Party won hands down.
While campaigning, Mr Ho lambasted the government's promotion of the use of English over Chinese. He fled before police could detain him under the Internal Security Act as a national threat.
http://www.singapore-window.org/sw99/90227sc.htm
The Speak Mandarin Campaign (SMC), or the ‘Promote the Use of Mandarin Campaign’ as it was first known, was launched in 1979 by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew with the support of leaders from the Chinese community.
The decision to launch a campaign of promoting the use of Mandarin came about after a formal evaluation of Singapore’s bilingual education policy in 1978 showed that the policy was a failure...
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Originally posted by alize:
Another big waste of money.
Once he dies, the state will be a lot richer.
He is pushing out books at quite a fast pace. Seems like he is really going to die off soon.
All the propaganda filth must be pushed out now before he kicks.
I am willing to tolerate his propaganda books on the condition that he dies quickly.
Mr Lee said the money will be used to expose pre-schoolers to both English and their mother tongue in the first few years of their life.
Sounds like an insane idea to me. More garbage singlish. This stubborn old fool just won't learn.
After he dies, all these moronic pet schemes of his must all be thoroughly destroyed.
Harry Lee Kuan Yew and all his harebrained social schemes. A true failure of social policies, feel can match him.
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Crap, Mandarin is not the mother tongue of most of us here whose ancestors are from southern china. Evil to erode our root, evil LKY!
Just because the old shameless dictator is saying it is most support. He is a Hakka, hakka is his mother tongue not Mandarin.
Por China until like that. Please get the govt and all in China to mourn for him when he passes on.
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Originally posted by QX179R:
Mr Lee also said it will also be used for key projects to raise the capability of schools and the community in promoting bilingualism.
You want bilingualism?
Sure.
You want trilingualism also can.
You want to learn 4, 5, 6, 10, 100 or thousand languages also can. Up to you.
But the dominant language in Singapore cannot be the colonial and alien english.
You understand or not Harry Lee?
You are a creature of british colonialism.
Majority of Singapore are not.
Understand or don't understand?
People don't want to be a banana british colonial dog like you Harry Lee. Please try a bit of effort to understand.
Dog is dog. Hopeless.
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Mr Lee said the money will be used to expose pre-schoolers to both English and their mother tongue in the first few years of their life.
A dog of the british to the end.
“Lee is like a banana –yellow of skin, white underneath.”
-Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People’s Republic of China, at the Bandung Conference (1955)“A chameleon, a remarkable creature which can adjust its colour to its surroundings.”
- Tan Siew Sin, Malaysian Chinese Association, in Malay Mail, March 29, 1964
“Lee Kuan Yew’s political power has always been built over the dead bodies of his friends and allies.”
– Malaysian Chinese Association, circa 1964“Harry, you’re the best bloody Englishman east of Suez.”
- George Brown, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom (1966-68)“Kuan Yew, I can never trust you as a politician.”
- Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of Malaysia, in 1975A british dog will be a british dog.
It cannot be changed.
Get this dog out of my face. I see I want to vomit.
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Originally posted by Dalforce 25:
A dog of the british to the end.
“Lee is like a banana –yellow of skin, white underneath.”
-Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People’s Republic of China, at the Bandung Conference (1955)“A chameleon, a remarkable creature which can adjust its colour to its surroundings.”
- Tan Siew Sin, Malaysian Chinese Association, in Malay Mail, March 29, 1964
“Lee Kuan Yew’s political power has always been built over the dead bodies of his friends and allies.”
– Malaysian Chinese Association, circa 1964“Harry, you’re the best bloody Englishman east of Suez.”
- George Brown, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom (1966-68)“Kuan Yew, I can never trust you as a politician.”
- Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of Malaysia, in 1975A british dog will be a british dog.
It cannot be changed.
Get this dog out of my face. I see I want to vomit.
May be before he was a brit dog, now no more, please la old uncle upgrade your knowledge. Now He is por por China. He had criticised the British a few times.
to use dog to describe LKY is insulting to dogs!
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actually, if you think about it, having english as the first language and as the language of administration in SIngapore is what gave us the edge.. and still gives us the edge over the other asean and asian countries
you cannot deny that
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Originally posted by the Bear:
actually, if you think about it, having english as the first language and as the language of administration in SIngapore is what gave us the edge.. and still gives us the edge over the other asean and asian countries
you cannot deny that
I don't deny that. English is the international language of the world. Some chinese learn English because it is used internationally.
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Originally posted by winsomeea:
I don't deny that. English is the international language of the world. Some chinese learn English because it is used internationally.
do u know that english were originally a germanic tribe, the anglo saxons, who migrated en mass to the british isles? they were known as barbarians during the roman empire. the welsh people were the original inhabitants in the isles.
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I was thinking the book is all about him.
I realised that it is a chicken soup book, where the book is consists of various stories.
Now, it is better to be multi-lingual and not bi-lingual.
But, there are still lots of people buying book.
As for fund, dun have they have enough money ?
Still need more fund and a committee to decide how it is used ?
Dun waste tax payers money.
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When a soul is greedy for money, the soul will go for more! No amount of money can satisfy such soul.
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LKY is now just a MP.
The article says Former Minister Mentor, that means he no longer Mentor. GCT has Emeritus added to title, LKY now ex-MM.
He do meet the people session or not?
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Originally posted by mancha:
LKY is now just a MP.
The article says Former Minister Mentor, that means he no longer Mentor. GCT has Emeritus added to title, LKY now ex-MM.
He do meet the people session or not?
What we know is he has someone else to do the meet-the-people sessions. That is why some are not happy about it and find that it is cheating to have him as MP and he gets another to do the job. I really don't know, I don't know what to say.
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He will meet you when you want to buy the $10 000 version of his latest book.
He will sign his book for you and put your name in it.
So, please cherish this opportunity to rub shoulder with the greatest man in Singapore.
Time is running out so dun delay.
By the way, do you expect His Greatness to fix the dispute with your neighbour or complaint about your noisy neighbour ?
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no denying english is important to our survival.
but then if you consider yourself a chinese, then your own dialect and chinese is important.
if you dont consider any of these important then you are a banana.
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Yes, use your own dialect and Mandarin to communicate with foreigners, they will understand you.
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Dun worry, the legacy will continue with Mr Goh releasing his next chains of books.
Every great one earning pensions will also be earning money from books that they are releasing and signing every single year.
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Money not enough for the greedy pigs.
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Originally posted by Medicated Oil:
He will meet you when you want to buy the $10 000 version of his latest book.
He will sign his book for you and put your name in it.
So, please cherish this opportunity to rub shoulder with the greatest man in Singapore.
Time is running out so dun delay.
By the way, do you expect His Greatness to fix the dispute with your neighbour or complaint about your noisy neighbour ?
He will dish out his great wisdom about, luck of the draw, thats the way it is, integrate the foreigners, globalisation, and he is looking our for the next line up of leaders.