Relentlessly Superior.

Sunday, December 16, 2007
[7:14 PM]

As much as I enjoyed the lively performances put up by the graduating scholars of LA Dance Connection in their graduation concert last night, I left the building feeling impressed but at the same time unaccomplished and pretty much inferior. They were great dancers, perfect examples of what dancers or rather dance scholars should embody. I had the opportunity of getting insights into their scholarship programme from friends of friends and what I heard made me shiver. I thought what I'm going through right now being a dance scholar myself having to juggle nightly classes with work is horribly intense and painful that nothing is comparable to it. Unfortunately, that appears to be far from true. I can't decide if we are fortunate or unfortunate to have nice, understanding teachers because while it makes it slightly less harder for us, at the end of the day one who trains the hardest reaps better results. And if we compare our training to their training, we are clearly losing out and ought to be ashamed of ourselves for complaining about pain when we have not actually discovered the true meaning of it.

Maybe I'm just being extremely harsh on myself, like I always do, but I don't wish to be deluded. It started when our dance instructor back in JC scolded us for showing signs of slacking because we achieved Gold with Honours at the SYF for two consecutive times. He made me realise you can't always live or rely on past victories but instead continue working on the present in order to be even better in the future. Just imagine watching a supposedly superb dance group putting up a horrible performance. Bloody sad I'd say.

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The Speak Good English Campaign has been going on for quite a number of years now and kudos to the government for having such a move for the benefit of our country and its people. However I don't see why we should completely eradicate Singlish when that's what makes us who we are. English is an international language adopted by countries all over the world. Hence it's inevitable for the language to stand on its own without being influenced by the native culture that's adopting it. It's called slang and there's nothing wrong with slangs as long as you use it among your own people who understand and accept it well.

Take the Australians, they have slangs that are so alien to outsiders and they are very cool with it, knowing when to use it and when not to use it. Singlish is just a name for the kind of slangs that we Singaporeans use and if it makes conversation among us simpler and more homely, I don't see why we can't use it. A little 'lah' doesn't make us bad English speakers. The focus of the campaign should not be to destroy Singlish, it's practically impossible given the mix of culture in our country. Instead it should teach Singaporeans to be aware of the importance of using the proper language in various circumstances.

I tried to speak good English the way the campaign defines it with elderly customers that I dealt with back when I was in F&B, and I noticed how turned off the Uncles and Aunties were through their sarcastic remarks. But when I started sounding a little more colloquial by inserting a few 'lah's and 'lorh's while still maintaining good standard of proper spoken English, the response was a lot better. The opposite is true however when it comes to younger and more well-versed patrons. It's all about knowing your audience and being aware of the circumstances.

Perhaps the government defines Singlish to mean saying things like "why like that one?" or "you very bad leh.." If so then I have to agree that's bad English and it should be stopped. But that's not how I define Singlish to be. To me that's plain horrible English and Singlish is just giving English a slight Singaporean flair. So am I saying the definition of Singlish is fundamentally subjective? To me, anything and everything can be subjective as opinions differ among individuals.

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Just one more thing with regards to dance, you know I don't dance because it's fun or because I seek fame and limelight, I dance because I'm passionate about it. Some people however find it funny for a guy like me to have so much love for professional dancing. I on the other hand find it funny when people assume I'm from Sri Warisan the moment they know I'm a dancer. I'm not kidding, I get it a lot, especially from my trainees.

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