Moreover, on average, Singaporeans undergo 10 to 12 years of English education. Couple all this with the wide use of English in the public arena, and it would be fair to assume that Singaporeans should be pretty fluent in it. Yet this is not so. Which is disconcerting. In today's borderless world of Internet commerce and communication, fluency in English is crucial because, increasingly, Singaporeans have to work among expatriates here and overseas.
Life boils down to a contest of ideas.
Just ask Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew. He does it with finesse and style on the world stage or at home. So while Chinese Singaporeans hone their Mandarin, they must not lose fluency in English. And, of course, vice-versa. Now an Australian, he is the deputy foreign editor of The Business Times.