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Campaign in Singapore to promote Standard English over Singlish

The Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) is a Singapore Government campaign to "encourage Singaporeans to speak grammatically correct English that is universally understood". It was launched by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong on 29 April 2000. The purpose was to ensure that Singaporeans recognise the importance of speaking Standard English and to encourage its usage. It is seen as a measure to counter the usage of Singapore Colloquial English, known as Singlish.

English was introduced in 1819 with the establishment of the modern port in Singapore. The port attracted migrants from neighbouring countries, such as China and India, resulting in a diverse linguistic landscape. Proximity to these languages has over generations influenced Singaporean English. Known colloquially as Singlish, the vernacular dialect is characterised by the mixture of local expressions with Standard English (e. g. the use of discourse particles such as lah). Singlish is commonly used by Singaporeans in informal contexts and can be incomprehensible to non Singaporeans. When the Speak Good English Movement was launched in 1999, then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong described Singlish as "English corrupted by Singaporeans", and "broken, ungrammatical English". The movement thus campaigns for an improved standard of English used in Singapore. In hopes of extending its reach, the movement adopts a different theme and target group each year, and also collaborates with various partner organisations to provide programmes in line with the movement's goals.

The campaign aims to discourage the use of Singlish and encourage the use of a more standardised form of English, (i. e. generally modelled on the British standard). According to the movement's chairman, then Colonel (NS) David Wong, the Speak Good English Movement aims to build a sense of pride that Singaporeans can speak good English, as opposed to Singlish, as well as to check the trend where Singaporeans use Singlish as a way of identifying themselves. Instead, it envisions a brand of grammatically correct English, different from Singlish, to be linked with the unique Singaporean identity.

Since 2003, the Speak Good English Movement has been launched annually with year long programmes and activities held island wide to increase the awareness among Singaporeans that speaking good English matters in their daily lives. The movement was spearheaded by a committee of people in the private sector led by then Colonel (NS) David Wong, a senior adviser with the consulting company Ernst and Young. Its target audience was Singaporeans under 40, which included young working adults, parents and students in schools, tertiary institutes, polytechnics and technical institutes. The launch kick started a week long festival packed with events such as plays and a speech marathon. Later in the year, the public sector also organised year long programmes as part of the movement. One such event was the seminar held by the Singapore Teachers' Union (STU) at the Shangri La Hotel, attended by about 500 participants who were mostly teachers. The seminar emphasised the power of pronunciation and the teaching of grammar, and encouraged teachers to teach English in more creative ways in schools using dramas and role playing. Other highlights in 2000 included the launch of Grammar Matters, a series of five books using comics to illustrate the correct use of grammar by the Regional English Language Centre in support of the movement. From 2001 to 2002, it was reported that increasingly, Singaporeans were becoming more aware and acknowledging the importance of speaking good English. The British Council continued to operate its toll free line giving English lessons. Reportedly, year 2001 saw almost 250,000 callers while there were about 170,000 callers in 2002. Also, an inter school Scrabble competition, in which 54 primary schools participated, was held to kick off the year's events in April 2002. According to the Government, more Singaporeans recognised the need to speak well, and took steps to improve their spoken English. Programmes organised by SGEM partners such as the People's Association and the British Council were well received. In 2003, the movement, already in its fourth year, aimed to not only encourage Singaporeans to speak well but also speak simple English. Chairman Wong said, "They may be afraid to use English; it's not natural to them. This year what we would like to do is encourage people to try. Have a go even if they can't speak well, even if they cannot use long words, even if they can't use long sentences; it's not important. The idea is to use simple words, simple sentences and convey their message clearly." The movement continued throughout the year until March 2004 so as to create greater impact and awareness. In its fifth year, acting Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen launched the campaign at The Arts House at Old Parliament in April 2004. The target of the campaign can be summed up as English@Work&Play. Its target audience was working adults in the service industry, including cabbies, shop assistants, waiters and others, which made up 70 per cent of all workers in Singapore. People in positions of influence, parents and teachers were also encouraged to serve as positive role models in speaking good English to those around them. The movement also partnered organisations and key agencies in training workshop initiatives to improve the English language proficiency of all their teachers. A new programme called Functional Literacy for Our Workers (FLOW) was initiated by the Workforce Development Agency with the aim to equip workers who had little English literacy with some basic tools required for them to do their work. Other activities to promote good English were also held throughout the year, such as the WISH programme (as in the previous year), and talks at selected public libraries to educate the public on the importance of reading aloud and on using English to communicate with one's family.

Mattel Southeast Asia held the Inter School Scrabble competition. Singapore Drama Educators Association (SDEA) held DRAMAzing race, which involved some 150 students from 29 secondary schools in a race that encouraged them to utilise good English. The race was similar in format to The Amazing Race. The National University of Singapore held PROSE (Promotion of Standard English) Forum where prominent figures in Singapore shared their experiences about the importance of speaking good English and being understood. National Library Board held the Raise A Reader Workshop: The Primary Years tailored specially to equip parents with the know hows of choosing suitable reading materials for their children and complementing their reading habits. Other events such as ACTiquette! Dramatization Contest were also organized in conjunction of the SGEM 2003. English Language and Literature Teachers Association of Singapore, ELLTA (S) conducted a seminar on Speaking Good English for Effective Teaching and Communication. Julia Gabriel Speech & Drama Centre held a workshop for parents to develop language skills, encourage reading skills and motivate writing skills using books, stories and poems at home for their children. The British Council held workshops for parents to improve their pronunciation, to identify Singlish errors and replace them with the standard forms and held IELTS tests. Society for Reading & Literacy (SRL) conducted a six month Women Learning English (WISH) Programme for free at 12 community centres nationwide with a record enrollment of 180 students in six classes. Also, Sheila Wee from the SRL conducted a talk to educate parents on the use of storytelling to develop children's interest in English. Workshops by SGEM partners: These included Reading Aloud: The Whys And Hows organised by Society for Reading & Literacy (SRL), Tell Me A Story and Fun With Tots by National Library Board that educated parents on how to develop reading skills in their children among others. Speak Good English Weekend held at The Arts House at Old Parliament saw the collaboration of SGEM partners like Asian Storytelling Network (ASN), British Council, Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Julia Gabriel Speech & Drama Centre, National Library Board, News Radio 93.8FM and Regional Language Centre (RELC) to organise activities related to English such as Scrabble, poetry, and tongue twister sessions. Booths were set up to allow enrolment for English classes as well.

Launched by Radm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, Minister of State For Education on 31 July 2007 at Timbre Music Bistro, the 2007/08 Movement targeted four broad groups – youth, parents, teachers and frontline staff. The key focus was on the youth, while parents, teachers, and frontline staff were seen as the main people to have interactions with them, thus having a vital role in the language input that they receive. The organizers tried to encourage young Singaporeans to express themselves through the arts and music. This year also saw the appointment for the new chairman – Mr Goh Eck Kheng, publisher of Landmark Books for a two year term from 1 March 2008 to 30 April 2010.

Launched by Minister Lim Boon Heng, Prime Minister's Office, on 26 August 2008, the Speak Good English Movement 2008 targeted the workforce who were seen as the people both Singaporeans and international visitors would encounter most frequently. Frontline staff of the service and retail sectors were especially targeted. The message of the tagline of 2008 – 'I Can' was that 'I can help others improve their English. ', 'I can take action to improve my English.' and 'I can speak good English if I want to.' In order to encourage willingness to speak and improve their proficiency of Standard English, the movement of this year initiated the classification of Singaporeans into three categories: The tagline also aimed to convey the message that communicating well goes beyond grammar and vocabulary and involves being able to express and be understood as well. The target of this year's movement is young people of the wired generation, aged 18 to 29.

In its 11th year, the Speak Good English Movement 2010 which was launched on 7 September 2010 with the tagline 'Get It Right'. This year's focus is on those who are less proficient in Standard English. It aimed at broadening the environment in which Standard English is used, in order to create a conducive environment where those less proficient in the code can learn by example. Fluent speakers of Standard English are encouraged to use it more frequently in all conversation, regardless if it is with family members, colleagues, hawkers, or taxi drivers.

With the new appointment of a new chairman after ten years and the formation of a new committee, a new campaign was rolled out on 14 June 2019. Mr. Jason Leow, chairman of Speak Good English Movement, says the movement recognises Singlish as a "cultural marker for many Singaporeans", but good English has value in "promoting understanding, supports business communication and helps us be understood by others wherever English is spoken – internationally and in Singapore." The logo is a quotation mark symbolising a person in conversation, with the new tagline 'Let's connect. Let's speak good English.'

The SGEM has received mixed reactions from its beginning; its strongest opponents have included linguists and social commentators. In response, Liew Choon Boon, Director of the Arts & Heritage Development Division from the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts and Ho Peng, Director of Curriculum Planning and Development from the Ministry of Education, wrote in a letter published in The Straits Times on 12 December 2008:
While Singlish may be a fascinating academic topic for linguists to write papers about, Singapore has no interest in becoming a curious zoo specimen to be dissected and described by scholars.

The Speak Good English Movement is the government's effort to encourage Singaporeans to speak Standard English rather than the colloquial form, Singlish. Many Singaporeans have criticised this as trying to eradicate Singlish. Arguing that Singlish is a distinctive marker of Singaporean identity, supporters of Singlish criticise SGEM. Their support for Singlish stems from the belief that Singlish can forge social cohesion and according to some, "It may be the only thing that makes us Singaporean." Likewise, celebrity STOMP blogger Leow Ju Len says in this blog post: "I mean, our tourism slogan is 'Uniquely Singapore', and what could be more uniquely Singaporean than Singlish?". He also reasons that the beauty of Singlish is the fact that "It's also wonderfully time and breath saving. If you need to know the time, you say: 'Now what time?'. It gets the question across in three words. Where got time to say: 'Do you know what time it is now?'"

On 27 April 2002, two years after the start of SGEM, TalkingCock launched the Save Our Singlish Campaign. They made it clear at the speech during the launch that they did not oppose the speaking of good English. Rather, they "completely support the writing and speaking of good English" and hoped that SGEM would see the Save Our Singlish Campaign "as complementary, not adversarial". TalkingCock found it important to save Singlish for it is a crucial part of the Singaporean culture and heritage: Colin Goh, who started TalkingCock, pointed out that Singaporeans can tell the difference between English and Singlish:

The Speak Good Singlish Movement gathers support through a Facebook page which had 252 members though as reported in a dead link, an identically named group had 3,140 members in December 2012. In an exclusive interview with The Online Citizen, one of Singapore's key social commentary websites, its unnamed founder directly called into question Dr Balakrishnan's appeal about the SGEM.

Drawing from notions of linguistic interference, the "interference" argument justifies the need to eliminate Singlish by suggesting that it confuses and contaminates Standard English. It suggests that the inability to distinguish the grammars of the two varieties of English will cause learners to mix their features, thus contaminating the grammar of the standard version. However, many Singaporeans feel that Singlish is unlikely to negatively affect their proficiency in Standard English. In a 2008 study, about 41% of the Singaporean participants felt that they already have a good command of English. Another study by Wee (2005) has shown that in general, Singaporeans are confident in their code switching abilities between Singlish and Standard English, which undermines the claims that using Singlish interferes with the learning of Standard English.