SPEECH IN OFFICIAL LANGUAGES

SPEECH IN OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: 3.03 pm

The Deputy Leader of the House (Mr Mah Bow Tan): Mr Speaker, I beg to move,

"That, notwithstanding Standing Order No 48(7), with effect from this day’s sitting until the end of the Eleventh Parliament, a Member may use any or all of the four official languages in a speech in the proceedings of this House".

Mr Speaker, Sir, this motion seeks to obtain the House's agreement to lift the current restriction on the use of multiple languages by backbench Members in making their speeches in this Parliament. Members will recall that the restriction was lifted specifically for the Debate on the President's Address in November 2006 when Parliament opened for the session.

During that debate, Members welcomed the opportunity to make their speeches in English and mother tongues. In fact, there were a total of 13 speeches recorded in multiple languages over the four-day period. The new Members,

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particularly, made use of the opportunity to deliver their maiden speeches in mother tongues and English so as to reach out to their constituents and also to a wider section of Singaporeans.

Mr Speaker, Sir, this Parliament has seen the entry of more Members who are bilingual or proficient in more than one of our official languages. This is the result of our education system, which has placed emphasis on bilingualism, and nurtured a new generation of Singaporeans who are comfortable in both English and their mother tongue. Though English will remain as the common working language for Singaporeans, there is room for greater use of dual or multiple languages in our Parliament when national issues are debated, so that Singaporeans of all races and all generations can be engaged on these issues.

Sir, allowing Members a greater opportunity to use mother tongues in this House will not only make for more effective debate, especially when the issues can be better expressed in their own language context, but will also allow the House to reflect the multi-racial and multi-lingual heritage of Singapore.

In line with this, there will be changes made to the Official Reports of the Parliamentary Debates to incorporate the written transcripts of mother tongue speeches, for public record and access. Now, copies of speeches made in non-English by MPs in this House are already available for Members' reference and these are deposited in the Parliament Library.

I believe Members will welcome these changes to our House proceedings and support this motion.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

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3.06 pm

Dr Teo Ho Pin: Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the motion, as moved by the Deputy Leader of the House.

The use of any or all of the four official languages in a parliamentary speech will provide more flexibility for Members of this House to conduct our debate more effectively. It will also facilitate the broadcasting of parliamentary debate to Singaporeans in different languages through the TV, radio and new media channels. As a multi-racial society moving towards a cosmopolitan society, it is necessary that parliamentary debate be conducted in different languages so that Members of Parliament are able to express their views and the concerns of our people using different languages in parliamentary speeches. This is even more crucial for elected Members of Parliament who represent their constituents to provide feedback to the Government.

The use of the different official languages in a speech will also enable elected Members of Parliament to better express their concerns of their constituents in this House, and at the same time help Singaporeans to better understand the contents of parliamentary debate.

Sir, as an elected Member of Parliament for Bukit Panjang constituency, I have always made it a point to translate key points of my parliamentary speeches into the four official languages and publish them in my constituency newsletter - Bukit Panjang News Express. Feedback from my residents is that they find it useful to understand my parliamentary work and also the issues which I have championed for them in Parliament. The translation of my speeches in my newsletter has also allowed my residents, especially those who are monolingual, to

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better understand national policies and parliamentary debate. Thus, the use of different languages provides opportunity for Members of Parliament to better connect and engage Singaporeans.

Sir, I support the motion.

3.08 pm

Mr Sam Tan Chin Siong (Tanjong Pagar): Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to deliver my speech in Mandarin.

( In Mandarin ): [For vernacular speech, please refer to Appendix A.] Mr Speaker, Sir, let me thank the Deputy Leader of the House, Mr Mah, in moving this proposal to allow the use of different languages in a same speech. This proposal is far-sighted. It allows the MPs more flexibility in using any one or more of our four official languages to better reflect the feelings on the ground. At the same time, it allows the different communities in Singapore to listen directly to the MPs using the languages they are most familiar with. To the many citizens who do not know English, especially the senior citizens, this is definitely good news. Now they can listen directly to the MPs and understand the contents of their speeches in the language that they are most familiar with. If the various communities in Singapore can understand the contents of parliamentary debate, Government policies will certainly be disseminated to the public more effectively.

Singapore is a multi-racial society and, in our society, there are many senior citizens who do not understand English. This may well be one of the reasons why hitherto, they are not very keen to follow parliamentary debates. Of course, one of the reasons may be that they are confident that the Government will discuss and make decisions which are in

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the interest of the country. It is also possible that many senior citizens do not know English, they simply give up watching televised reports of parliamentary debates. Although there is simultaneous interpretation into Chinese, Tamil and Malay in Parliament, it is always better to hear the MPs themselves speaking in the language that they are most familiar with. If Parliament is debating a topic which is of concern to them, and the MP can use the mother tongue, it will certainly improve the effectiveness of communication. The people will be more interested and concerned with the issue in question. This is in line with Government's policy to allow more people to understand the broad directions of our policy. This is most beneficial. So I personally fully support this proposal to allow the MPs to use one or more of the official languages.

At the last sitting of Parliament in November 2006, PM suggested that the MPs be allowed to switch to the other official languages in their speeches. This proposal was moved by the Leader of the House and approved by Parliament. Almost all of us are in favour. But the suspension of Standing Order was an ad hoc measure that allowed the MPs to use more than one language in a speech, only during that particular sitting. This is not good enough. When many of my MP colleagues knew that the Deputy Leader was going to move this motion to allow MPs to use multiple languages in one speech once and for all, all showed support and enthusiasm. On behalf of all my parliamentary colleagues, I would like to thank the PM for his suggestion and the Deputy Leader for moving this motion.

Singapore is a multi-racial country and I would like to express my thanks in all the four official languages. In English, we say, "Thank you". In Malay, we say, "Terima kasih". In Tamil, we say, "Nandri." In Mandarin, we say, "Xie xie".

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Sir, I support the motion.

*Cols. 1101-1102.

3.12 pm

Dr Fatimah Lateef: Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the motion raised by the Deputy Leader of the House.

The Singapore language policy has always included a promotion of bilingualism, mastering English as a language for commerce, education and also administration, and certainly using Mandarin as a unifying language for the Chinese community. Passing this motion would be in line with the promotion of our cultural and lingual diversity in a multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-lingual society. We, Members of the House, leaders in our community, must set the example and spearhead the efforts in Parliament. We shape our language and certainly our language shapes us as well. Using our mother tongues in our speeches will enable a greater connection with members of our community, especially those who do not understand and speak English.

According to the General Household Survey of 2005, for example, about 24% of Chinese households do not use English at all and we have a relatively similar number for Malay households as well. These are exactly the segment we will be reaching out to with this new policy. They will now be able to connect better with their Members in Parliament and follow and support their speeches closely. With a language familiar to them, they will be more at home, and we certainly cannot deny that certain issues when discussed and spoken of in a certain language can create and generate more emotions, greater passion and also impact than when stated in English. This is a known phenomenon and may be related to the way our brains encode messages and information in the limbic system. It is also human nature to click and connect with those with similarities to you and

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particularly those who speak and understand the same language. When we speak at our election rallies, we used a combination of languages. And it is timely indeed for this practice to be extended to this House.

Singapore is small in size but big on languages. This was reported as early as 1991 in the Business Times of 15th November and our parliamentary Chamber will now be more of a linguistic stage with diversity in languages co-existing in a very dynamic way, reflecting our national integration. It will also emphasise the conservation of our mother tongue and indeed a very positive step in fostering further rootedness among Singaporeans. There are already many other nations that have adopted the dual or multilingualism policy, and these would include Scotland, Malta, Wales, Canada and Hungary, just to name a few.

Many of these nations have agreed that members have the right to use their mother tongue when addressing Parliament and in their public service.

When we have visitors to our Parliamentary debates, it would be excellent to showcase our multi-lingualism, which is unique and inspiring indeed. Moreover, with more foreign talents coming to reside within our borders, this practice will raise the profile of our languages as it will be seen not only as being spoken at home, the markets and in the coffeeshops but in Parliament, where important issues are discussed and critical decisions are being made.

The importance of the usage of our mother tongue will also have far-reaching benefits in the region and, in particular, countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, China and certainly India as well. Therefore, our bilingual capabilities are highly valuable and must be utilised as widely as possible. After all, when a real leader speaks in any language, people

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listen. Words in the appropriate language can do so much more. They can convey or create a mood, an attitude, an atmosphere or even an awakening.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion.

Mr Inderjit Singh (Ang Mo Kio): Sir, I support the motion moved by the Deputy Leader of the House to allow Members to use all four official languages in their speeches. Mr Low Thia Khiang was asking me whether I was supporting the use of Punjabi. It is not an official language, but I understand Malay quite well. I studied it until my A-levels.

Sir, I notice in the past that Members, in making their speeches, some of them felt quite constrained when they were forced to use just one language to deliver their speeches. Some Members were effectively Mandarin-speaking, and when they deliver their English speeches because they had to deliver speeches in English, they felt a bit uncomfortable. Similarly, those who were English-speaking and wanted to deliver Mandarin or Malay speeches, I could also sense an uneasiness when they delivered their speeches. Hence, if we had that flexibility in the past, I am sure Members would have delivered certain portions of their speeches in English and certain portions in their mother tongue and, therefore, making their delivery a bit neater and more interesting to listen to.

Today, more Members are bilingual and equally comfortable in both English and their mother tongue. So, I think we should not restrict them if they feel comfortable in making their speeches in any of the official languages that they choose to. We have a very efficient translation service in Parliament. So I do not foresee any reduction in understanding when Members switch their speeches from one language to

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another. Therefore, Members of this House should not feel that we will not be able to follow the speeches if the switch is made. Of course, I do not see any Member in this House speaking in all the four official languages. But if Dr Vasoo was still in this House, perhaps he may have been the one that could have delivered in all four languages.

Sir, I did ask a number of my grassroots leaders, some friends and also a few residents that I met, and every one of them told me that they actually liked the flexibility that they saw during the debate on the President's Address. Many of them told me that it added colour to the debate. As I said, I myself studied Malay as my second language. I enjoyed the speeches that were made in both languages.

Sir, I therefore feel that the motion is a move in the right direction and I support it.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank all the Members who have spoken for supporting the motion. I cannot agree with them more on the sentiments that they have expressed. I think the most important point that all Members have made is that we are sending a signal, if Parliament approves this motion, that it reflects what Singapore is, ie, we are a multi-racial, multi-lingual society and we need to have this diversity of languages reflected in Parliament, especially where important matters are discussed. So, I hope that Members will approve this motion.

Let me, as an aside, explain to Mr Sam Tan that this motion is only for the duration of the Eleventh Parliament, because we will need to amend the Standing Orders if we wish to make this change permanent, and we do not intend to amend the Standing Orders until an appropriate time.

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May I thank Members again for supporting the motion and I hope for Parliament's support.

Question put, and agreed to.

That, notwithstanding Standing Order No. 48(7), with effect from this day's sitting until the end of the 11th Parliament, a Member may use any or all of the four official languages in a speech in the proceedings of this House.

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