It has finally come to a point where he has spoken up and admit that there was a mistake made in the past. At first when I did not read into the whole article, I felt really hopeful and happy! Finally, there is hope for the survivial and improvement of standards in our Mother Tongue! But upon reading about what he said throughout, disappointment hits me once again, just harder this time round. On the surface, it seems that they have the interest of MT in mind. However on the whole, I am sorry but I beg to differ. I may not be able to construct a very strong argument here, but I just feel that way with my reasons.

I have nothing against using some EL to teach CL, but when it has been stated so clearly and emphasized so much, the people with authority will definitely go to extremes. And those below who have no choice but to follow, or who cannot be bothered to go against the system and just follow, in the end it will be a case of really using EL to teach CL completely. Be it instructions in class, teaching meanings itself, and maybe even in textbooks. Students will be start to develop reliance, and the standards will just keep dropping. But it is ok so long as they can use the language! CL is just a tool to use! I hate this perspective, but I cannot deny the fact that it will just be that to most people in Singapore.

He mentioned about using creative technology and new media to teach the children, it can develop interests in them but it is so limited when the general belief and attitude of their parents is still the same! And there are alot of teachers out there who have been trying for years what he only mentioned now, but the results they see are often not that encouraging. Unless people start seeing it as more than a language, start seeing it as a culture which we cannot afford to lose, start seeing it as part of their national identity, if not much efforts will just go down the drain. Maybe I am also being a little extreme here, but I really do not want all my students to see our Mother Tongue as just another language.

I guess there is no use complaining and lamenting about this fact which cannot be changed, or will most probably take super long to change. What I can do on my part is just to change the attitudes of as many students as possible about my beloved Mother Tongue. I just pray hard that I do not become jaded during the process. Oh well.