The Speak Mandarin Campaign (SMC; traditional Chinese: 講華語運動; simplified Chinese: 讲华语运动; pinyin: Jiǎng Huáyǔ Yùndòng) is an initiative by the Government of Singapore to encourage the Chinese Singaporean population to speak Standard Mandarin Chinese, one of the four official languages of Singapore as Singaporean Mandarin. It was launched on 7 September 1979 by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and organised by the Promote Mandarin Council. The SMC has been held annually to promote the use of Mandarin.
The campaign is contentious among Singaporeans. The ancestral origins of most Chinese Singaporeans were not from Mandarin speaking regions, and Singaporean Hokkien had served as the lingua franca of the Chinese community in Singapore until the campaign began. Since the 2010s, the SMC has been scaled down, with the government promoting greater appreciation of other Chinese varieties and relaxing restrictions on their use in local media. At the same time, many Singaporeans have begun to rediscover the ancestral forms of their respective Chinese varieties. Since 2020, Mandarin itself was surpassed by Singaporean English as the primary language in Chinese Singaporean households.
Background
In 1966, the Singaporean government implemented a policy of bilingual education, where Singaporean students learn both English and their designated mother tongue, which was Mandarin for all Chinese Singaporeans "by default". The Goh Report, an evaluation of Singapore's education system by Goh Keng Swee, showed that less than 40% of the student population managed to attain minimum levels of competency in two languages. It was later determined that the learning of Mandarin among Chinese Singaporeans was hindered by home use of native Chinese varieties, such as Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese and Hakka. Hence, the government decided to rectify problems facing implementation of the bilingual education policy, by launching a campaign to promote Mandarin as a common language among the Chinese Singaporean population, and to discourage use of other Chinese varieties.
Launched in 1979 by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, the campaign aimed to simplify the language environment for Chinese Singaporeans, improve communication between them, and create a Mandarin-speaking environment conducive to the successful implementation of the bilingual education programme. The initial goal of the campaign was for all young Chinese to stop speaking topolects in five years, and to establish Mandarin as the language of choice in public places within 10 years. The government cited the reasons of the campaign as the inefficiency of learning a non-Mandarin variety on top of English and Mandarin, and the divisiveness of the usage of all the non-Mandarin varieties.
According to the government, for the bilingual policy to be effective, Mandarin should be spoken at home and should serve as the new lingua franca among Chinese Singaporeans. They argued that Mandarin was more "economically valuable", and speaking Mandarin would help Chinese Singaporeans supposedly retain their heritage, as Mandarin seemingly contains a "cultural repository of values and traditions" that are "identifiable to all Chinese", regardless of "topolect group".
Rationale
The rationale of the SMC was initially to encourage more people, especially the young, to speak Mandarin instead of other Chinese varieties. This aimed to enable communication across different dialect groups and, at the same time, reduce language barriers between Singapore's various ethnic communities particularly after independence. With the demands of globalisation and other economic challenges facing a young nation, the government increasingly emphasised English. As a result, many English-educated Chinese Singaporeans began to lose proficiency in Mandarin and other Chinese languages.
Initial response
During the 1991 Singaporean general election, the governing People's Action Party (PAP) retained its supermajority but secured a smaller share of seats than in previous elections. One factor was the opposition's ability to tap into the linguistic anxieties of working class Chinese Singaporeans who spoke varieties of Chinese other than Mandarin. Many of these Singaporeans held onto their own languages as a form of identity and some refused to enroll their children in schools that had Mandarin names.
As a result, the PAP government switched its focus away from non-Mandarin Chinese varieties towards encouraging English-speaking and educated Chinese to speak more Mandarin. In 1994, the SMC specifically targeted English-educated business professionals and working adults. It promoted the use of Mandarin, to keep their "links" to cultural roots, so as to better appreciate the "heritage and value" and, most importantly, complement the economical aspects as China began to rise in the business sector. In 2010, through The Chinese Challenge, the SMC moved towards a cultural aspect, whereby its main focus is to promote Singaporeans to hold on to their "roots", knowing their own culture well.
Campaigns
For each SMC, a slogan was created and a different segment of the Chinese community was targeted.
1983
华人讲华语，合情又合理 (Mandarin's In, Dialects Out)In 1983, the promotion of Mandarin moved to markets and food centres, closer to the heartlands. Between 1983 and 1987, Telecoms also offered 'Dial for Mandarin Lessons' services on a 24-hour basis every day. Peak-hour calls averaged about 40,000. "A need for common language between different ethnic Singaporeans or effective communication of thoughts" and to "preserve cultural roots by learning written Chinese and speaking Mandarin, since culture is transmitted through written words", were some highlights of the campaign launching speeches in 1983.
2000
讲华语？ 没问题！ Speak Mandarin? No problem!
- The Campaign was officially launched at the premiere of a Chinese movie "A Tale of the Sacred Mountain".
- The Mandarin Film Festival was the first film festival organised by the Promote Mandarin Council. It was held from 17 to 22 September at the Golden Village Grand, Great World City. The Festival screened 12 critically acclaimed films produced by some of China's best producers and directors.
- Singapore's first Mandarin a cappella CD album entitled "A Cappella Fanatix, Mandarin A Cappella" was jointly produced by Young Musicians' Society and the Promote Mandarin Council.
- The forum entitled "Mandarin for the Family" was held on 18 November. The speakers comprised educationists who discussed teaching methods for the learning of Chinese, as well as well-known personalities who shared their experiences in learning Mandarin and using it both at home and in the office.
- The Chinese Heritage Series, which comprises arts and cultural performances ranging from 新谣 xinyao, hand puppet to Chinese Orchestra was held at various shopping malls.
- SMC celebrities' web chats – a series of web chats with well-known artistes and personalities was held.
- A Speak Mandarin Campaign commemorative book entitled "Mandarin: The Chinese Connection" (华人，华语，华文) was produced.
- The first CD-ROM on learning Mandarin was produced. Entitled "Speak Mandarin? No problem!" (讲华语？ 没问题！), it is an interactive learning CD-ROM which caters to adults who know basic Mandarin and have a desire to improve it.
The official speech during the launch of the Speak Mandarin Campaign 2000 was given by Mah Bow Tan, then Minister for National Development. In the speech, he gave credits to the SMC, for successfully establishing Mandarin as a principal language of communication amongst Singaporean Chinese, but says that a higher standard of spoken Mandarin needs to be achieved. Having a good command of Mandarin exposes people to culture and heritage, as well as facilitating dealings with Asia's potential economy powerhouse, China. The community and schools have new roles to play to increase and improve the use and standards of Mandarin in Singapore.
2006/07
华语 COOL! (Mandarin [is] COOL!)The official speech during the launch of the campaign was given by Wong Kan Seng, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs at the official launch. The message for that year was for Chinese Singaporeans to use Mandarin "not in place of, but in addition to English as Mandarin adds so much to our cultural and personal enrichment and business effectiveness. Together with its partners, the Promote Mandarin Council is now encouraging Chinese Singaporeans to go beyond just seeing Mandarin as "hip" or "cool", but also to deepen their knowledge of the rich heritage."2006's theme of the campaign is "华语 COOL", with the goals of making people deepen their appreciation of the Chinese heritage and to be able to communicate in "cool" Mandarin in addition to English. The Campaign uses a lifestyle-oriented approach, revolving around movies, music and metaphors, extending the theme of "华语 COOL". Some examples of resources of the movies, music and metaphors include:
- Mandarin Rocks @ K Box
- MusicNet Song Book with Hanyu PinYin
- 成语 365 (一天一句) "Idioms 365 (An Idiom a Day)" by PanPac Education
- CoolSpeak! Column in Sunday Times
- Huayu Cool on 938LIVE
- Straits Times' new "成语 Cool" (Idioms [are] Cool)
The theme song for the campaign for that year is 我想听你说 (wǒ xiǎng tīng nǐ shuō) by Singaporean singer, Joi Chua.
Some of the other partners include ComfortDelGro, Lianhe Zaobao, Mediacorp TV, STOMP, Tong Shui Café and the SAF Music & Drama Company.
2007/08
To promote Mandarin as an enjoyable, fun and living language via popular lifestyle activities, to show how Chinese Singaporeans can embrace Mandarin in their daily lives, was the aim of SMC in 2007/ 08. The tagline is '讲华语, 你肯吗?' (Speak Mandarin – Are You Game?). SMC also retains its "华语 COOL!" branding which is now familiar and popular among Chinese Singaporeans.
For a period of 12 months, starting from 5 November 2007, the campaign featured a series of fun and engaging programmes and activities by its partners. Key strands of SMC 07/08 are Sports, Culture and The Arts, Design and Lifestyle.
Sports
During the official launch of the campaign on 5 November 2007, Lee Swee Say, then Minister in Prime Minister's office, announced the partnership between the SMC and various sports organizations. The sports partners for 2007's campaign include the Singapore Sports Council (SSC), the Football Association of Singapore, the S-League, and The Cage. The Straits Times and STOMP! also launched a new initiative, 'On Your Marc, Get Set, Go!' following The Straits Times' correspondent Marc Lim on his Mandarin-learning journey as he picks up pointers from national athletes.
Culture
Going for a fresher look, the SMC's promotional materials, from outdoor advertisements to posters and collateral, are designed with an edgy, vibrant and contemporary feel. Activists are also featured in the posters, to encourage more Chinese Singaporeans to explore Mandarin together with them. The campaign's theme song "挑战 (Challenge)" was created by two of the most sought-after talents in Asia's Mandarin Pop scene – Eric Ng (composer) and Xiaohan (lyrics). The song was performed by Ngak, a good example of a predominantly English-speaking Chinese Singaporean. Partners, including Theatre Practice and Funkie Monkies Productions will be tapping on theatre and music, to encourage Chinese Singaporeans to enjoy speaking Mandarin.
The arts, design and lifestyle
Partners such as Night and Day – Bar+Gallery+Friends and 77th Street came together with some of Singapore's 'edgy' designers to create an initiative to promote SMC 07/08. Theatre Practice also continued to make Chinese Theatre accessible to Singaporeans who are interested in Chinese Theatre and culture, opening the doors to SMC's target audience.
2009/10
华文？ 谁怕谁 (Be heard in Chinese) The 2009 SMC started with a series of videos on foreign children speaking correctly pronounced and fluent Chinese, showed that anyone can learn Chinese, that it is not something only the Chinese people can acquire. The video shows foreign children talking about either Chinese myths or other Chinese related culture. The Promote Mandarin Council is trying to alert Singaporeans to embrace Singaporean heritage and pass it on to the next generation.
The purpose of these "Be heard in Chinese" videos was not to mock Singaporeans, who are born Chinese but cannot speak Chinese. Instead, it reminded parents to create a learning environment for their children, to get to know Chinese via culture and knowledge, instead of seeing it as a tool to venture into the China market.
In the following year, the SMC started a series of promotions on "The Chinese Challenge", where it moved to a wider audience and became more general. The main purpose of "The Chinese Challenge", which is an online contest, is to provide an interactive platform, to encourage Singaporeans and even Permanent Residents to enjoy and improve their Mandarin and deepen their knowledge of Chinese culture, through experiencing the finest in Chinese culture and language. Therefore, it is not to just asking people to learn Chinese, but also to create an environment that allows them to learn Chinese effectively.