Mllcg 3rd Gear July 4, 2012 Share July 4, 2012 (edited) http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/...ory_818161.html MONDAY'S article ('Sung with national pride') about the significance of national anthems - or their irrelevance - spurred my thoughts about our National Anthem. In all honesty, I almost forgot its title when I tried to recall it; assuming it was Mari Kita (Let Us) because these are the first words, before I remembered that it is Majulah Singapura (Onward Singapore). Sadly, beyond the title, I have no clue what the rest of the anthem means, despite having sung it every single day from primary school to junior college. My second problem is that the anthem is in Malay. If the purpose of a national anthem is to forge national identity and rally citizens towards a common vision or goal, why choose a language that four-fifths of Singaporeans today neither speak nor understand? Should our National Anthem be updated? The view that doing so would open a Pandora's box of unwelcome controversy framed along sensitive racial lines misses the point. The problem is not that most Singaporeans do not understand Malay, but that we do not understand what our National Anthem means. More effort must be made in schools to teach the anthem to students. I remember being cursorily taught its meaning in primary school, with its translation tucked away in an obscure page of a social studies text. If efforts are not made to impress the meaning and significance of the National Anthem, then generations of students will continue to sing Majulah Singapura every morning without understanding its importance or worth. Grace Zhang (Miss) Edited July 4, 2012 by Mllcg ↡ Advertisement Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ah_tee 2nd Gear July 4, 2012 Share July 4, 2012 (edited) http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/...ory_818161.html Grace Zhang (Miss) be thankful the anthem is not changed to pu-dong-hua mixed with tagalog Edited July 4, 2012 by Ah_tee Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icedbs Turbocharged July 4, 2012 Share July 4, 2012 f the purpose of a national anthem is to forge national identity and rally citizens towards a common vision or goal, why choose a language that four-fifths of Singaporeans today neither speak nor understand? She needs some history lessons. The national anthem is in Malay because the national language is Malay. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sdf5725 1st Gear July 4, 2012 Share July 4, 2012 f the purpose of a national anthem is to forge national identity and rally citizens towards a common vision or goal, why choose a language that four-fifths of Singaporeans today neither speak nor understand? She needs some history lessons. The national anthem is in Malay because the national language is Malay. may be she is new citizen. if not, then there is a big problem in the education system in Singapore. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balaballs 1st Gear July 4, 2012 Share July 4, 2012 Is she born for an Ah Tiong or Pino? Or a mix bread between the two? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skunk Clutched July 4, 2012 Share July 4, 2012 Just because she doesn't know the meaning then must change the anthem? What a self centered person Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antlau 1st Gear July 4, 2012 Share July 4, 2012 then all the more the person needs to learn the meaning of our national anthem... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Takeshi_lum Neutral Newbie July 4, 2012 Share July 4, 2012 wth is she talking? malay is our national language! we have been singing it all these years and i dont hear anyone from the previous generations complaining " Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
1fast1 Supersonic July 4, 2012 Share July 4, 2012 All the same, it is rather strange to have a National Language that is not taught compulsorily in schools. I have no problem with Malay, and most of us (born and breds) pick up "Melayu Pasar" along the way, but if we're truly going to continue recognising Malay as THE National Language, it needs to be taught formally to everyone, at least to Primary 6 level. Make it a non-examinable subject, but compulsory all the same. Otherwise, it just becomes an exercise in lip service. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonTan 2nd Gear July 4, 2012 Share July 4, 2012 I hope she is not serious. Really crock to suggest such things. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fcw75 Hypersonic July 4, 2012 Share July 4, 2012 Surname Zhang seems like a new citizen from China. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yaloryalor 5th Gear July 4, 2012 Share July 4, 2012 Change to English version can? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evillusion Supersonic July 4, 2012 Share July 4, 2012 Otherwise, it just becomes an exercise in lip service. its oredy not a lip service! its the reality of how things work in Sg! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watwheels Supersonic July 5, 2012 Share July 5, 2012 LOL....in that case Ms Zhang should also do an update on her name so as to reflect her intelligence and call herself "Dumb Ass". Any country out there suka suka "update" their national anthem? An anthem is written only when a country gain independence. You do not change it to match your shoes or your branded bag. Later such morons will suggest change the national flag as it needs an update also. They will suggest to remove the cresent moon since we are not a muslim country, make the flag all red in colour and leave the five stars....wtf... isn't that the Chinese flag?! Ms Zhang should be hang for treason. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonTan 2nd Gear July 5, 2012 Share July 5, 2012 That's the problems with many......no sense of history of own country. Should send her to army to receive the commands in Bahasa. KeBlakang Masuk!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerwoods Turbocharged July 5, 2012 Share July 5, 2012 Can someone teach her to copy and Paste the national anthem on google translate? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lala81 Hypersonic July 5, 2012 Share July 5, 2012 (edited) All the same, it is rather strange to have a National Language that is not taught compulsorily in schools. I have no problem with Malay, and most of us (born and breds) pick up "Melayu Pasar" along the way, but if we're truly going to continue recognising Malay as THE National Language, it needs to be taught formally to everyone, at least to Primary 6 level. Make it a non-examinable subject, but compulsory all the same. Otherwise, it just becomes an exercise in lip service. U forgot, our ex-PM said that our brains cant handle so many languages. Which i don't disagree for most people including me. Many people r struggling even with 2 languages. Edited July 5, 2012 by Lala81 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lala81 Hypersonic July 5, 2012 Share July 5, 2012 LOL....in that case Ms Zhang should also do an update on her name so as to reflect her intelligence and call herself "Dumb Ass". Any country out there suka suka "update" their national anthem? An anthem is written only when a country gain independence. You do not change it to match your shoes or your branded bag. Later such morons will suggest change the national flag as it needs an update also. They will suggest to remove the cresent moon since we are not a muslim country, make the flag all red in colour and leave the five stars....wtf... isn't that the Chinese flag?! Ms Zhang should be hang for treason. No la. every 5 yrs we should change the color, the stars and +- crescent or more stripes! Update yi sia. ↡ Advertisement Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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