Speaking in Tongues - Singapore Style

Goh Sin Tub (2000)

In days of yore Grandpa laid down the law,

Speak mother tongue he used to say:

“Hokkien lang kong Hokkien way.”

Though Grandma from Java spoke only Bahasa,

She followed Grandpa’s rule to kong Hokkien way,

And she saw to it we grew up kong-ing Hokkien way.

Then we moved from Chinatown to Emerald Hill

Our friends now Muthu, Dollah, Bongsu,

So (boh pien lah!) we also chakap Melayu.

At school, Sir insisted: “Speak English!”

So, apa lagi, we anyhow speak English too,

Chin-chye, Chap-chye, choba kind also can do.

Then Japanese came and we benkyo Nippon-go;

Their ABC kata-kana: Ah, ee, oo, eh, oh,

No problem, we just champor: Kaki lu bengko’.

And now (kao peh!) Speak Mandarin campaign!

Must jiang hua yu, Hokkien way no can do.

Kena again: t’ak ch’e, belajar, benkyo, study, du shu.

At first we may swear at those campaign mandarins:

“Dammit, sial only, so suay one!”

But being kiasu, soon it’s Xian Sheng zao an!

- I really like reading local lit just because its very accessible and my students can probably relate better to it. (Of course you occasionally come across the ones filled with bombastic language being forced into an awkward metre - just ignore those.) It can spark conversations about why people write poetry (as a record of culture?) and why Singaporean poets are so defensive. I chose this one because its less easy to locate online and also because its a little more light-hearted, but I'm quite happy to exchange more interesting (not necessarily 'good') local poetry with you if you're interested! I also recommend Alfian Sa'at's 'The Merlion' (1998) and Lee Tzu Pheng's 'My Country, My People' (1980) as really important poems to consider. Lee's poem is, in my opinion, one of the canonical poems of Singaporean poetry! But I haven't posted it here because I have other poems I love too much to leave out.

I also recommend reading an anthology called Rhythms (2000) which has Singapore poems in all 4 languages. It may be helpful for the kids to read the poem in their own language! And there are always occasional gems along the way to make it worthwhile.