I was having Chinese remedial the other day, and my chinese teacher said something like
this "Mr Lee Kuan Yew said that the most important language for us now is Mandarin and English. Dialects can wait."
Dialects are actually our own tradition language; if we're to "wait", won't we forget about
it? As language is a tool for us to communicate with people everyday, once we have
formed a habit of using English or Mandarin, we will tend to use lesser dialects and as a
result, it is being forgotten. Have you forgotten about your tradition?
Many or all young people are so influenced by the language they are taught in school
that when they get home, some are unable to communicate with the elderly because
they do not know their "traditional language" anymore. It may even seems strange to
them. Back to Island Voices, several stories eg. Sundowner, Tanjong Rhu and Evening
Under Frangipani deals with the lost of tradition.
In Sundowner, Das said that the bidan is a traditional and untrained midwife and it is
something from the past. Whereas Aman, he believes in the midwife and cannot break
the tradition of it. Das himself has also forgotten about his own tradition in the story.
He was brought up in Singapore but he's behaviour is nothing like a Singaporean.
In Tanjong Rhu, Edward's mother prays and talks to her late husband and clucks to
chickens. She cannot forget her husband and holds on to tradition. For eg. She
insisted on using real candles until it nearly set the altar on fire then she switched
to electircal light bulbs. There is a part where it says Edward switched from a day's
usage of English to Cantonese, feeling tongue-tied and even shy. (pg30) And on
pg 36, it says he's tongue seemed stuck and unable to curl around the syllables
which seemed almost unfamilliar when he wanted to talked to his father. This
shows that he spoke too much English and had forgotten to perform traditional roles.
Lastly in Evening Under Frangipani, Elaine thinks marriage is not important for
women to be "perfect". She thinks that every individual has he's own rights to
pursue what they want in life and develop their full potential as humans. In the
past, marriage is essential for women and to produce the next generation for
the male family. For Prakash, he wants to get married and have his own kids.
Elaine doesn't want to carry on with the tradition.
I think traditions are important for us. It is the "roots" of our lives and it is how we're
formed. They must not be left behind because of modernity. :)
forgotten because of modernity
Saturday, March 21, 2009
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4 comments:
fantastic. I am glad that you guys have applied what you have learnt from Literature to actual life situations. If there is any one consolation I have, it is that 4E2 has learnt some important life-skills! Keep em coming!
I guess its fact that society IS modernizing.But then again,there are some ups and downs.
Take for example sundowner as you have mentioned;the bidan is used to represent the fading tradition.It reveals a sense of loss towards the sentimentality of tradition but the fact is that the bidan uses out-dated methods to aid processes such as giving birth,as shown in sundowner.The modern doctor is more advanced and is a safer alternative,but at what cost;the loss of tradition.
Even so,it is hard to say which method is really better;since the modern method is safer but unfamiliar,while the traditional method is not as safe but represents the sentimentality of history.
Awesome post Bre!
Anyway, it is true that with the rapid speed of modernization, we are starting to lose a lot of our tradition and past.
It is something that is inevitable (because as we grow old, or as the surroundings around us change, we will definitely lose some things in process eg. memories, traditions).
But just because it is inevitable, does not mean that we severe our ties with it.
华文好！ 华文好！ 华文，华文，果然好，果然好！！！ 陈水遍曾经说过 “The presentation of only one single option, one single goal, rejecting all other possibilities and choices, is undemocratic.”
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