".....pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion...."  This is what we pledge to do every day, and since yesterday is Racial Harmony Day, I thought it would be apt to write about this.
 
Recently, Singapore's military promoted a muslim malay to the rank of general, since the city state became independent some 44 years ago. This is something everyone should be happy about, because we cross over racial lines, and appointed somebody based on ability.  :)
 
Even though this is something to rejoice about, there are still some loopholes. For example, the "Special Assistance Plan", which is what I am going to elaborate today. Special Assistance Plan (SAP) is a programme that promotes the learning of Chinese Language and culture. So, several subjects may be taught in the mother tongue, along with other subjects that are taught in English.
 
SAP, was first started in 1979, to preserve the ethos of the Chinese medium schools, and to promote the learning of Chinese Language and culture. As the government designated English as the lingua franca of workplace, etc, they needed to allay fears that they were indifferent to Chinese Language and culture, amid declining enrollments in chinese-medium schools. So they set up this SAP programme.
 
But then, since this is called Special Assistance Plan, and not specified for Chinese Language (CL) only, why is it only offered for CL, and not other mother tongues like Malay and Tamil. And then, the initial aim of this SAP programme, was promote the learning of CL and chinese culture, as there were fears that Chinese students might lose this culture and language, as they become more accustomed to English.
 
Doesn't it make more sense that this programme be rolled out for other languages too, especially when people using them is much lesser than Chinese using CL. Wouldn't this make it easier for these races to lose their language and culture, when they have less people to "defend" it?
 
To solve this problem, SAP should be rolled out for other mother tongues, and the first step might be to include the Madrasahs, as they like the Chinese-Medium schools of the old days. This would also allay fears that this or that particular school might be fully Malay (when there are other races of students), as most students in SAP schools are ethnic Chinese. Then, slowly, news schools can be opened, for other mother tongues in Singapore.
 
Ethos: 
the distinctive spirit and attitudes of a people, culture, etc.
 
Lingua Franca: any language that is widely used as a means of communication among speakers of other languages.

Credits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Assistance_Plan
http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2008/02/enhanced-programmes-by-special.php

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