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54-400: SGEM may refer to: Speak Good English Movement , a Singapore Government campaign Spy Games: Elevator Mission , a first person shooter by Dreams Co. Ltd. Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title SGEM . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

108-410: A closed economy restricts international trade and finance with other countries. In an open economy, the sale of goods or services to a foreign country is known as exporting , while the purchase of foreign goods or services is referred to as importing . Collectively, these activities form the basis of international trade . Open economies offer several advantages to their citizens. One key benefit

162-459: A country can spend more than it produces by borrowing from foreign sources, or it can spend less and lend the surplus to other nations. The concept of an open economy is closely linked to the idea of globalization , where individuals, businesses, and governments worldwide are increasingly interconnected. Historical developments such as the Silk Road , which facilitated trade between Eastern Asia,

216-446: A curious zoo specimen to be dissected and described by scholars. The Speak Good English Movement is the government's effort to encourage Singaporeans to speak Standard English rather than the colloquial form, Singlish . Many Singaporeans have criticised this as trying to eradicate Singlish. Arguing that Singlish is a distinctive marker of Singaporean identity, supporters of Singlish criticise SGEM. Their support for Singlish stems from

270-504: A dialogue session at a student education conference that his ministry was looking at hiring "native speakers" to teach English language in schools in order to improve the standard of teaching the English language in school. Following this, many Singaporeans wrote in to newspapers forums with questions such as "Why aren't our English teachers suitably qualified?" and wondering if "native English speakers" meant foreign English-speakers hailing from

324-559: A different theme focusing on the target audience is created. The themes that were used in the campaign up until 2015 are: In 1999, then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong highlighted the problem of speaking Singlish in his National Day Rally . A year later in April 2000, he officially launched the Speak Good English Movement with the tagline 'Speak Well, Be Understood'. He stressed the importance of speaking standard English and reducing

378-458: A platform for local artists, it had hoped to use the power and reach of those artists to send its message to youths in Singapore. It also used social media platforms such as MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, STOMP , Youth.Sg, The Speak Good English Movement website and blogs by band members. Partner programmes in 2007–08 Launched by Minister Lim Boon Heng, Prime Minister's Office, on 26 August 2008,

432-678: A week-long festival packed with events such as plays and a speech marathon. Later in the year, the public sector also organised year-long programmes as part of the movement. One such event was the seminar held by the Singapore Teachers' Union (STU) at the Shangri-La Hotel, attended by about 500 participants who were mostly teachers. The seminar emphasised the power of pronunciation and the teaching of grammar, and encouraged teachers to teach English in more creative ways in schools using dramas and role-playing. Other highlights in 2000 included

486-548: Is bad, that's because they speak broken English, not Singlish. We all know we can't speak Singlish to foreigners because they'll all catch no ball. That's just common sense. The fault isn't with too much Singlish, it's because English is taught so badly. In an event held on 24 August 2006, TalkingCock in Parliament: We, the Citizens , Ruby Pan (a former Ministry of Education scholar and a graduate of Princeton University ) displayed

540-423: Is encourage people to try. Have a go even if they can't speak well, even if they cannot use long words, even if they can't use long sentences; it's not important. The idea is to use simple words, simple sentences and convey their message clearly." The movement continued throughout the year until March 2004 so as to create greater impact and awareness. In its fifth year, acting Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen launched

594-465: Is imperative to raise living standards in Singapore, and Singlish causes problems when Singaporeans need to communicate in the " global language of commerce, business and technology". The movement thus campaigns for an improved standard of English used in Singapore. In hopes of extending its reach, the movement adopts a different theme and target group each year, and also collaborates with various partner organisations to provide programmes in line with

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648-452: Is not understood by others, we will lose a key competitive advantage ." The movement was spearheaded by a committee of people in the private sector led by then Colonel (NS) David Wong, a senior adviser with the consulting company Ernst and Young . Its target audience was Singaporeans under 40, which included young working adults, parents and students in schools, tertiary institutes, polytechnics and technical institutes. The launch kick-started

702-461: Is that consumers have access to a broader variety of goods and services. Additionally, citizens can invest their savings in foreign markets, potentially offering better returns. However, open economies are also more interdependent with other nations, exposing them to risks from global economic fluctuations. An open economy also allows a country's spending in any given year to differ from its production of goods and services. This flexibility means that

756-546: Is used, in order to create a conducive environment where those less proficient in the code can learn by example. Fluent speakers of Standard English are encouraged to use it more frequently in all conversation, regardless if it is with family members, colleagues, hawkers, or taxi drivers. In a bid for Singaporeans to 'Get It Right'-where those proficient in Standard English take note to use the language accurately and those who are less proficient at it try to use it correctly;

810-427: Is young people of the wired generation, aged 18 to 29. This year, the movement initiated an online drama titled Six Lives which followed the lives of six friends planning a wedding for their friends John and Huileng. Over a span of 12 episodes, Six Lives aimed to show the importance of communicating well and how 'Impress, Inspire and Intoxicate' can be incorporated into daily situations that friends get into, through

864-634: The "Post-its Tak Bak Chew Campaign", inviting supporters to send in snapshots of their own home-made signs with proper Singlish. The original Facebook page was established on 11 September 2010 with the following statements: We are not against the Speak Good English Movement in Singapore. But we believe that we should get it right with speaking English as well as Singlish. We are tired of people confusing Singlish with broken English. We are tired of people pretending to speak Singlish by speaking bad English. We are tired of people caricaturising Singlish speakers as uncouth and unintelligent. If you don't bother to learn

918-422: The 2007/08 Movement targeted four broad groups – youth, parents, teachers and frontline staff. The key focus was on the youth, while parents, teachers, and frontline staff were seen as the main people to have interactions with them, thus having a vital role in the language input that they receive. The organizers tried to encourage young Singaporeans to express themselves through the arts and music. This year also saw

972-608: The Arts & Heritage Development Division from the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts and Ho Peng, Director of Curriculum Planning and Development from the Ministry of Education, wrote in a letter published in The Straits Times on 12 December 2008: While Singlish may be a fascinating academic topic for linguists to write papers about, Singapore has no interest in becoming

1026-524: The English language proficiency of all their teachers. A new programme called Functional Literacy for Our Workers (FLOW) was initiated by the Workforce Development Agency with the aim to equip workers who had little English literacy with some basic tools required for them to do their work. Other activities to promote good English were also held throughout the year, such as the WISH programme (as in

1080-674: The Middle East, and Europe, and global conflicts like World War I and World War II , which fostered economic alliances, have played a significant role in the development of open economies. Political ideologies have also influenced the development of open economies. Economic openness as a concept emerged in the 19th century, with two primary schools of thought. Critics argue that open economies may weaken national economies due to heightened competition, while proponents believe that openness encourages trade , fosters job creation, and boosts economic opportunities. As of 2014 , no country operates as

1134-477: The SGEM. Since Singapore gained independence in 1965, English is taught as a first language and is also the most dominant language in Singapore. All public schools use English as the medium of instruction. But one cannot classify all Singaporeans as native speakers of English because the main languages spoken at home are not necessarily English. In 2006, then Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam mentioned during

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1188-613: The Save Our Singlish Campaign "as complementary, not adversarial". TalkingCock found it important to save Singlish for it is a crucial part of the Singaporean culture and heritage: Why we're fighting for Singlish, is because it's simply a part of our culture. In fact, it may be the ONLY thing that makes us uniquely Singaporean. It mixes all the various languages, which to me, seems to spread multi-cultural understanding. I thought this

1242-523: The Speak Good English Movement 2008 targeted the workforce who were seen as the people both Singaporeans and international visitors would encounter most frequently. Frontline staff of the service and retail sectors were especially targeted. The message of the tagline of 2008 – 'I Can' was that 'I can help others improve their English.', 'I can take action to improve my English.' and 'I can speak good English if I want to.' In order to encourage willingness to speak and improve their proficiency of Standard English,

1296-507: The United States or from Britain. On 14 June 2006, mrbrown reported in his blog that the Ministry of Education had already put up job advertisements in the British newspaper The Guardian for experienced, qualified native speakers of English to teach English as a first language, English literature, geography, history, knowledge and inquiry. Subsequently, mrbrown created two podcasts on

1350-564: The ability to switch easily from Standard English to Singlish and to different English accents. The Speak Good Singlish Movement gathers support through a Facebook page which as of September 2013 had 252 members though as reported in a dead link, an identically named group had 3,140 members in December 2012. It began as a response to the launch of SGEM 2010, in particular, its notion of using post-its to correct public signs written in poor English. The page ran its own post-it campaign, called

1404-415: The appointment for the new chairman – Mr Goh Eck Kheng, publisher of Landmark Books for a two-year term from 1 March 2008 to 30 April 2010. From August 2007 to June 2008, the movement held weekly programmes and performances which aimed to allow youths to grow their confidence and fluency with the code. Programmes included music, oratorical performances, film, drama, stand-up comedy, and poetry. In providing

1458-450: The belief that Singlish can forge social cohesion and according to some , "It may be the only thing that makes us Singaporean." Likewise, celebrity STOMP blogger Leow Ju Len says in this blog post: "I mean, our tourism slogan is 'Uniquely Singapore', and what could be more uniquely Singaporean than Singlish?". He also reasons that the beauty of Singlish is the fact that "It's also wonderfully time- and breath-saving. If you need to know

1512-570: The campaign at The Arts House at Old Parliament in April 2004. The target of the campaign can be summed up as English@Work&Play. Its target audience was working adults in the service industry, including cabbies, shop assistants, waiters and others, which made up 70 per cent of all workers in Singapore. People in positions of influence, parents and teachers were also encouraged to serve as positive role models in speaking good English to those around them. The movement also partnered organisations and key agencies in training workshop initiatives to improve

1566-468: The demonstration by the six characters who interacted through blog entries and comments at the Sixlives webpage. Partner programmes in 2009–10 In its 11th year, the Speak Good English Movement 2010 which was launched on 7 September 2010 with the tagline 'Get It Right'. This year's focus is on those who are less proficient in Standard English. It aimed at broadening the environment in which Standard English

1620-402: The establishment of the modern port in Singapore . The port attracted migrants from neighbouring countries, such as China and India, resulting in a diverse linguistic landscape . Proximity to these languages has over generations influenced Singaporean English . Known colloquially as Singlish , the vernacular dialect is characterised by the mixture of local expressions with Standard English (e.g.

1674-563: The first to correct a sign at the Xin Food Court at the HarbourFront Centre. He replaced an ungrammatical sign saying 'No outside food allowed' with a one which reads 'No food from elsewhere, please'. Partner programmes in 2010–11 With the new appointment of a new chairman after ten years and the formation of a new committee, a new campaign was rolled out on 14 June 2019. Mr. Jason Leow, chairman of Speak Good English Movement, says

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1728-474: The grammar of the standard version. Open economy An open economy refers to an economy in which both domestic and international entities participate in the trade of goods and services. This type of economy allows for the exchange of products, including technology transfers and managerial expertise. However, certain services, such as a country's railway operations, may not be easily exchanged internationally due to practical limitations. In contrast,

1782-460: The humanities. This formed part of the plan to bring the standard of English languages in schools to a higher level. Drawing from notions of linguistic interference , the "interference" argument justifies the need to eliminate Singlish by suggesting that it confuses and contaminates Standard English. It suggests that the inability to distinguish the grammars of the two varieties of English will cause learners to mix their features, thus contaminating

1836-678: The launch of Grammar Matters , a series of five books using comics to illustrate the correct use of grammar by the Regional English Language Centre in support of the movement. From 2001 to 2002, it was reported that increasingly, Singaporeans were becoming more aware and acknowledging the importance of speaking good English. The British Council continued to operate its toll-free line giving English lessons. Reportedly, year 2001 saw almost 250,000 callers while there were about 170,000 callers in 2002. Also, an inter-school Scrabble competition, in which 54 primary schools participated,

1890-409: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SGEM&oldid=1047147395 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Speak Good English Movement English was introduced in 1819 with

1944-409: The movement of this year initiated the classification of Singaporeans into three categories: 1. Singaporeans who can speak Standard English. 2. Singaporeans who cannot yet speak Standard English and are open to improving themselves. 3. Singaporeans who are not able to speak Standard English and do not see the importance of doing so. Partner programmes in 2008–09 The Speak Good English Movement 2009

1998-576: The movement recognises Singlish as a "cultural marker for many Singaporeans", but good English has value in "promoting understanding, supports business communication and helps us be understood by others wherever English is spoken – internationally and in Singapore." The logo is a quotation mark symbolising a person in conversation, with the new tagline 'Let's connect. Let's speak good English.' The SGEM has received mixed reactions from its beginning; its strongest opponents have included linguists and social commentators. In response, Liew Choon Boon, Director of

2052-457: The movement's goals. The campaign aims to discourage the use of Singlish and encourage the use of a more standardised form of English, (i.e. generally modelled on the British standard). According to the movement's chairman, then Colonel (NS) David Wong, the Speak Good English Movement aims to build a sense of pride that Singaporeans can speak good English, as opposed to Singlish, as well as to check

2106-443: The mrbrown show to express his views. The first gave insight to what will happen if the implementation of hiring foreign native English speakers to teach English became too successful. The second tells of how he imagines the interviews with the native speaker applicants for the teaching jobs. In response, Jennifer Chan, Press Secretary to Minister for Education, wrote in a forum letter reply dated 22 June 2006 that: The criteria for

2160-498: The organisers introduced an Activist Toolkit. The Activist Toolkit includes sticky notes, stickers and notebooks. People are encouraged to use the sticky notes to correct English errors that they encounter anywhere. For example, correcting a wrongly expressed sign by pasting a sticky note over it. This tactic is called 'guerrilla-styled' from guerrilla marketing . The current Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan kicked off this year's campaign by being

2214-707: The previous year), and talks at selected public libraries to educate the public on the importance of reading aloud and on using English to communicate with one's family. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong launched that year's Speak Good English Movement on 13 May at the HDB Hub Auditorium at Toa Payoh. Chairing the movement was Professor Koh Tai Ann, professor of English Literature at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Nanyang Technological University . Professor Koh highlighted that speaking good English did not necessarily mean that one should seek to eradicate or diminish

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2268-487: The selection of foreign teachers will remain stringent. Besides academic and teaching qualifications, they should also have a proven track record in teaching in their countries. The individuals may be native speakers or persons who have learnt EL well as a first language The hiring of "a small number" of foreign teachers was to complement the local teachers in subjects like English, the Mother Tongue Languages and

2322-443: The subtle rules of a natural evolving language, then please don't conclude that it is simple, shallow, and useless! Singlish is full of cultural nuances and wordplay, and it pulls together the best in the grammar, syntax, and vocabulary of many languages. In an exclusive interview with The Online Citizen , one of Singapore's key social commentary websites, its unnamed founder directly called into question Dr Balakrishnan's appeal about

2376-459: The time, you say: 'Now what time?'. It gets the question across in three words. Where got time to say: 'Do you know what time it is now?'" On 27 April 2002, two years after the start of SGEM, TalkingCock launched the Save Our Singlish Campaign. They made it clear at the speech during the launch that they did not oppose the speaking of good English. Rather, they "completely support the writing and speaking of good English" and hoped that SGEM would see

2430-463: The trend where Singaporeans use Singlish as a way of identifying themselves. Instead, it envisions a brand of grammatically correct English, different from Singlish, to be linked with the unique Singaporean identity. Since 2003, the Speak Good English Movement has been launched annually with year-long programmes and activities held island-wide to increase the awareness among Singaporeans that speaking good English matters in their daily lives. Each year

2484-522: The usage of Singlish or mother tongue . He recognised the importance of mother tongue and Singlish as a bonding element for Singaporeans, but emphasised that there was a right place and time for it and that Singaporeans must be able to converse in Standard English when an occasion called for it. The highlights of that year's movement included the appointment of 12 ambassadors for the SGEM 2005. They included taxi drivers, cyber gamers and media personalities. Partner programmes in 2005–06 The 2006 movement

2538-401: The use of Singlish, as Singapore is a hub city and an open economy with a need to interact with English-speaking foreigners. Singaporeans often use Chinese syntax and literal translations of Chinese phrases while speaking English, which make utterances seem truncated and incomprehensible to foreigners. In his rally, the prime minister stressed that "if we speak a corrupted form of English that

2592-413: The use of discourse particles such as lah ). Singlish is commonly used by Singaporeans in informal contexts and can be incomprehensible to non-Singaporeans. When the Speak Good English Movement was launched in 1999, then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong described Singlish as "English corrupted by Singaporeans", and "broken, ungrammatical English". According to the government, mastery of Standard English

2646-721: Was held to kick off the year's events in April 2002. According to the Government, more Singaporeans recognised the need to speak well, and took steps to improve their spoken English. Programmes organised by SGEM partners such as the People's Association and the British Council were well received. In 2003, the movement, already in its fourth year, aimed to not only encourage Singaporeans to speak well but also speak simple English. Chairman Wong said, "They may be afraid to use English; it's not natural to them. This year what we would like to do

2700-470: Was later adapted to a regularly updated online column on STOMP which still runs today. There have also been daily enquiries regarding English language on STOMP. Its popularity led to the publication of two best-selling volumes of books of the same title- 'English As It is Broken', based on issues brought up from the site. Partner programmes in 2006–07 Launched by Radm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, Minister of State For Education on 31 July 2007 at Timbre Music Bistro,

2754-602: Was launched by Radm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, Minister of State For Education on 25 July 2006 at The Plaza, National Library Building. The focus of the year was on creating a standard of English for Singaporeans to be understood anywhere in the world, not just locally but internationally. The highlights of the 2006 movement include starting of the 'English as it is Broken' column in the Generation Y page of The Sunday Times which addressed questions relating to English sent in by its readers. This column continued its run for two years in print and

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2808-485: Was officially launched by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean on 28 August with the tagline "Impress. Inspire. Intoxicate": impress those we communicate with, inspire others as role models of good English and using words that intoxicate to make everyday communication more engaging. The tagline also aimed to convey the message that communicating well goes beyond grammar and vocabulary and involves being able to express and be understood as well. The target of this year's movement

2862-748: Was something to be proud of. Furthermore, they reiterated that "Singlish is not just broken English. It's a patois ." They argued that speaking good English should not be promoted at the expense of Singlish. Singapore Watch summed it up with "Speak Singlish proudly, speak English properly." Colin Goh , who started TalkingCock , pointed out that Singaporeans can tell the difference between English and Singlish: Have more faith in Singaporeans than that. We know when to use Singlish and when not to. We are intelligent enough to know we don't write formal letters in Singlish. When

2916-430: Was the last time you typed out, "Eh, give me a job, leh!" And we try not to speak Singlish to our foreign friends because we instinctively know that they might not understand. Or as we say, they'll catch no ball. He further acknowledged that there are times when improper English is spoken by Singaporeans but reiterated that the blame cannot be pushed onto Singlish: If Singaporeans' communication with Europeans or Americans

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