As a 24 year old student I came to Singapore. My father always wanted me to settle here because of 2 reasons - 1. Closest well developed country from my home and 2. Tamil influence in Singapore!
The first reason being obviously true lets leave it aside a moment, how about the second one?
Yes, Singapore is a country where Tamil is also one of its 4 official languages but how far Tamil is found in People's tongue?
Believe me or not, I am yet to find a Singaporean of my age who speaks fluent Tamil. There might be many such people but I am yet to encounter one. All the Tamil speaking first generation people have become old or dead and the ones who remain now are 2nd and 3rd generation Tamils who grew up with no practice over their mother tongue - Tamil.
It is painful to see Tamil race children here who cannot speak proper Tamil. They are very shy to even say few Tamil words because they themselves are well aware that their pronunciation of words are horrible.
I met a Sri Lankan Tamil origin lady here whose parents migrated to Singapore long time ago. She is around her late 30s or early 40s and was unable to speak Tamil. She said everyone at home speaks only in English. Even the 2nd generation people were unable to speak Tamil properly, do you think Tamil will still be propagated to next generation too? No! their Tamil identity is erased off permanently once they lose their language.
We know the modern status of Tamil in India, we see everyone teaching only English to their children as early as they started speaking words. They send them only to English medium (no harm) but they fail to make them take Tamil as at least 2nd language. Though I studied in English medium my parents made me study Tamil as 2nd language, after my 10th std I chose French out of my own interest. I am grateful to my parents to make me study Tamil when I was kid (I will explain the reason later) and I feel pity for those who do not take their mother tongue not even as 2nd language.
Even though Tamil is prevalent in notice boards, bus signs, etc. everywhere in public in Singapore still this is the case with native Tamils here. Imagine what is happening for the 2nd generation Tamils in the countries elsewhere in the world, consider USA, do you think 2nd generation or 3rd generation Tamils from USA can speak Tamil?
As we all expected - Yes I am going to say Tamil has a very poor place among modern Tamils. The new generation is growing up without Tamil speaking skill thus losing their identity as 'Tamil'. The only people to be blamed is the previous generation.
PS: After writing this article I got a call from my dad who wanted me to wish for my grandparents' wedding anniversary. I called my grand dad and wished him in Tamil, he replied back in English - "Thank you pa!". Face palm moment...
The first reason being obviously true lets leave it aside a moment, how about the second one?
Yes, Singapore is a country where Tamil is also one of its 4 official languages but how far Tamil is found in People's tongue?
Believe me or not, I am yet to find a Singaporean of my age who speaks fluent Tamil. There might be many such people but I am yet to encounter one. All the Tamil speaking first generation people have become old or dead and the ones who remain now are 2nd and 3rd generation Tamils who grew up with no practice over their mother tongue - Tamil.
It is painful to see Tamil race children here who cannot speak proper Tamil. They are very shy to even say few Tamil words because they themselves are well aware that their pronunciation of words are horrible.
I met a Sri Lankan Tamil origin lady here whose parents migrated to Singapore long time ago. She is around her late 30s or early 40s and was unable to speak Tamil. She said everyone at home speaks only in English. Even the 2nd generation people were unable to speak Tamil properly, do you think Tamil will still be propagated to next generation too? No! their Tamil identity is erased off permanently once they lose their language.
We know the modern status of Tamil in India, we see everyone teaching only English to their children as early as they started speaking words. They send them only to English medium (no harm) but they fail to make them take Tamil as at least 2nd language. Though I studied in English medium my parents made me study Tamil as 2nd language, after my 10th std I chose French out of my own interest. I am grateful to my parents to make me study Tamil when I was kid (I will explain the reason later) and I feel pity for those who do not take their mother tongue not even as 2nd language.
Even though Tamil is prevalent in notice boards, bus signs, etc. everywhere in public in Singapore still this is the case with native Tamils here. Imagine what is happening for the 2nd generation Tamils in the countries elsewhere in the world, consider USA, do you think 2nd generation or 3rd generation Tamils from USA can speak Tamil?
As we all expected - Yes I am going to say Tamil has a very poor place among modern Tamils. The new generation is growing up without Tamil speaking skill thus losing their identity as 'Tamil'. The only people to be blamed is the previous generation.
PS: After writing this article I got a call from my dad who wanted me to wish for my grandparents' wedding anniversary. I called my grand dad and wished him in Tamil, he replied back in English - "Thank you pa!". Face palm moment...
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