Indian-origin Singapore minister Indranee Rajah has emphasised upon the importance of Tamil language as a mother tongue, underscoring the need to introduce children to one of the four official languages in the prosperous city state.
The Singapore education system encourages mother tongue as a second language in schools — these include Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Tamil, Malay, and Chinese (Mandarin).
“We need to ensure our children have opportunities to be constantly exposed to Tamil language,” said Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Tamil language acted as a “passport” that linked all Tamil people, Rajah said recently, as reported by the Singapore media. The minister was at the launch of the Tamil Language Festival 2024, which runs from March 30 to April 28.
Language had to be learnt as a living lesson, Rajah said. It was not something that “you can just study, you need to put it to use”.
“Be it through television, social media or print, as long as they are hearing, listening and using the language from [a] young [age], we can keep it alive,” Rajah was quoted as saying by the Friday weekly Tabla!
To uphold the rich legacy of the Tamil language in Singapore, the Tamil Language Council (TLC) has been organising the Tamil Language Festival (TLF) for the past 18 years. This year saw a very colourful and energetic launch ceremony, with a full-house audience. Centred on the theme of ‘Capabilities’, the festival calendar features 47 programmes this year.
Rajah had earlier also emphasised on the importance for every generation to stay connected to their mother tongue, and in turn, their heritage and cultural identity.
‘Love Tamil, Speak Tamil’
According to a media release: “This year’s TLF will feature 47 programmes by 48 partners, as the community comes together to present a variety of literary, oratorical, arts and cultural programmes. These programmes will encourage everyone to ‘Love Tamil, Speak Tamil’, embrace their mother tongue, and use the language in their daily lives.”
“This year’s [Tamil Language Festival] theme was selected to inspire the creation of innovative programmes, while harnessing our collective strengths,” said TLC chairperson S Manogaran.
More than 65 per cent of the programmes at the festival have been organised by the youth, which has boosted Tamil language engagement among young people through art, culture, and literature initiatives.
“Many of our youth today are finding a new purpose in learning and using Tamil; many of the programmes are targeted at them,” said Manogaran, as quoted by Tabla!