While the use of dialects in the country has been declining, a group of young Singaporeans are hoping to reverse the trend
Emma Choo, a four-year-old Singaporean, possesses an ability that is rare among her young peers – she can greet people in Hokkien, a Chinese dialect that has plummeted in usage in Singapore in recent years.
Catherine Shih, Emma’s 52-year-old mother, is raising her daughter to learn Hokkien along with Mandarin and English out of concern that the younger generation is forgetting their heritage, especially after the death of Shih’s Hokkien-speaking mother and her father developed dementia.
“Nowadays, a lot of youngsters don’t speak Hokkien. We have to pass the dialects down to them. If not, in the future they won’t know any Hokkien and they won’t know their roots,” said Shih, a freelance carer.
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