4/26/2008

Diversity is bad at national level

I notice this interesting quote in the ST this morning. 'The incongruity of posting an apology in Chinese to viewers of a wholly Tamil programme appears to have been lost on the service provider.' Narayana Narayana was reacting to Starhub's apology in English and a translation in Chinese for a breakdown of a Tamil programme in SunTV Channel 29. I agree that Tamil do not read Chinese and it is nonsensical to use a Chinese translation for this. Of course the stubborn would argue that some Chinese also watch Tamil programme. The point I am pushing is that in the future, any breakdown of programme in Channel 8 will be accompanied by apologies in Hokien,Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew etc etc. if we are not careful. And as we bring in more foreigners, they too will demand to be recognised. This is the problem that we must be careful not to for into. It would be better to have lesser differences and seek a common ground than to accentuate our differences and pander to ethnic and racial emotions and sympathies. It will lead to greater problems in the future. We must put an end to all the calls to cater for all the differences of ethnic groups. Staying on with 4 official languages is already too much of a problem. Anything more is like opening a can of worms. Just keep such interests within talking cock sessions at home or in private. The individuals can do what they want at their own time and expenses. The state shall not be a party for such digression.

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