English skills give edge

"THE ability to understand the world without translation is a skill Singapore can impart to China", said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

But the MM failed to "forecast" that Singaporeans just could not manage the teaching and learning of the Chinese Language & Culture sufficiently to impart English into China. In Chinese, it is a "spear & shield" argument.

There is no need for the whole of China or a overwhelming majority of China nationals to know English very well in order do business.

The MM said :- "10~20% per cent of Chinese must become proficient in English before an English-speaking environment can develop" - This is right to facilitate the learning of the English and/or any other languages, but there is no need for a huge majority to do so in order to do business by reading reports in English ... perhaps just those in Government or top managers of business organisations would do ... or just employ an assistant who is proficient in English.

Is there a need for 10~20% of China's population (approx 1.3 billion) to know English in order to do business? I doubt.

He is certainly "OLD" in his "LOGIC".

Reference

Abstracted From :-

ST Online

Jul 13, 2010

English skills give edge

But creation of an English-speaking environment a challenge

By Rachel Chang

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said if the Chinese can master English, it will give them a very powerful weapon for economic growth. --

THE ability to understand the world without translation is a skill Singapore can impart to China, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

But for China to attain this skill will involve creating an English-speaking environment alongside their Chinese-speaking one - a difficult challenge he does not know how to overcome.

'If the Chinese can master English, it will give them a very powerful weapon for economic growth,' he said.

China is currently at a 'disadvantage' in a world where English is the lingua franca, he said. In finance, for instance, all bank annual reports are in English, regardless of their countries of origin.

Mr Lee was speaking to an audience of 300 at a dialogue during the FutureChina forum yesterday. A participant had asked what China could learn from Singapore and vice versa.

Mr Lee said that 10 to 20 per cent of Chinese must become proficient in English before an English-speaking environment can develop.