How to save money Chinese style.

Today, I bought a toy for my son, Tiarnan, three. It is a Power Ranger toy. Now, there is nothing unusual about that...but there was something unusual about the packaging. The toy and the package were in two different worlds.

I shall explain. On the toy box, it said that the "Power Rangers, Dinothunder" set contained: "Magnifying glass, Retractable measuring tape, Compass, Archaeologist's shovel, Tweezers". Imagine my surprise, therefore, when I found that what it actually contained was a mask, a sword, a badge and an action figurine!

What has happened here appears to be one of two things: either the factory packaging it, in China, had no-one who could read English and they simply packed them into the boxes they had been given, without regard to whether it was appropriate - or the factory was saving money, by using excess packaging for another product, for a different product.

I thought it most bizarre. It is the first time I can recall that the packaging on an item was clearly meant for a different item. It is telling, perhaps, that this should come from a product that says: "Made in China", on the box. Perhaps only in a country with such a reputation for quality, such as China has, could a product actually end up in an irrelevant box.

I intend to keep the box, for the sheer oddity of it.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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Does Singlish - Singaporean English - communicate?

The question is a general one. However, I am going to look at it through one particular, though in its way, not uncommon incident.

Singapore has, as anyone who has visited it will know, its own version of English, known as Singlish. This is a form of English that uses words that are derived from the other languages present in Singapore (ie. Mandarin and Malay) - and variations on basic grammatical structures that are far from standard English. In consequence, it can be difficult for a native speaker of English, who is not familiar with this variant, to understand a speaker of Singlish. I certainly had difficulty understanding speakers of Singlish, when I first came to Singapore (and still do from time to time, in the more extreme cases).

There is another problem, of course, but a lesser one. If a Singaporean speaks Singlish, but does not watch enough TV (which is mainly British and American English tv shows), they might not understand a native English speaker, when speaking to them. (Though they should understand standard written English, for all words should actually be familiar to them).

In recent years, Singapore mounted a "speak standard English" campaign - but it was rather a failure and, it seems, the government gave up on it, since I don't see any prolonged efforts to educate the population in English, as it should be.

What effect does this have on communication between Singaporeans and natives of other countries (who are native English speakers)?

Well, recently, I went into a supermarket. When I got to the checkout, I recognized the person who was serving. He looked exhausted, so I decided to enquire how he was.

“Are you tired this evening?” I said, gently, looking at his baggy eyes.

“No, I am just sleepy.”

I left it at that. Clearly, a conversation was not going to be possible: either he didn't understand the word "tired" - or he didn't understand my accent (a standard British accent). I gave up.

This kind of communication problem is not uncommon in Singapore. Usually, however, it is the other way around: it is I who cannot understand the native Singaporean. This occurs even in quite surprising contexts. I have met intelligent businessmen in Singapore, who cannot, who simply CANNOT communicate in English. Their sentences so defy the structures of English that they lose all intelligible meaning. I have to listen very hard and pretend that I understand. Somehow, these businessmen, who are successful in a Singaporean context (through speaking Mandarin, no doubt), cannot communicate their thoughts in English. What is the direct consequence of this? I have to find someone else to do business with. I cannot work with people I cannot understand. So, I move on.

No doubt, this story is repeated millions of times a year, when native speakers of English encounter Singaporeans who speak Singlish. No doubt, those native speakers of English go through the process of meeting and failing to understand the Singaporeans and then having to look around for others to relate to that they can understand. No doubt the business - or other benefit of international communication - goes to the Singaporeans who are able to speak English well enough to deal internationally.

I think the dimension of the problem is not really understood by Singaporeans themselves. They speak to each other in Singlish. To them, it is normal. It is only when they speak to outsiders that they might come to realize that there is a difficulty.

I believe the problem is under-played, here, in Singapore - partly because it is a problem that is quite difficult to fix. The teachers of English, here, speak Singlish. So, Singaporeans are themselves learning from people who speak English poorly. Perhaps, however, there lies a solution. In the days of Empire, I believe that the English teachers were English natives. It is time to return to those days. It is time that ALL English teachers in ALL Singaporean schools were English natives. Then, in one generation, Singaporeans would come to speak Standard English - and never again would natives of the English speaking world, perhaps here to do business, encounter the communication problems that are so common today.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and seven months, and Tiarnan, two years exactly, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Does Anyone Read Anymore?

I live in Singapore, where English is the supposed first tongue, of all. Yet, at times, it doesn't seem so.

A couple of months ago, there was a long running promotion for a new TV series. The description of the series had the word "precious" in it.

The ads seemed to run for weeks, and weeks, and never did they change. That, I thought, was odd. You see, the word "precious" which was key to describing the series, and which appeared in relatively big letters on the TV ads, had been mispelt. It said: "Percious", that is right: "P-E-R-C-I-O-U-S". This ad was shown many times a day, for weeks - yet no-one in Mediacorp TV noticed this error - and no-one in the public called in about the matter. Or if they did, they were ignored.

Why did I not then call in? Well, because I have called in, in the past and either been ignored, or dismissed. So, of course, I stopped calling in and stopped trying to help them correct mistakes. Thus, instead of correcting their mistakes, I just watch them, note them and shake my head in amazement that still they persist in such things.

Of course, had they listened to me the first time around and perhaps hired me to check their output for errors, the quality of their work would have risen dramatically. Yet, that was not the response I received. None of my phonecalls regarding even more obvious errors were ever returned.

It is my belief that if standards of English are to be improved and maintained in a society that it should begin with the media, of all kinds. If there is a problem with a particular media outlet, they should be mature enough to take advice on board, and improve. Failing to do so, can only allow the situation to persist or worsen, to the detriment of all.

So, the lesson to be learnt from this is: if someone calls you to point out an error, listen to them - for they are trying to help. Such a person should never just be ignored, as I was, so many times.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eleven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and four months, and Tiarnan, twenty-one months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)