Hakka | Lingua Franca by Thomas Liew

Lingua Franca can be defined as a "bridge language that is used among people who do not share a mother tongue". As the gradual replacement of dialects by Mandarin takes place, are we perhaps also losing a 'bridge' to another generation?

A good command of language allows access to social groups. It is also an essential part of understanding cultures. In speaking through dialects, we also communicate a part of our heritage.

In 1979, the 'Speak Mandarin' campaign was launched by the Singapore government to encourage the usage of Mandarin as a common working language amongst Singaporean Chinese. It sought to achieve three goals:

1) Simplify the language environment,
2) Create a Mandarin-speaking environment in support of the national bilingual policy,
3) Improve communication among Chinese Singaporeans from various dialect groups.

As dialects were considered vernacular, and perhaps seen to have polarising effects on the Chinese community, the purpose of the 'Speak Mandarin' Campaign sought to united the Chinese through Mandarin as Lingua Franca. This campaign was evidently successful, as the usage of dialects at home among the Chinese resident population in Singapore dropped from 81.4% in 1980, to 19.2% in 2010 and the usage of Mandarin increased from 10.2% in 1980 to 47% in 2010.

This project seeks to interview young Singaporeans who have grown up post-campaign, but still retain the ability to converse in dialects. Apart from recording their interviews, other youths are also approached to translate the interviews into subtitles. Through the process of speaking and translating, I hope to reveal the relationship between the command of language (in particular, dialects), and access to our heritage.