Singapore:

An Indian-origin minister in Singapore has emphasised the significance of Tamil language as a mom tongue, underscoring the necessity to introduce kids to one of many 4 official languages within the affluent city-state.

The Singapore training system encourages mom tongue as a second language in faculties which embody Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and different predominant Indian languages in addition to Tamil, Malay and Chinese language (Mandarin).

“We have to guarantee our youngsters have alternatives to be always uncovered to Tamil language,” stated Indranee Rajah, minister within the Prime Minister’s Workplace.

Tamil language acts as a “passport” that hyperlinks all Tamil individuals, she stated not too long ago.

Language needs to be learnt as a residing lesson, Rajah stated, including that it isn’t one thing that “you may simply examine, it’s good to put it to make use of”.

“Be it via tv, social media or print, so long as they’re listening to, listening and utilizing the language from younger, we are able to hold it alive,” Rajah was quoted as saying by Friday weekly Tabla! To uphold the wealthy legacy of the Tamil language in Singapore, the Tamil Language Council (TLC) has been organising the Tamil Language Competition (TLF) for the previous 18 years. Rajah launched this yr’s TLF final Saturday.

The minister had earlier additionally emphasised the significance for each technology to remain linked to their mom tongue, and in flip, their heritage and cultural identification.

Centred on the theme of “Capabilities”, the TLC this yr is being held from March 30 to April 28, that includes 47 programmes.

“This yr’s theme was chosen to encourage the creation of progressive programmes whereas harnessing our collective strengths,” TLC chairperson S Manogaran stated.

Greater than 65 per cent of the programmes have been organised by the youths, which has boosted Tamil language engagement amongst younger individuals via artwork, tradition and literature initiatives.

“Lots of our youths right this moment are discovering a brand new objective in studying and utilizing Tamil; lots of the programmes are focused at them,” Manogaran was quoted as saying by Tabla!

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