Singapore:

An Indian-origin minister in Singapore has stressed the importance of Tamil as a mother tongue and the need to introduce children to one of the prosperous city-state’s four official languages.

The Singapore education system encourages mother tongues as second languages ​​in schools, which include Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and other major Indian languages ​​as well as Tamil, Malay and Chinese (Mandarin).

“We need to ensure that our children have constant exposure to Tamil,” said Indranee Rajah, minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.

She recently said that Tamil is the “passport” that connects all Tamils.

Language must be learned as a living lesson, Raja said, adding that it is not something “you can just learn, you need to apply it”.

“Whether it’s through television, social media or print, as long as they hear, listen and speak the language from a young age, we can keep it alive,” Raja was quoted as saying by Tabla Weekly on Friday! To safeguard Singapore’s rich Tamil heritage, the Tamil Language Council (TLC) has been organizing the Tamil Language Festival (TLF) for the past 18 years. Rajah launched this year’s TLF last Saturday.

The minister had earlier also highlighted the importance of each generation staying connected to their mother tongue and, in turn, their heritage and cultural identity.

This year’s TLC, with the theme of “ability”, was held from March 30 to April 28, with a total of 47 projects.

“This year’s theme was chosen to inspire the creation of innovative projects while leveraging our collective strengths,” said TLC Chairman S Manogaran.

More than 65% of projects are organized by young people, increasing youth participation in the Tamil language through arts, culture and literary initiatives.

“Today, many of our youth have found a new purpose in learning and speaking Tamil; many programs are targeted at them,” Manogaran was quoted as saying by Tabla!

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