DPM Lawrence Wong at the Thumbs Up Little Junior 10th Anniversary Roving Exhibition

SPH Editor in Chief of Chinese Media Group Ms Lee Huay Leng

CEO of NLB and distinguish guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning.

Very good to be here to join you for the 10th Anniversary event of Thumbs Up Little Junior. 

We have been talking about bilingualism for some time now and the importance of cultivating bilingualism from a very young age. There is a difference and I speak from personal experience on this. 

When I look at my friends of a similar age as me – we all went through the same education system; we all went through Mother Tongue, Mandarin, in our case – but the ones who spoke better Mandarin had a difference. They had started in a Chinese-speaking home environment. 

For me, I did not have that advantage, because my parents did not speak Mandarin; they spoke in Malay, English and some dialect. So it was predominantly English when I was growing up. I went to the library and read a lot, but it was all in English. 

Now I can read anything in English and absorb (the information) quickly. But when it comes to Mandarin, it is quite different. I do not have the same command and control of the language, and I can immediately feel the difference. I wish it were different. But I cannot go back to my formative years and redo my learning experience. 

Fortunately, I was a good student. I was quite conscientious at my work, so the foundation is there. What this means is I have to keep practising. I have to make the effort and have the discipline to keep making sure I improve my ability to speak and engage in Mandarin on a regular basis now. 

For the young parents who are here, you have the advantage. You can make things different for your children. You can expose them to their Mother Tongues, whether it is Mandarin, Malay or Tamil, at a very young age, and not just wait till they go to primary school. We are providing you with more resources to do that through the Lee Kuan Yew  Bilingualism fund; through SPH media; all the different resources for you to provide this exposure at a very young age to your children so that they grow up in a bilingual environment. Hopefully, that will give them the best chance to grow up with the ability to be equally conversant in both English and their Mother Tongue. For me, in the spirit of practice I will deliver the rest of my remarks in Mandarin. 

各位女士们，先生们

大家早上好！

很高兴今天能和大家一起参与《小小拇指》创刊10年的庆生活动。

早在2012年，当时的教育部长（兼李光耀双语基金董事会主席）王瑞杰先生就提出，希望为学前儿童提供适合他们的华文刊物，让孩子们通过生动有趣的本地内容，学习华文。他提出这个意见后，就获得报馆的积极响应，在第二年推出了《小小拇指》。目前，在李光耀双语基金的赞助下，大约3万名学前儿童，每两个星期，都能免费获得一份《小小拇指》阅读。《小小拇指》出版后，深受孩子们的喜爱。除了有趣的“拇指家庭”人物，孩子们也喜欢里面的儿歌和小活动，让他们通过简单好玩的方式，学习华文华语。不少学前教师也因此将《小小拇指》融入自己的教学中。可以说《小小拇指》在这10年来，争取了非常好的成绩。所以今天也要感谢新报业媒体的团队和我们老师们的付出以及贡献。

要培养出精通双语的下一代，我们需要不断创新，并尝试不同的方法。《小小拇指》就是我们10年前的一个尝试。现在，越来越多人在家里使用英语沟通。目前，有近一半的新加坡家庭，在家里的主要用语是英语。这比十多年前的三分之一，多出了不少。

英语对我们来说还是重要的。作为一个多元文化及种族的社会，我们用英语和不同的族群沟通。我们也需要用英语和世界接轨。

但同时，我们也希望我们的孩子能培养对母语的兴趣，这样才能认识自己的文化传统，并获得语言上的优势，把握亚洲各地带来的机会。

让孩子学好双语的一个主要方法，就是让他们从小接触双语。因为在幼儿时期，孩子的大脑在学习新语言、新词汇、新语法等方面，都非常快。

所以我们需要为家长提供资源，让他们可以在家里营造一个讲华语的环境。这就是《小小拇指》发挥作用的地方。《小小拇指》在推出后，也与时并进，在2020年底推出了免费的手机应用，让家长可以利用它，带着孩子进行有趣的华文学习活动，比如听儿歌、看动画，甚至玩游戏、做手工等。我希望家长们多多使用这些资源，让孩子们每天都能在家里，快乐地学习华语。

最后，让我祝贺《小小拇指》达到10周年的里程碑，也感谢新报业媒体多年来，为新加坡双语教育所做出的努力。

我期待在未来，新报业媒体能提供更多高质量的内容和资源，带动孩子和年轻人，发现华文华语的魅力。

谢谢。

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