President of Tamil Language and Cultural Society

Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen

Boys and Girls

Good Evening

Thank you for inviting me to Tirukkural Vizha 2002. For the 17th year running, the Tamil Language and Cultural Society has been organising this function to celebrate Tirukkural. Celebrations include Tirukkural recital competition for the pupils, and lectures by visiting Tamil scholars. It brings the tradition, virtues and values of Tirukkural to the community, especially to the younger generation.

Tirukkural is a universal guide to the "Art of Living" written in Tamil by sage Tiruvalluvar who lives in the first century B.C. This masterpiece composed of three sections - the first section is on values and morals; the second section deals with day-to-day affairs like good governance; yet the third section is on conjugal love. The teaching in Tirukkural is timeless, and has been providing guidance to Tamil people throughout the last 2,000 years.

I can see the parallel of Tirukkural in "Lun Yu", which contains the words and deeds of Confucius. Confucius lived in the fifth century B.C. He is the sage who has the most profound influence in defining the social contract and morality for the Chinese. His words and deeds, carefully recorded by his disciples and meticulously compiled in "Lun Yu" has been a "must-read" for all Chinese scholars for 2,000 years. He dealt with the five sets of relationships: ruler and subject, father and son, husband and wife, siblings, and friends, in order to achieve harmony and peace.

Generation of Chinese scholars spent much time memorising and reciting "Lun Yu" and other classics, quoting extensively from these classics in the course of their work. I recall spending much time reciting some of those works when I was a student. I found it a great burden then, but now I feel I benefited much from the ancient wisdom. All the efforts have been worthwhile.

I believe Tamil scholars would have done the same with Tirukkural. I believe that younger students may find reciting Tirukkural a difficult endeavour, just like my experience of reciting "Lun Yu" years ago. However, I know all will eventually benefit from the words and wisdom, especially when we grow older and experience more of life.

The value and teaching propagated by such great sages like Confucius and Tiruvalluvar are timeless. It transcends language, culture, religion, race, place and time. Indeed, both Tirukkural and "Lun Yu" have been translated into many languages, though the great work will be best appreciated in their original languages.

The Chinese community in Singapore has been concerned about the young not having enough proficiency in mother tongue to understand and appreciate classics like "Lun Yu" in their original form. I wonder whether the Tamil community has the same concern about the young’s ability in understanding and appreciating Tirukkural. The concern is that most of our young are mother tongue at L2 level, there would be difficulties for them to appreciate the full beauty and subtlety of such great classics. Some of the pessimists even wonder whether the use of mother tongue might decline and become marginalised as Singapore enters the new millennium and new economy.

We must prove the pessimists wrong, and ensure that our mother tongue continues to play important roles. English is important as a working language in business, and a common language for all in our multi-racial society. However, our mother tongues are part of our identities. Our mother tongues allow us to access our ancient civilisations, cultures and values, as well as maintain links with the key nations in Asia. That is why our government always made bilingualism a corner stone of our educational policy, and will continue to do so.

However, not all our children can have equally good command of English and mother tongue. The standard of mother tongue in school must be set at a level most students can achieve. If the standard is set too high, and the students find the goal-post unachievable, they might give up learning mother tongue.

There are certainly students who can, and want to, go further than what the curriculum prescribes. Community organisations can provide additional opportunities and space for these students to learn and use mother tongue at a more advance level. The annual Tirukkural Vizha organised by your Society is an excellent initiative in this regard.

There are many other events and programmes community organisations can initiate to promote the higher level use of mother tongues. This can include literary contest, reading clubs, poetry recitations, traditional opera appreciation, as well as toastmaster/speech events. In the case of the Indian community, the option of working with the Indian Activity Executive Committees in the various community centres and community clubs is an option which is available and worth considering.

Together with government’s commitment towards bilingualism, community organisations’ effort to create more opportunities for higher level mother tongue usage can bear good fruits. As we globalise and regionalise, and as China, India and the Malay Archipelago look forward to good economic prospects in the coming years, the economic value of our mother tongues will increase. Hence, future prospect of our mother tongues will be bright. Let us continue with the good work of nurturing the plant so as to harvest the fruits.

I congratulate the Tamil Language and Cultural Society for 17 years of Tirukkural Vizha, and wish you another even more successful 17 years, if not longer.

Thank you.

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