MEDIA RELEASE
Embargoed for Sunday, 25 March 2018 

TAMIL LANGUAGE FESTIVAL 2018 – BRINGING TAMIL TO LIFE 

The Tamil Language Council (TLC) is pleased to present this year’s celebrations of the Tamil Language Festival (TLF) with a record of 58 programmes by 49 partners and four schools, as the community unites to promote and preserve the Tamil language in Singapore. 

Tamil Language Festival 2018

From 31 March to 29 April, the community can look forward to participating in the range of literary, oratorical, arts and cultural events that will encourage everyone to “Love Tamil, Speak Tamil”, embrace their mother tongue, and use the language in their daily lives.

Mr S Iswaran, Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) will officially launch the TLF at the MES Theatre, Mediacorp, with the ceremony and programme broadcast “live” on Vasantham at 6.30pm on Sunday, 1 April 2018. 

Tamil Language Festival 2018 welcomes 11 new partners, as they present programmes featuring drama and dance performances, talks and competitions that would broadly appeal to everyone. 
 
ArtsWing, a performance arts company, is one of the new partners this year. Their play titled “Mannum Magalum – Kannagi Vaazhvil Ainthinai”, based on the classic Tamil epic Silapathikaram written by Elango Adigal, tells the story of Kannagi, a legendary Tamil woman in pursuit of justice. Surtitles will be available for non-Tamil speakers, and the performance will take place at Ci Yuan Community Centre on 28 April 2018. 

Presenting the Results of TLC’s Capacity Building Initiative

In 2017, the Tamil Language Council supported 4 community partners with additional funding, so that youths and students may benefit from capacity building programmes. To mark the completion of this cycle’s learning and development journey for all participants, the TLC is pleased to present their achievements in some upcoming programmes in this year’s TLF.   

Athipathi International Theatre will be staging a drama titled, Avvaiyaar, and this performance would be presented by graduating students that have completed training sessions held over a period of 5 months, to hone their acting skills.  2Tango Dazzle will also hold their final drama competition during the TLF. In preparation leading up to this exciting event, participants completed months of theatre training in scripting, directing and lighting management. For this final competition, participants would be given 24 hours to create and produce their ten-minute play based on a given title that will be revealed to them only a day before the competition.

“The Tamil Language Council places great importance in engaging and enabling the young to speak and use the Tamil language. It is extremely rewarding to see the students and participants through an extended development journey spanning months, and to have them present their learning and celebrate their achievements at the Tamil Language Festival. Combined with a full calendar of TLF programmes that features something for everyone, we hope the community will remain inspired and committed to unite, promote and preserve our Tamil language for the future,” says Mr R Rajaram, Chairman of the Tamil Language Council.  

Publicising the English Tamil Glossary

An English-Tamil glossary, the first of its kind with over 4,000 common English terms and their corresponding Tamil terms, was launched earlier this year with the support of the Tamil Language Council. To create greater awareness of the glossary, two programmes have been planned. Sol, Sollatha Sol by Ilamaithamizh.com is a vocabulary quiz and contest suitable for participation by secondary and junior college students. The second is a translation camp for students conducted jointly by the Ministry of Communications & Information and the Ministry of Education. 

Specially for our Youths and Students

The Tamil Language Festival has over the years, cultivated a strong youth following and this year’s TLF enjoys increased support from youth organizations, especially those from the tertiary institutions.

Nanyang Technological University of Singapore Tamil Literary Society Alumni Association (NTUTLSAA) is a new partner for the TLF, and they will present an exciting oratorical and talk presentation, where youths will use Tamil to effectively convey their thoughts and ideas on various topics. 

“In The Act” and “Jingle Jiggle” are programmes for preschoolers and parents, presented by students from the Tamil Studies with Early Education department, from Ngee Ann Polytechnic. “In The Act” is an interactive drama suitable for children below eight years of age, and “Jingle Jiggle” is a parent-child musical programme targeting preschoolers and their families. 

Singapore Indian Theatre & Film Explorers will be staging Singapoor Maapilai to offer our young ones a look back to Singapore in the 1980s. This stage play will be presented based on the Tamil radio scripts aired during that time and will provide interesting perspectives as it pieces together, news and reports from back in the day. 

Other prominent partners for this year’s TLF include the Indian Heritage Centre (IHC), the National Library Board (NLB), the Ministry of Education’s Tamil Language Learning and Promotion Committee (TLLPC), and more. 

For details on all programmes during the Tamil Language Festival 2018, visit the Tamil Language Council’s website at www.tamil.org.sg. 

Outreach for the Tamil Language Festival 2018 

In an effort to promote this year’s TLF, programme partners will also come together for an Outreach and Publicity Drive at Little India on Sunday, 25 March 2018. This effort is supported by the Little India Shopkeepers & Heritage Association (LISHA). The TLF calendar of events and posters will be distributed to the public and shopkeepers to invite their support towards the month-long Tamil Language Festival.

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About the Tamil Language Council and the Tamil Language Festival 

The Tamil Language Festival is spearheaded by the Tamil Language Council which was formed in 2000, under the auspices of then-MICA.  The TLC comprises representatives from the education sector, major community organisations, arts groups and the media. 

The TLC has organised the TLF since 2007 with partner organisations, marking it as a major event in the calendar. It has also enjoyed a strong and growing number of partners over the years. 

A key partner for the Tamil Language Festival is MOE’s Tamil Language and Learning Promotion Committee (TLLPC) which was set up in 2006. TLLPC’s strategic focus is to promote the speaking and learning of Tamil among students. 

Earlier in 2018, the Tamil Resource Panel of the National Translation Committee and the Tamil Language Council also jointly launched a comprehensive compilation of Tamil terms standardised for effective communication in Singapore, published in a book titled “Glossary of English to Tamil Terms”.

Since 2017, the Tamil Language Council has also extended additional funding to support and cultivate capacity building initiatives for the youths and students within the community, in an effort to inspire them to use and develop the Tamil language. The first batch of participants to complete their learning and development journey will be presenting their achievements in various programmes to take place during the Tamil Language Festival 2018.