Kenneth Tiong says dialect films should be allowed in cinemas with subtitles instead of being dubbed into Mandarin
Workers’ Party Member of Parliament (MP) Kenneth Tiong has asked the Government to review a guideline requiring Chinese films for general release to be in Mandarin.
Ahead of the 7 July Parliament sitting, Mr Tiong filed a parliamentary question asking whether the Ministry for Digital Development and Information (MDDI) will abolish the guideline, and instead allow dialect films to be screened in their original language with subtitles.
Discussion sparked by Teochew film ‘Dear You’
Mr Tiong said he decided to raise the issue after Chinese box office hit ‘Dear You’, a film about the Nanyang migrant generation shot almost entirely in Teochew, was dubbed into Mandarin for its local general release.
Source: IMDb
In a Facebook post, he questioned whether the original rationale behind the guideline, which stems from the Speak Mandarin Campaign, still applies today.
He pointed out that dialect use at home has fallen below 12%, arguing that the campaign has already achieved its intended goal.
In his parliamentary question to MDDI, Mr Tiong asked whether the Ministry will abolish the guideline requiring Chinese films for general release to be in Mandarin, and allow dialect films to be screened in their original dialect with subtitles instead.
He also asked whether the Speak Mandarin Campaign rationale for the guideline still applies, given the decline in dialect use at home.
The matter is expected to be addressed when Parliament sits on 7 July.
Says dialect films will not affect Mandarin use
Mr Tiong also dismissed concerns that allowing dialect films in cinemas would undermine the use of Mandarin.
Source: Kenneth Tiong on Facebook
“I’ve watched 25 years of subtitled Japanese anime and still can’t string a Japanese sentence together,” he shared.
One subtitled Teochew film isn’t going to undo anyone’s Mandarin.
He acknowledged that the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has signalled greater flexibility, with additional screenings of ‘Dear You’ in its original Teochew audio added until 29 June.
However, he noted that the authority has not committed to abolishing the guideline itself.
Mr Tiong said he hopes the conversation will not stop with ‘Dear You’, but pave the way for films in Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, Hainanese, Foochow, Henghua, and other dialects to be shown in their original language with subtitles.
Every community should be able to watch its own stories told here, in their original tongue.
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Featured image adapted from MDDI Singapore on YouTube and IMDb.
