NMP asks if S’pore is ‘overestimating our fragility’ in ‘Dear You’ debate, WP MP says dialects are fading

Singapore’s successful Speak Mandarin Campaign should not prevent original dialect films from being screened today, both argue

The Chinese box-office hit Dear You has sparked plenty of discussions among Singaporeans. But much of the discourse isn’t about the film itself.

Instead, the debate centred on the choice of language in which the movie is being screened.

While the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said the film’s Mandarin-dubbed version would be screened commercially, many are championing for the movie to be screened in its original Teochew.

Recently, Workers’ Party Member of Parliament (MP) Kenneth Tiong and former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Anthea Ong questioned whether there’s a need for Singapore’s longstanding language policies to evolve.

Both argued in separate Facebook posts that the issue goes beyond a single film, raising broader questions about cultural heritage, ageing, and whether policies introduced decades ago remain fit for today’s Singapore.

Screen Dear You in its original language, Mr Tiong says

In his Facebook post last Wednesday (17 June), Mr Tiong described Dear You as a film “about people like many of our own grandparents”.

The film, which has broken box-office records in China, is shot almost entirely in Teochew and follows a man searching for his long-lost grandfather through remittance letters once sent to his grandmother.

However, IMDA required the film to be dubbed into Mandarin for its general release in Singapore.

Initially, the original Teochew version received only eight special screenings at Golden Village VivoCity.

Moviegoers snapped up all 4,800 tickets for those sessions. Some mentioned that they’d be willing to travel to Johor Bahru (JB) to watch the original version instead.

Mr Tiong said IMDA should reconsider its decision and allow the Teochew version to be screened with subtitles.

“Why are we making Singaporeans go to JB to watch this film in the original dialect?” he asked.

Since then, Golden Village (GV) announced that it will add eight additional screenings of the film in its original Teochew dialect.

In a media statement on 19 June, the local cinema operator said the additional screenings will be held exclusively at GV VivoCity’s GVMax. Ticket sales will start on 22 June at 3pm, at all GV box office counters and online sales channels.

Says Mandarin is no longer under threat

Mr Tiong argued that the restrictions stem from policies introduced during Singapore’s Speak Mandarin Campaign.

However, he noted that the campaign had already achieved its objective.

Mr Tiong cited figures showing dialect-speaking households fell from 76% in 1980 to under 12% by 2020.

“If anything,” he wrote, “it is Teochew and other dialects that are fading.”

Anthea Ong: The real question is whether policy should evolve

Former NMP Anthea Ong took a broader view of the issue. She argued that the debate should not centre on whether Dear You deserves a one-off exception.

Instead, it should prompt a wider discussion on whether policies created for “yesterday’s Singapore” have been given enough opportunity to adapt.

Ms Ong acknowledged that the Government has to consider precedent, saying governance is not about one film but about the possibility of opening the floodgates.

However, she argued that if such concerns are genuine, “perhaps that is not an exception problem — it is a policy review problem.”

She added that successful policies often create a paradox.

“The very success of the policy changes the conditions that gave rise to it,” she wrote.

Dialects also play a role in heritage and belonging

While recognising that the Speak Mandarin Campaign served an important purpose, Ms Ong said Singapore today faces different challenges.

Source: IMDB

“We do not live single-issue lives anymore. Neither can our policies,” she wrote.

Ms Ong also reflected on growing up in a household where speaking Hokkien could result in a five-cent fine from family members.

Ong recalled learning stories about the Japanese Occupation from her grandfather in Hokkien, adding that the dialect later helped her connect with business leaders during her banking career.

She ended her post by asking whether Singapore has become “less comfortable revisiting” policies precisely because they have been so successful.

“If a single Teochew film can unravel decades of language policy,” she joked, “perhaps we have been underestimating Teochew all along.

“Or overestimating our fragility, maybe?”

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Featured image adapted from IMDB and IMDB.