To Charean:
Let's put it this way, some people here in Singapore are trying very hard to preserve the use of the mother tongues. The trouble is that we Singaporeans have become simply too pragmatic: if learning something doesn't help you earn $$$, we won't bother about learning it. And learning English earns more $$$ than learning any other language. Well, perhaps as China grows in power, this will change... (We Singaporeans are becoming aware of this, too...)
Fully agree with you: we can certainly do with a little more cultural diversity, as opposed to putting all our eggs in one basket by making everyone speak the same language.
