Horror of horrors, some might say. This is [...]]]>

I say, why not start an annual Orang Utan Run — modelled after the famed Polar Bear Run of the University of Chicago — in our universities? Better this than let our undergraduates run foul of the law by streaking unauthorised along the corridors of the university hostels.

Horror of horrors, some might say. This is Singapore not the USA!, others might scream. Let’s not make a monkey out of this whole thing, I say.

But, we can sanitise this a little by making this event open for viewing by students and staff of the universities only. Which means the public can still get to keep their higher-than-high noses wholesome by not being able to partake in the naked run or view it.

So the idea would be to let the undergraduates and faculty members of the universities run along a specified route within the grounds of a university. These participants would be free to choose how they want to be attired for the event — scantily clad or dressed in their birthday suits. And there would be a mascot, dressed in an orang utan suit.

To get an idea of how the run would play out, let’s view a video of the recent University of Chicago’s annual Polar Bear Run, complete with a polar bear mascot:
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/biking.naked.run.2.632879.html

Instead of the universities carrying out their own runs, why not make it a joint affair, with each university taking turns to organise the annual run. Are our universities ready for such forays? I don’t think so. Will they be ready in my lifetime? I don’t think so too. It’s wishful thinking on my part. Like most Singaporeans, I tend to think aloud but end at that. NATO! No Action Talk Only. Most of us Singaporeans have been brought up this way — to be totally reticent. Which means of course, the occasional naked runs along the corridors of our universities in the middle of the night may be one of the few ways for our undergraduates to let off some steam from their pressure-cooker environment.

Many Singaporeans are now fluent in both English and Mandarin. It would be stupid for any Singapore agency or NTU to advocate the learning of dialects, which must be at the expense of English and Mandarin.

That [...]]]>

Source: The Straits Times Forum Page A32, 7 March 2009
Letter by: Chee Hong Tat, Principal Private Secretary to the Minister Mentor

Many Singaporeans are now fluent in both English and Mandarin. It would be stupid for any Singapore agency or NTU to advocate the learning of dialects, which must be at the expense of English and Mandarin.

That was the reason the Government stopped all dialect programmes on radio and television after 1979. Not to give conflicting signals, then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew also stopped making speeches in Hokkien, which he had become fluent in after frequent use since 1961.