Rilek1Corner

Tag: English

  • SMRT: Looking Into Viral Bus Fare Dispute Involving Foreign Driver

    SMRT: Looking Into Viral Bus Fare Dispute Involving Foreign Driver

    SMRT said on its Facebook page: “We apologise for the inconvenience caused to all affected passengers.”

    The company added in its statement that all bus captains attend English classes to improve their ability to understand and converse in the language.

    “They are also encouraged to seek help from other passengers if they do encounter communication difficulties. So please help where you can,” said SMRT.

    The Facebook user also added that one of the children who paid for the bus fare was 0.86m tall.

    According to TransitLink’s website, children up to a height of 0.9m who are accompanied by an adult may travel for free.

    The Facebook post has been making the rounds on social media, with nearly 2,000 shares, and has received a mix of reactions from netizens.

    One user, Vince Viknesh J’eg Pillay, said the ability to communicate in English should have been a basic requirement for bus captains.

    “It can lead to disastrous consequences should an emergency arise and the driver is not able to communicate with the passengers,” the user commented.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Salleh Marican Admits His Malay Rabak, Asserts That Mastery Of English Language Is Sufficient For President To Fulfill Duties

    Salleh Marican Admits His Malay Rabak, Asserts That Mastery Of English Language Is Sufficient For President To Fulfill Duties

    Presidential hopeful and CEO of Second Chance Properties Mohd Salleh Marican said he is taking Malay lessons ahead of the upcoming presidential election after he was criticised for his poor grasp of the language during an interview.

    In an exclusive interview with Yahoo Singapore, Salleh, 67, said the weekly lessons would enable him to converse in Malay fluently about his candidacy during media interviews and interactions with the electorate. Salleh was talking to Yahoo Singapore on Monday (19 June) at the house of his eldest daughter Nadia Marican in the eastern part of Singapore.

    On 5 June 2017, Salleh struggled to answer in Malay during an interview with a group of reporters outside the Elections Department after he collected his presidential election forms. The incident prompted criticisms online about his inability to speak the language well given that the September presidential election is reserved for Malay candidates.

    Instead of being affected by the criticisms, Salleh said he is taking firm steps to address the issue. The father of four added that while he is able to converse in “everyday Malay” currently, he wants to improve his conversational skills by taking lessons from a Malay newspaper and television media veteran.

    “You don’t need to be good in Malay to carry out your duties as a president because the official language is English.

    “Now that this has happened, I have to do my best to improve my mastery of the language and I am taking it as a challenge. I am taking several Malay lessons a week and I am challenging myself that on Nomination Day, I will make an off the cuff public speech in the language,” he added.

    Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

  • Why Can’t Suntec City’s Information Counter Staff Understand Common English Words And Religious Tenets?

    Why Can’t Suntec City’s Information Counter Staff Understand Common English Words And Religious Tenets?

    Hi Suntec 🙂 So I just casually walked up to your information counter at Level 1, nearest Tower 4, to a smiling staffer – Li Yuwei. I asked if there were any halal bakeries around. And after repeating myself a couple of times, I discovered that she doesn’t know what Halal means.

    Of course I was a little surprised but it was far from a rude shock. I tried to explain it as a concept (in a very clumsy way, because in truth, the last time I had to explain what it meant was in a weekend madrasah exam, 20 years ago). After fumbling over myself, I asked for just any bakery or pastry shop. Then I actually found myself also trying to explain what a bakery or pastry shop is.

    So I also wrote down on a piece of paper the words “bakery” and “pastry shop”. She dutifully went on to search it in her system. And with that same smile (now just a little bit more pursed) she wrote down and presented to me this attached piece of paper with the details of a bakery at Middle Road. a 20 minute walk away!

    I gave a smile back as I took the piece of paper and said my thanks for the help she was able to provide. As I walked away from the counter, I couldn’t help but wished she was a cute, cuddly cat instead – so that I could pet my frustrations away and forgive it for not being able to understand some commonly-used human words and religious tenets.

    I hope you take this seriously and get some cats on your information counters soon. Thank you Suntec.

     

    Source: Haikal Haditall

  • Angry Parent: Madrasah Teachers Did Not Carry Out Lesson In English As Advertised, My Son Cannot Understand The Lessons

    Angry Parent: Madrasah Teachers Did Not Carry Out Lesson In English As Advertised, My Son Cannot Understand The Lessons

    My child goes to the mosque every Saturday for religious classes. The classes are supposed to be conducted in English but the teacher speaks Malay instead.

    Because of this, my child cannot understand what is going on and has lost interest in going to the classes. She cries every week. The religious teacher insists on using Malay in an English class and ignores those who don’t understand.

    Should I make a complaint? Who shall I address it to? MUIS or PERGAS? Why aren’t the ustazahs trained like MOE teachers? Don’t they need to have a good command of English to teach? What standards are they held to when it comes to pedagogy?

    Above all, why do they speak Malay in a religious class that is supposed to be taught in English? Isn’t that the reason why I put my children there in the first place?

    It’s sad that nothing has changed in over 20 years. I hated going to religious classes because they were ALL conducted in Malay during my time. The teachers then wouldn’t have passed an MOE interview by any means (no standard). Now, they advertise religious classes in English but end up teaching in Malay and the teachers ostracise those children who don’t speak Malay.

    Why? Does being able to speak Malay somehow make you more religious? That’s the kind of bullshit mentality that hasn’t been eradicated for over 2 decades.

    I can still remember the rubbish my Ustazah told me when I was a kid…

    “Nak percaya Quran ke nak percaya scientist?”

    All because I asked why Allah never mentioned about dinosaurs.

    Utter bullshit.

    #MadrasahIsCrap#KampungMentalityStillStrong#WeHaveNotProgressed#MalayProblem#IfOnlyYouCouldSeeMeNowUstazah

     

    Source: Abdul Malik Mohammed Ghazali

  • Abdilar Zamzuri: Speaking English Is A Must For Service Staff

    Abdilar Zamzuri: Speaking English Is A Must For Service Staff

    At the payment counter…

    Me: Do you have a gift wrapping service?

    Cashier stares blankly at me

    Me: Do you have a gift wrapping service? (gestures wrapping an item)

    Cashier looks lost: Master or Nets?

    Me: Nets. Wrap present, where? Can speak English?

    Cashier: Huh.. No.

    Me turns to another staff: Do you have a gift wrapping service?

    Other Staff: Level 2, Customer Service Counter.

    I understand that we have a lot of foreigners working here but really, I don’t think I’m the only one who’s faced such a problem.

    Frontline officers need to be adequately trained to he prepared to handle simple queries. After all, they are the face of the company, not the management.

    It is incidents such as this that leaves a bad taste and a bad impression. A happy and joyous occasion can easily and quickly change to be one that is quite the opposite.

     

    Source: Abdilar Zamzuri