SINGAPORE: At first glance, 33-year-old Stephen Chng looks like any other professional you’d meet on the street – he works as a marine engineer, owns a car and is happily married to Faith, his wife ofBut there’s a part of his life he’s guarded about: He struggles to read or write English.
Earlier this year, CNA put out a casting call for people interested in 12 weeks of intensive one-to-one coaching to join the programme. Chng was one of almost 100 people who responded.Singapore is known to be one of the most English-literate countries in Asia. But adult illiteracy may be more common than expected: According to the Department of Statistics, in 2020, there were about 284,000 Singapore residents under the age of 65 who cannot read or write English.
Some are individuals like 40-year-old Maya, who wished to be known only by her first name. Until three years ago, she could read, write and even speak normally. A stroke robbed her of the ability to do all this. Her condition, known as aphasia, means that the region of the brain that handles literacy is damaged.
“Not every home has magazines. You don’t have storybooks in every household,” she said. “So, the exposure isn’t there. When you’re not exposed to these words frequently, it just doesn’t stay in our long-term memory.” “If people laugh at my English, I just smile back at them,” she said. “It’s okay to let people laugh…Tng Xiao Ling wants to help her daughter, Yingxin, with spelling.
“I’ll write wrong English letters only I can understand,” he said. “That’s why I don’t share what I write.” He also learnt not to draw attention to his limited vocabulary by trying not to speak too much. “He worries that he might say something wrong,” said his wife, Faith. “I tend to speak up more so I can prevent misunderstandings with my family and relatives, to put his message across in another way.”As part of the programme, participants were matched with teachers for one-on-one training for 12 weeks. They learnt the basics, like phonics and how to break words up to make reading easier.
If you give me a table to carry, I will do it for you. But if you ask me to take up a pen and paper… it’s very heavy. He’s even been able to write work reports on his own while overseas, without having to call or send voice messages to his wife in Singapore for help.Even though the cameras have stopped rolling, the participants continue to make progress, some with the help of generous viewers.
How can u not read n write the english language if u have study it....u just got to try harder. This programme is full of crap shit......just headlines graber.
No longer a criteria in Singapore to read or write English! As you can the “China” man bus drivers who expect Singaporeans to learn Chinese🤦🏾
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