Doing volunteering work is one of my passions. My Co-Curriculum Activity during the two years in Junior College was Interact Club. Organizing events and participating in various volunteering works in Interact Club have made me grow and become more mature. I learn to be more sensitive and caring towards individuals. Because every action and word that we use are of equal importance in conveying ideas to the person you are communicating with.
I also found out that very few Singaporean teenagers are well-verse in dialects. The older generation prefers to communicate in dialects. Hence, language barrier becomes an issue when we are carrying out the volunteering work in old-folks home. The reason that most teenagers in Singapore are unable to communicate in dialect is because they are not exposed to dialects. Nowadays, the main language use for communication in our daily lives is English. The older generation used to communicate in dialects and Malay. As a result, they are able to put what they have learned into practice and this strengthens their foundation in dialects. Thus, they are able to communicate in dialects fluently.
Furthermore, the MDA has banned the use of dialects in television shows. This further prevents the younger generation from reaching the older generation. Hence, I propose that MDA should allow a restricted amount of dialects in shows. This ensures that the younger generation would have been exposed to dialects. Schools will have to restrict students on the use of dialects in school to ensure there will not be much interference for the learning of English language and Mother Tongue.
Indeed, dialect should not be the focused in volunteering work. But, we cannot deny that the use of dialect is a more friendly way of reaching and touching the hearts of the older generation. This will bring younger and older generation together.
