Singapore Tamil Youth Conference 2016 Manifesto NUSTLS Singapore Tamil Youth Conference 2016 Manif | Page 14

Organisation
Issue 2: Role of Tamil Community Leaders
Programme
Tamil Language
Council (TLC) • Tamil Language Festival
Tamils
Representative
Council • Sorpor (Tamil Debate for
Pri School Students)
Tamil Language Forum
Fun@Library
Back to School Project
•
•
•
Table 1 : List of programmes
•
•
Author: Mr Saravanan Rathakrishnan
Background:
• In Singapore, traditionally Tamil language and culture is promoted
via two main ways.
1. Education: Singapore has adopted the Mother Tongue policy
which aims to expose students in their Mother Tongue, and using
the language as a medium, to immerse them in the culture of the
community.
2. Media and entertainment: Channels such as Vasantham and Oli
96.8 aim to do the same thing as mentioned above but in a more
relatable manner.
However, in more recent years, community events have taken the center stage. Community organizations such as TLC,
have taken a more active role in building Tamil and attempting to use it as a binding force within the community.
Our community organizations are focusing on solving the decreasing fluency and uptake of Tamil via a variety of methods
that seem to focus on solving the immediate problem which is the decline in Tamil.
How effective have the efforts of community leaders been in promoting Tamil language?
Component
Activisism in
Tamil
KO. Sarangpani
•
•
How did they
deal with
issues
•
•
Challenges
and
Effectiveness
•
•
•
Community Leaders today
Very active,
aggressive even.
Formed Tamil
Organisations •
There were no
framewroks in place
yet.
Thus, he was able to
maneavour very
easily and form his
own Tamil base. •
The community had a
sense of belonging.
Tamil was valued.
Thus, it was easier to
form a community
identiy around Tamil. •
•
•
•
Are very active but
cannot be aggressive.
Either continued
managing the Tamil
organisations or formed
new ones.
Work within the existing
frameworks given by
political leaders as well
as manage petty
resistance to changes
Tamil has a low societal
value attached to it
No perceived economic
value.
Thus, it is more difficult
to promote Tamil
•
•
•
Given the current constraints and problems,
the community organizations are trying
effectively, to a certain extent, to promote
Tamil in Singapore.
Their efforts seem to be paying off in terms
of more youths taking up the mantle to
preserve Tamil and by organising Tamil
events which are usually oversubscribed (a
good indicator). Their efforts seem to be
paying off qualitatively as well. (See Excerpt
1 below).
However there are very little quantitative
reports for the analysis of the performance
of these community organizations, Mr.
Irshath Mohamad, member of the Tamil
Language Council states that:
“The efforts of the Tamil Language Council in
trying to get a standardised quantitative
report for their partners to indicate the
effectiveness of their events during Tamil
Language Festival may be the first step for
Tamil organisations to go in the right step to
measure the usefulness of their efforts.”
Table 2 : Comparison between past and current community leadership
Excerpt 1: Answers from Interview with Mr. Irshath, Tamil Language Council
Question: What are the measures undertaken in promoting Tamil among the youth. Have these measures been successful? If
not, what can be done?
Answer: Tamil Language Festival is organised in the month of April every year for the past 10 years. There have been a host
of events organised for every age group, with an increasing focus given to youth. This year, almost 50% of the events were
targeted on youths. Apart from TLF, there are other activities, programmes and initiatives targeted on youth to promote
Tamil, such as those organised by tertiary based Tamil organisations (NUS TLS, NTU TLS, and Polytechnic ICS).
Question: The Tamil Language Festival is gaining more exposure and funding in Singapore. What are your thoughts on its
efficacy in promoting Tamil?
Answer: The objectives of the festival are clear. Their slogan “Love Tamil, Speak Tamil” says it all. However, it can be even
more successful through the following ways.
• Focus should be on the intended target group (Students, youth)
• Less focus, less resources should be channelled to established and mature organisations that organise standardised
events held yearly with no new additions.
• Efforts should be focussed on individuals and groups that come up with exemplary, new, creative and enriching ideas.
Before that, these people should be identified and encouraged to participate in these efforts.
Issue 2: Role of Tamil community leaders
PAGE 14