These things appeared on the front page of The Sunday Times today, really...


Ok maybe similar lines have been appearing on the papers for quite some time already and one should not be stunned seeing it anymore but that's not the point. I am seriously unimpressed with the way Mandarin is being promoted in the new Speak Mandarin Campaign. When "Mandarin COOL" already sounds phoney enough, they had to cheapen things further by throwing in that "Go ahead, pick me up!" to make it look totally desperate (someone please tell me it is referring to the complimentary copy of The Sunday Times instead). It is a language, a way of living we are talking about here, not something which you can package and sell like any commercial product. Of course, branding and image is important in today's society; youngsters are inclined to associate Mandarin with the unfashionable and un-cool and I can agree with the efforts at changing this mindset. But the way they are doing it loses me. This is one situation for which they invented the phrase 弄巧反拙. Of similar effect is highlighting Dawn Yeoh's preference for Chinese-speaking guys. Is it trying to suggest that conversing in Mandarin increases one's appeal to the opposite sex? Obviously most if not all ST readers would be discerning enough not to be misled by that, and probably would laugh at the poor attempt instead. Hopefully I am not alone in condemning it and someone powerful enough would right this horrific wrong soon.