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By Serene Luo
SO SINGAPORE gets shown up in the English department where signs at tourist attractions are concerned.
Click on thumbnails to view the signs:
So what?
The general reaction from tourists or visitors to Singapore to the bad English on signs at tourist attractions was one of nonchalance.
When The Straits Times visited several tourist attractions recently, signs with poor English were not easy to spot, and most had only minor grammatical mistakes.
Wildlife Reserves Singapore spokesman Isabel Cheng said it has more than 3,000 signs in its parks, such as the Singapore Zoo, and all are proofread, although she acknowledged that there could be lapses.
In those cases, it encourages public feedback and will rectify the signs, she said.
Still, there are a few glaring mistakes in signs elsewhere on the island.
For instance, at one washroom in Changi Village, a sign reads 'Wash Hand'.
To that, Miss Jane Teo, 27, a Singaporean who is studying in Australia, quipped: 'Which hand?'
Retiree Hans Reichle, 63, who lives in Australia, said that 'visitors who come to a multicultural or predominantly Chinese country can't expect its use of English to be perfect'.
'Tourists are more forgiving. Signs are a small matter, and you find misspellings in New York, Australia, everywhere,' he said.
Some may even find these 'little flaws' entertaining, he said.
Singaporeans, though, were less forgiving.
Said Miss Teo: 'A lot of Singaporeans speak Singlish, but think they speak English. Now that I'm studying in Australia, I thought there wouldn't be a problem communication-wise, but no, I was wrong.'
Mr Rob Pender, deputy director of English language services at the British Council, said that when Singaporeans spot the errors on the signs, 'it's almost like they feel a bit guilty about their language and signs'.
But 'their guilt may be a little misplaced because Singapore fares much better than other countries', he said.
This article was first published in The Straits Times.
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