MR ANG Peng Seng's letter ('Becoming truly bilingual', last Thursday) was yet another in a long line of letters discussing the travails of our bilingual policy.

Perhaps a simple point has been missed. Why did the Ministry of Education (MOE) use the term 'mother tongue' as opposed to 'Chinese as a second language', which was used in the 1960s and 1970s when Chinese, Malay and Tamil medium schools still existed?

As the term suggests, it emphasises knowing the language of your ethnic race at the minimum competence level, lest you forget your roots.

In fact, over the years, MOE has made a concession by simplifying the Chinese language syllabus. It even introduced Chinese Language B as a special avenue for weaker students.

Wong Siew Fong

This article was first published in The Straits Times.