At his National Day Rally on August 23, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong quoted a line from the Teochew-language film Dear You in Teochew: "Be a person of compassion and loyalty." The audience responded with applause.
Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong
He then added that the line sounded different in dialect and felt more familiar.
Teochew's appearance on such a prominent political stage was notable. Since the launch of the Speak Mandarin Campaign in 1979, dialects have gradually faded from Singapore's public life.
Wong also announced that, from September, the cap on dialect-film screenings would be lifted if Mandarin dubbing and Chinese subtitles are available.
The announcement followed months of debate in Singapore triggered by the film Dear You, which sparked discussions about dialects, cultural heritage and identity.
A debate over identity
The discussion started even before Dear You was released in Singapore.
The premiere of Dear You in Singapore in June 2026
In late May, Sim Tze Wei, deputy editor of the China news desk at Singapore's Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao, published a commentary describing the film as having "United- Front" overtones and suggested that its emotional appeal could serve a political purpose.
The commentary drew criticism from readers and online commentators who saw Dear You as a family story about kinship, migration and memories passed down through generations.
Singaporean academic CC Chin described the commentary to South as highly speculative and irresponsible.
"It was a very subjective interpretation," Chin said, arguing that the political meaning attributed to the film was not supported by its narrative.
"People basically treated the article as a joke," he said. "By calling it a propaganda film, you actually drew more attention to it and encouraged more people to watch it."
The debate soon moved beyond the question of whether the film carried political overtones. It also drew attention to a more familiar part of Singaporean life: why can a dialect that many people rarely use still make them feel at home?
As of August 31, it had become Singapore's highest-grossing Chinese-language film of 2026, ranking first among all Chinese-language films released locally that year.
A policy evolves
The Speak Mandarin Campaign was launched in 1979 to encourage the use of Mandarin as a common language among Singapore's Chinese population, which had traditionally spoken Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka and other dialects.
Liew views the policy as part of Singapore's nation-building during the country's early years. As a newly independent country facing security concerns in a region dominated by much larger neighbors, Singapore sought to forge a national identity that transcended individual ethnic groups. The growing use of English and Mandarin was part of that broader effort.
Chin offers a different perspective on the notion that speaking several languages necessarily places an additional burden on young people. Southeast Asia, he said, has long been home to different languages and cultures. Multilingualism is therefore not unusual in the region.
He also believes that the declining use of dialects has affected cultural transmission. When grandparents and grandchildren no longer share the same language, some of the stories, expressions and traditions once passed down through everyday conversation can be lost.
Singapore's linguistic environment today is very different from that of the 1970s. A survey cited by Wong showed that English is now the main home language in most Chinese Singaporean households, while Mandarin is the main home language in about one-third.
Wong has said Singapore should not become a monolingual society. At the same time as encouraging Singaporeans to speak more Mandarin, he has also called for more room for dialects and stressed the importance of keeping Singapore's Asian character.
For Chin, preserving Singapore's bilingual advantage remains important, especially as Mandarin becomes increasingly relevant internationally. However, he does not view multilingualism as a burden or believe that promoting Mandarin requires dialects to disappear.
For many families, dialect was once the language of everyday conversations between generations. As that link weakens, so too can the stories, customs and memories carried through it.
This is why Chin believes the discussion goes beyond language itself. As younger Singaporeans become increasingly disconnected from the languages and cultural memories of earlier generations, they may eventually have to ask themselves a more fundamental question, he said: "Who are we?"
The pull of dialect
Liew Siau Chi, deputy dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at New Era University College, told South that many older Singaporeans grew up in households where dialects were commonly spoken. The languages spoken by their parents and grandparents were closely tied to memories of family and their ancestral communities.
Dear You, told largely in Teochew and depicting the lives of Chinese migrants in Southeast Asia, evokes those memories through both its language and its portrayal of an earlier way of life.
Liew noted that dialects did not disappear completely after the Speak Mandarin Campaign. Local productions, including Jack Neo's I Not Stupid, have continued to incorporate dialect expressions and humor.
For Chin, dialects are closely connected to the way culture is passed between generations.
"Dialect is an important link through which Singapore's Chinese community passes down culture," he said.
Many Singaporeans, he noted, were raised by grandparents who spoke dialects. Through those conversations, younger generations could learn not only how to communicate with their grandparents, but also about the stories, customs and expressions associated with their family backgrounds.
That helps explain why a Teochew line in a film can still resonate with people who may not be able to speak the language themselves.
It also points to the extent to which Singapore's linguistic environment has changed over the past several decades.
Reporter: Yao Jingsen
Photo: Xinhua News Agency
