Is Chinese Still Relevant For S'porean Gen Zs Who Live Online And Speak Mostly English?

Is the Chinese language facing a decline in Singapore? Today, more young Chinese Singaporeans are struggling to learn their mother tongue, and some are even giving up on mastering it entirely.

This raises an important question: is the Chinese language still relevant in Singapore?

That’s what host Gao Mei Gui explores in the latest episode of Gen Z Crash Course, where she speaks to young Singaporeans to uncover their relationship with their second language.

She meets local content creator Sam, known on TikTok as @Clbsam, who is perhaps best known for his, shall we say, less-than-perfect Chinese, and for opening his videos with the iconic line, “Shen me zai shag mian tong xue men”, the literal Mandarin translation of “What’s up, fellow classmates.”

Sam is challenged to order three different dishes at Tiong Bahru Market — but there’s a catch: he can only use Mandarin.

He rises to the challenge, successfully ordering chicken rice, chee cheong fun, and soy milk with grass jelly, using a mix of Chinese phrases, gestures, and on-the-spot learning along the way.

Sam, who took CLB Chinese in secondary school — a simplified, lower-difficulty module for students who struggle with the standard syllabus — is later asked whether he thinks Gen Zs consider Chinese unimportant, given that he was still able to complete the task.

"That's one of the [reasons]," he says. "In Singapore, it's rather easy to get by without having advanced Chinese. For example, at a hawker centre, you can just point to the order number, and [the aunties and uncles are also able to understand a mix of] English and Chinese."

In school, Sam opted for CLB Chinese to “get rid of [his] weakest link” and focus on subjects he enjoyed more. After completing national service, he picked up a new language — Russian — and only later decided to give Chinese another try, which inspired his videos as he works to improve his mother tongue.

On why he thinks Chinese is hard to learn, he says: "In a day, 95 per cent of the language [we] speak is English. [Speaking to] parents, teachers, ordering food, everything is mostly done in English. So I would say most people of my generation find it easy to neglect Chinese."

Mei Gui later meets Ms Fu, a teacher from Maris Stella High School, to discuss the challenges Gen Zs face when learning Chinese. 

"Nowadays, kids are exposed to a lot of English content, especially on social media platforms like TikTok," says Ms Fu.

"Information is very fragmented and they're used to that style of expression. So in daily life, when it comes to learning Chinese, a language that emphasises context and structure, they find it very difficult."

When it comes to making Chinese easier to pick up, Ms Fu finds it helpful to begin with what students are interested in, such as movies, songs, and short-form videos. She also believes in starting with simple tasks, like telling a joke in Chinese and successfully making others laugh.

Eva, a savvy Gen Z student pursuing a Diploma in Chinese and Media Communication at Ngee Ann Poly, shows that Chinese can still be relevant and useful for those in her age group.

She shops for snacks, clothes, decor, and other daily essentials on Chinese apps instead of English ones.

"On English platforms, everything I find is [also] on Taobao and Pinduoduo, but way cheaper version, especially if I buy in bulk. There's also more variety and items for me to choose from," she says. 

She also uses Chinese social media apps like Xiaohongshu for shopping inspiration, scoring great deals such as a dress that cost just S$10, shipping included.

Beyond shopping, she uses the platform as a search engine, looking up recommendations for overseas stays and makeup tutorials.

Eva believes that being proficient in Chinese has opened up "a new side of the internet", and with it, new opportunities.

“When I work in media or marketing in the future, I can look at Douyin and TikTok for ideas, and act as a bridge [between the two to] create something new. That gives me a huge advantage," she says.

Now, who said Chinese is no longer relevant to Gen Zs?