Singapore promotes Mandarin

“Be Heard in Chinese”: a TV spot from Singapore’s Promote Mandarin Council, which is conducting a three-month campaign to educate the public about Chinese language and culture. A series of quizzes accompanies the ad; see below for more.

Cross-cultural blogger Zhai Hua, who’s been covering the subject in a series of posts, introduced the motivation behind the campaign:

According to a survey conducted on incoming primary students by the Singapore Department of Education, the number of Chinese-language households in Singapore has been declining since the 1990s. Today, only 40% of households use Chinese as a primary language, while English-language households have climbed from 26% in 1990 to 60% today. To reverse this trend, the Singapore Promote Mandarin Council launched The Chinese Challenge on March 30, fun quizzes that let Singapore citizens and permanent residents personally experience the breadth and depth of Chinese culture, deepen their understanding of Mandarin, and improve their grasp on the language. This campaign will last three months; each month, the six highest-scoring Singaporeans will be given face-to-face interviews for the chance of being one of six final contestants at a televised final competition to be held in July.

Zhai reproduces six weeks’ worth of “The Chinese Challenge” (华文?谁怕谁! or “Who’s afraid of a little Chinese?”), quizzes on Chinese language and culture that cover a surprising range from ancient to modern, pop to literary. Here’s week five (bilingual at the source):

1. 苏打绿演唱的《小情歌》歌词中所出现的中国古典文学作品是？
   What is the Chinese literary classics mentioned in “Little Love Song” by Taiwanese band Sodagreen?
2. 新加坡武装部队的军官职衔中最高的是哪一个军阶？
   What is the highest army rank in the Singapore Armed Forces?
3. 曾经说过“不管黑猫白猫（也有黑猫黄猫之说），抓住老鼠就是好猫”是哪一位中国政治领导人？
   Which Chinese political leader said, “Regardless if a cat is black or white (and in other sayings, black or yellow), it has merit as long as it catches mice”?
4. 白居易《长恨歌》中,“天生丽质难自弃，一朝选在君王侧”一句指的是谁？
   In “Song of Eternal Sorrow” by poet Bai Juyi, he writes: “Yet with such beauty bestowed by fate, how could she remain unknown! Eventually, she was chosen to attend to the emperor”. Who was he refering to?
5. “梁上君子”指的是什么？
   What does the Chinese expression “gentleman on top of a beam” refers to?
6. 请猜这是什么汉字？
   Which word does this hieroglyph stand for?
7. 哪一位新加坡人在厦门大学当过校长？
   Which Singaporean was once the president of Xiamen University (University of Amoy)?
8. 商业术语中的“红海”是什么意思？
   What does the Chinese business term “red ocean” refers to?
9. “下岗”的意思是什么？
   What does the Chinese expression “to step off a post” refers to?
10. 以下哪一部电影并非改编自漫画作品？
    Which one of the following movies is not an adaptation of a comic book? [choices unavailable]
11. 歌手王力宏的歌曲《在梅边》是根据哪一个古典文学作品而创作的？
    Which Chinese literary classics is Leehom Wang’s song “Beside the Plum Blossom” based on?
12. 武夷山位于中国的哪一省份？
    The Wuyi Mountains are located in which one of the following provinces of China?

Answers can be found at the bottom of Zhai Hua’s third post on the challenge.

Here’s a second promotional TV spot:

There are a total of fourteen TV spots available on the Chinese Challenge website.