Panel Discussion and Ideation Insights

"To be bilingual is to be authentically Singaporean"

  • "I think what is common across the four films is their authenticity. I believe that bilingualism contributes to this element of authenticity for Singaporeans."

    — Kuek Yu-Chuang
    Deputy CEO, SPH Media
    Guest of Honour, Qrious Culture

  • "The people depicted in the documentaries featured on Qrious Culture, really showcase exactly what it means to live your language and culture."

    — Dr Mohd Mukhlis Abu Bakar
    Head & Associate Professor, Department of Asian Languages & Cultures
    National Institute of Education,
    Nanyang Technological University

  • "When I see students producing documentaries that go deep into their own cultural roots, to me it is good as we are going back to being who we are. When we are bilingual we can code switch when we meet different groups of people to create a certain level of bonding."

    — Jacqueline Tan
    Director, School of Film & Media Studies
    Ngee Ann Polytechnic

  • "I think the expressions of each language, while difficult to translate one to the other, is what makes them beautiful."

    — Tan Chin Hsien
    Screenwriter, The Recipe

  • "Move away from mother tongue language as a school subject and more towards a key to unlock history and culture."

    — Wee Antong
    Director, Mother & Daughter

  • "Mother Tongue is beyond just speaking the language. It should also encompass participating in culture, music and other forms of art accessible through the language."

    — Priyanka Tamilarasan
    Director, Abinayam

  • "Bilingualism is how we as Singaporeans can represent ourselves in film in an authentic way."

    — Yusri "Shaggy" Sapari
    Director, Trailer Boys

  • "Diversify content, beyond educational and comedic content, that includes a variety of topics and issues can draw people to know more about their Mother Tongue Languages."

    — Ideation Participant

  • "To fully express ourselves in the most authentic and accurate manner, to not lose the cultural nuances and semantics that can only be best expressed in any one particular language."

    — Ideation Participant

  • "Bilingualism can be seen as a gift of empowerment. It enables us to better communicate with a wider group of audiences, allows us to better appreciate and bring together various perspectives, and helps us reach out to different communities."

    — Kuek Yu-Chuang
    Deputy CEO, SPH Media
    Guest of Honour, Qrious Culture

  • "Bilingual content is beyond telling jokes in Mother Tongue. If content creation can be a collaborative effort with artists, entertainers, to showcase culture, creator will be more empowered to create."

    — Ideation Participant

  • "The content matters. As the filmmakers said earlier, it’s the culture and lives underpinning the language that matter. So we need to find out what the locals, especialy youths are curious about."

    — Ideation Participant

  • "The HOW is already there. Social media is rampant. There needs to be outreach and funding from organisations who value bilingualism to support the creators. It is a cluttered messaging world. Fight it."

    — Ideation Participant

  • "Create engaging content that showcase diverse cultures and subtitle them in multiple languages to make them more accessible."

    — Ideation Participant

  • "The more bilingual the content, the wider the content can travel. No other region except Singapore can have that kind of leverage. But the bilingual content should be factored in at the start of content creation for it to be authentic as dubbing may not yield authenticity."

    — Jacqueline Tan
    Director, School of Film & Media Studies
    Ngee Ann Polytechnic

  • "Learning into commonalities and cultural quirks of the languages that is targeted to make a more relatable and at the same time unique take or point of view."

    — Ideation Participant

  • "There has to be a space for people to code switch and translanguage so that they can actually live as a bilingual."

    — Dr Mohd Mukhlis Abu Bakar
    Head & Associate Professor, Department of Asian Languages & Cultures
    National Institute of Education,
    Nanyang Technological University

  • "As a content creator, I feel that we can bring the content to Gen Z languages. We will be the 'translator' to the next generation."

    — Ideation Participant