By Gurdip Singh, Singapore, Jul 11 (PTI): Singapore's policies to support community celebrations has been instrumental in the growing interest in learning Hindi not only by students of Indian heritage but also of Chinese-descent and others, language lovers and experts said Saturday.
Dr Sandhya Singh, Head of Indian Languages at the National University of Singapore (NUS) was speaking at an event to launch a Hindi book here when she also highlighted how the Singapore government actively promotes the learning of Indian languages.
Noting the growing interest in learning Hindi "not only by Indian students but also Chinese-descent and other international students," Singh said, "We are proud that the NUS has produced graduates with a strong understanding of Hindi and Indian culture."
The university continues to strengthen Hindi language education through academic excellence, cultural engagement and global perspectives, she added.
Singh was speaking during the launch of veteran mariner and shipping industry executive Vinod Dubey's book 'Dear X.'
Dubey is among the scores of writers regularly writing articles, poetry and novels in Hindi, sharing his views and thoughts within the Hindi-speaking community of about 1,00,000 in Singapore.
'Dear X' captures 45-year-old Dubey's experiences of sailing around the globe and spending over a decade in the cosmopolitan society of Singapore while reflecting on the humble days of growing up in a village of Uttar Pradesh.
"The joy of Phagun melas (carnivals) and playing Holi remain a part of an Indian family culture no matter where they are. Singapore's Indian community celebrates almost every cultural event. But, you can take an Indian out of India, but not the embedded Indian culture out of him," Dubey said.
Talking about how he tried to "make an emotional connection with my village life" and the discipline required to live in Singapore, a highly organised, and a fast-paced global hub," the father of two narrated how he took his young family through a mix of cultures and an English-stream education system, which encouraged mother tongue compulsory as a second language.
"Hindi is among the many languages taught in pre-primary school through to the university and my efforts, my eight books and a series of poetries, are to contribute to the growing number of Hindi-students," said Dubey.
Tamil and five other Indian languages-Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Urdu, and Gujarati-are offered as second languages in local schools, with more than 7,000 students currently studying Hindi.
Singh, who also serves on the Management Board of the Hindi Society Singapore, highlighted that the Singapore government actively promotes the learning of Indian languages as part of its commitment to multilingualism and mother tongue education.
(PTI)
This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.