李显龙总理在2005年国庆群众大会上以华语演讲时，提到了梁智强最近的脱口秀，对于精英与精华有了妙解。什么妙解呢？“精英”者，精通英文之谓也；“精华”，精通华文者也。
一个无可否认的事实是：在新加坡官场、职场与商场，“精英”的地位在“精华”之上。正因为这样，很多为人父母者梦寐以求的是自己的子女将来成为“精英”而不是“精华”。
在新加坡，英文的“含金量”远超华文，不通晓英文的人到处碰壁，碰壁久了再愚笨的人也会学乖。
梁智强说本地现有的华校生是最后的“精华”，李总理不同意这一说法，他认为“精华”的好戏还刚刚开始，真正的好戏还在后头。如果我的理解没错的话，这些好戏的主角肯定是兼通华英双语的精英分子。
李总理还提到一些老华校生也逐渐活跃起来，当起“老大学生”来，这个现象令人鼓舞。
听起来，李总理是在给老华校生打气，劝老华校生不要气馁。但我认为，知道老华校生为什么会气馁，这是比鼓励我们别气馁更为重要。
作为老华校生，吃了几十年不懂英文的亏，长期被边缘化，一点气馁的感受也没有，那是骗人的。但是豪情已不似旧时，花开花落两由之。我们只是想保留自己的一个精神家园，那就是对中华文化的眷恋与执着，这是老华校生死守的最后一块阵地。
还有一点，老华校生很想说又不敢说出来的心中阴影：害怕一顶华文沙文主义的大帽子往自己的头上套下来，那还得了！
太远的不说，说说前些年有不少乐龄人士对于地铁站缺少华文指示牌及站名意见很大，那时有关当局的回应是文字太多视觉上不整齐美观。有好心人劝我们不要再提增加华文的事了，因为语文是个“敏感课题”，当心引火上身。一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳，这种心理阴影老是挥之不去。
我相信，大多数的老华校生已不再用旧的眼光来看人民行动党政府了，这个政府领导人民将新加坡建设成一个欣欣向荣的小富国，大多数人民已丰衣足食。老华校生都是识大体，顾大局的，尽管自己过去吃过不少亏，但是从国家的整体利益出发，大家还是肯定这个政府对新加坡的贡献。
改变态度应该是双向的，人民行动党政府也不能用旧的眼光来看老华校生。当年的矛盾冲突早已成为历史，今后也没有重演历史的必要。
老华校生都知道，要在新加坡的学校恢复华文第一语文的地位，已没有了土壤与气候。我们并不否认英文的强势地位，我们都鼓励自己的子女努力学好英文，我们倒是希望英文源流出身的家长也能鼓励他们的子女学好华文。老华校生当年能咬紧牙关苦学英文，为什么他们不能吃一点点苦把华文学好？
政府领导人也好，英文源流的精英也好，都不必担心英文会失掉其强势地位，英文源流的精英要认真看待的真正的挑战是，精通双语（即所谓“精英”又“精华”）的新一代有可能威胁他们的独霸地位。
● 韩山元 By Han Tan Juan ·作者为退休的新闻工作者。
Views of an old Chinese-educated S'porean
In his National Day Rally Mandarin speech this year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong referred to entertainer Jack Neo's recent talk show in which the latter interpreted "jing ying" as Singaporeans who are proficient in the English language and "jing hua" as those who are well-versed in the Chinese language.
Here is an undeniable fact: "Jing ying" enjoys higher status than "jing hua" in the government service, job market and business sector, which is why it is the goal of many parents to get their children to become "jing ying" and not "jing hua".
In Singapore, the "gold content" or value of the English language far surpasses that of Chinese.
Singaporeans who are not proficient in English often find themselves coming up against a wall. After a while, even the dumbest will learn his lesson.
Mr Lee disagreed with Jack Neo's talk about old Chinese-educated Singaporeans as being the disappearing "jing hua". "This is a long-running serial and the best shows are yet to come", he said.
If I understand Mr Lee's comment correctly, the cast in the shows must be elite who have an excellent command of both the English and Chinese languages.
He also noted that the older generation of Chinese-educated Singaporeans are becoming more active and some have even taken up university courses. This is an encouraging phenomenon.
I believe Mr Lee wanted to boost the morale of this group of Singaporeans. But I think it is more important to know why these Singaporeans feel discouraged.
Having suffered for decades for being handicapped in English and having been marginalised for years, I'd be lying if I say we do not feel demoralised at all.
We no longer have the youthful passion for change. We just want to preserve our "spiritual home" - our undying love for the Chinese culture which we will never give up.
And there is something that we would very much like to speak up but is afraid to - the fear of being labelled as Chinese chauvinists.
Some years back, some of us had expressed unhappiness about the lack of Chinese signs at MRT stations. The authorities had responded then by saying that signs cluttered with words would not be pleasing to the eye.
Meanwhile, well-meaning people had cautioned us against getting into trouble over the "sensitive issue" of language.
Once bitten, twice shy. It's a lingering fear that refuses to go away.
I believe the majority of the older generation of Chinese-educated Singaporeans no longer view the People's Action Party government the way they used to.
We are well aware of the big picture - that under the leadership of the government, Singapore has prospered and become an affluent society where most people are able to live comfortably.
Even though we have been disadvantaged in the past, we place the overall interest of the nation above all and have no problems affirming the contribution of this government.
This change of attitude should be both ways - the PAP government should also see us in a new light.
The differences and conflicts in the past are now history and we should not allow history to repeat itself.
We are aware that we just do not have the environment that is needed to restore Chinese as the first language in our schools.
We recognise that English is the dominant language and we encourage our children to master it. But we do hope that parents who are English-educated can also urge their children to learn the Chinese language well.
If we in the past could persevere in our efforts to pick up English, why can't they now show a little determination in learning Chinese?
There is no need for our leaders or the English-educated elite to worry that English will become less important.
As I see it, the real challenge for the English-educated elite is that their dominance may one day be threatened by a younger generation that is proficient in both English and Chinese, or both "jing ying" and "jing hua".
The writer is a retired journalist. Translated by Yap Gee Poh.
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