The Curse of Bad English

English is a language which needs to be mastered when a person is young.

If a person doesn’t master well its grammar, spelling, etc. when he’s young, he will be probably plagued by bad English for the rest of his life.

Okay, that sounds drastic. But it’s easier to change and improve when one is young and his mind is mouldable than when he’s old and less teachable.

Of course, having bad English doesn’t mean the person is greatly disadvantaged compared to his peers with good, strong command of the language.

So what are the disadvantages of having bad English? Getting laughed at or looked down upon by people with good English? That’s really no big deal. So what? Many self-made multi-millionaires or Chinese towkays in Singapore have bad English too, don’t they? Afterall, people only suck up to you or lick your boots if you tons of money.

So does a student from a junior college have the right to despise and look down upon someone in the polytechnic or institute of technical education just because his English is better than the latter’s?

So what if my English is good? I’m not a self-made multi-millionaire.

A poor man’s wisdom is despised. People only listen and pay attention to the rich, right? Does that mean a wise man is supposed to use his wisdom to get rich instead of staying poor? Not necessarily. A wise man may decide to use his wisdom for other purposes like the betterment of himself through acquiring more knowledge instead of the pursuit of wealth. But surely a rich wise man can benefit society more than a poor wise men. Provided he gives tons to eradicate poverty and help the poor and marginalised in society.