Oxford English Dictionary does a good job of remembering the past history of ‘Chinese helicopter’ in Singapore. Chinese Singaporeans, who only know Chinese but speak little English or ‘broken English’ are treated differently from their English speaking elites and the government. Thanks to OED, ‘Chinese helicopter’ has officially entered the mainstream English speaking world. Why is it significant? It records a past history of discrimination, prejudice and insult. Some Chinese educated Singaporeans have voiced out recently and even protest for such a listing. However, it serves as a reminder of our ugly past and a proof of how the PAP government intentionally insults their own citizens. Just imagine, by the same analogy, an Italian speaking Swiss is an ‘Italian helicopter’, a second-class citizen in Switzerland. Similarly, a French speaking Canadian is a second-class ‘French helicopter’ in Canada. Italian and French are both official languages of Switzerland and Canada...
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