WP MP raises Dear You controversy in Parliament, calls for more dialect-language films - Singapore News

SINGAPORE: The Workers’ Party Member of Parliament Kenneth Tiong has filed a question for the sitting on July 7 related to the recent controversy around the Chinese film Dear You. Although the movie is a Teochew-language drama, it was primarily shown in Singapore dubbed in Mandarin.

Mr Tiong, who joined the successful WP slate at Aljunied for GE 2025, will ask whether the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) will do away with the guideline that says Chinese films on general release must be dubbed in Mandarin, but allow them instead to be released in their original dialect with subtitles.

“With Dear You, a powerful film about the Nanyang migrant generation shot almost entirely in Teochew, being in the spotlight recently for its Mandarin dubbing, I asked whether the old justification for this rule (the Speak Mandarin Campaign) still holds water today, especially now that dialect spoken at home has fallen below 12%,” he wrote in a social media post on Wednesday (June 24).

He noted, based on personal experience, that the Speak Mandarin Campaign has been effective. In spite of concerns from some that dialects will crowd out Mandarin, Mr Tiong wrote that he has watched subtitled Japanese anime for 25 years, “and still can’t string a Japanese sentence together.”

Following this line of reasoning, a single subtitled Teochew film will not undo anyone’s Mandarin, the MP added.

Mr Tiong acknowledged, however, that the statutory board Infocomm Media Development Authority has shown some flexibility concerning the film, announcing more original-dialect screenings, which he wrote he is “incredibly glad” about and hopes more people will get a chance to see.

“But it shouldn’t stop at one film. I’d like to see Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, Hainanese, Foochow, and Henghua films, among others. Every community should be able to watch its own stories told here, in their original tongue,” he added.

This issue appears to be close to Mr Tiong’s heart, as he has been posting about Dear You for the past week.

On June 17, he noted that the movie, which is about a young man who travelled to Thailand to find his long-lost grandfather through qiaopi, or remittance letters that his grandmother received, is “about people like many of our own grandparents.”  

Mr Tiong pointed out that Hokkien and Teochew are already used in announcements on the train for the safety of senior citizens. Additionally, there are also videos for the Pioneer Generation using these dialects.

“So why are we making Singaporeans go to JB to watch this film in the original dialect? IMDA should reconsider,” he added. /TISG

Read related: Ex-NMP Anthea Ong on Dear You controversy: Perhaps we have been underestimating Teochew all along

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