David Neo and Tan Kiat How on government’s approach for dialect film screenings

Dialect artistic materials are increasingly seen as part of Singapore’s heritage and cultural practices, and not as competing against the use of Mandarin. The government welcomes ideas to preserve dialect cultures while upholding the importance of Mandarin and will continue to work with the community to consider carefully what further steps are appropriate to support and promote Singapore’s distinctive Chinese culture within its multicultural society. Acting Culture, Community and Youth Minister David Neo said this in reply to parliamentary questions on Tuesday (Jul 7). Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Tan Kiat How also highlighted this approach, saying there is scope to consider how the government can expand the space for dialects. He pointed out that the Infocomm Media Development Authority exercised greater flexibility to allow more dialect content in films, as well as unrestricted screenings of films with substantial use of dialect. For the film Dear You, it approved 272 screenings of the Teochew version and is prepared to approve more screenings in response to audience demand.