Singapore, Apr 24:
A month-long festival to celebrate and promote Tamil, one of the four official languages in Singapore, is being held here this month with 44 programmes such as dramas, music and competitions, predominantly on virtual platforms.
The programme will encourage everyone to ‘Love Tamil, Speak Tamil’, embrace their mother tongue and use the language at home and in their daily lives, said S Manogaran, who is the chairman of the government-established Tamil Language Council.
Tamil is one of Singapore’s four official languages along with Chinese, Malay and English. It is used in Parliament and also in schools as a mother tongue subject. Tamil is also printed on the country’s currency notes.
“…Such programmes are important for Tamil to be a living language,” Vikram Nair, a Member of Parliament, said.
“When the students take part in such Tamil related programmes, then the language will continue to live over generations,” said Nair.
“This year’s Tamil Language Festival celebrates the future of Tamil in Singapore. Having the festival officially launched by children and youths represents our vision for the younger generation and our hopes for them to be empowered to take the lead in promoting the use of our mother tongue,” Manogaran said.
A song and dance presentation titled ‘KadayeluVallalgal’ was streamed live on Friday.
‘Kadaiyezhu Vallalgal’ highlighted the virtue of generosity through the stories of seven kings — Began, Paari, Ayi, Oori, Kaari, Adhiyaman, and Nalli. These kings ruled different parts of Tamil Nadu during the Sangam period.
“Tamil literature is rich in values that stand relevant all time and is applicable for all ages. Of the many virtues, generosity is widely talked about in many pieces of Tamil literature,” said Soundara NayakiVairavan, one of the programme organisers.
“It is an attempt to bring out the values, ethics and morals of these ancient literatures for our new generations,” said the writer and founder of Kalamanjari that promotes Tamil literary works through music and dance since November 2018. (PTI)
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