It was a silly outcry, this hissy fit over the government's acceptance of the Singapore government's goodwill to deploy, fully-funded volunteer teachers to impart the King's English to our children in impoverished communities.
Initially aghast, the detractors were under the (mis)impression that the government would rather employ Singaporeans than tap local expertise, particularly retired English teachers. The outcry has since deflated.
The wholly-funded Singapore government scheme should reach out to children — not schools — in the urban poor, city outskirts and deep in the interior, including Sabah and Sarawak. It is also a geopolitical masterstroke for Singapore in diplomatic strategy to offset the occasional political and cultural skirmishes.
Nevertheless, we say terima kasih to our southern brethren for their generosity and willingness to help, a milestone in enhancing close diplomatic cooperation with its neighbour.
No details though on when the programme will begin, how many volunteers will be despatched or the actual financial cost. What we do know is that English teachers in Singapore belong to an in-demand group, who can negotiate a salary of S$3,000 to S$4,500 a month.
We won't know yet if these volunteers will be contracted in Singapore dollars. However if they are, the exchange rate will turn their earnings into a small bonanza.
We also do not know if the volunteers are retired teachers, fresh graduates, highly experienced or expatriates, but they need only one qualification: the accredited Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certification.
Bolstering our children's English proficiency has been frustrating for parents dismayed by the education system's dim view of the colonial medium of instruction, thanks to decades of political interference that has turned even the Dual Language Programme into a conundrum.
Unless they live and play in highly urban areas raised by middle-class parents, most children, especially in the interior, can barely muster a thought, let alone a word or sentence, in English.
Attempts to communicate in English are sorely deprived, discouraged and sometimes, cynically dismissed. The workable English that kids learn is informally culled from the world wide web, social media, computer and smartphone apps, and how immersive they are in American and British pop culture.
This explains the unique Malaysian argot of dithering between Bahasa Malaysia and elementary English in their communication. It's little wonder that in the accumulative years, college graduates deficient in English mastery have difficulty securing private sector employment.
Here's an amusing prospect: Malaysians might be tickled that the Singapore volunteers pass on their quirky "Singlish" to our kids. Singapore may have been unable to mitigate their general populace's eccentric patois, which is just as idiosyncratic as our "Manglish", but their media broadcasters judiciously slant their
English to either an American or British clip. For now, all we care about is that our kids competently read, write and speak in basic English, no matter how offbeat their accent sounds.