Some parents worry that if they do not speak English at home, their children will lose out in school and at work, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said yesterday. But he cited three cases to coax parents who can speak Mandarin to do so with their children.

Why all but one of MM's grandkids dislike Mandarin.

ALL but one of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's seven grandchildren dislike speaking Mandarin and face difficulties learning Chinese.

'When I ask them questions in Mandarin, they always like to reply in English. Sometimes, I even have to force them to reply in Mandarin,' said Mr Lee in his Mandarin speech yesterday.

He noted that his elder son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, was educated in Chinese schools but went to an English-language university abroad. Once he started working, English became his dominant language.

Likewise for his younger son, Fraser & Neave chairman Lee Hsien Yang. While he could still speak Mandarin socially, he could not conduct business negotiations in the language.

His daughter Wei Ling, also educated in Chinese schools, spoke more Mandarin than her brothers because her job as a doctor in a public hospital required it, said MM Lee.

As for his daughters-in-law, Temasek Holdings chief executive officer Ho Ching and Stamford Law Corporation senior director Lim Suet Fern, both are fluent in Mandarin. Like their husbands, however, they speak to their children in English at home.

Lamented MM Lee: This was why, apart from his only granddaughter, his six grandsons all dislike speaking Mandarin.

GOH CHIN LIAN

This article was first published in The Straits Times.