LEADERS of Chinese clan associations in Singapore want the Government to reconsider any plan to reduce the weighting given to mother tongue languages in Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) scores.

They fear such a move will discourage the young from learning the Chinese language even at the primary school level.

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Mother tongue now gets a 25 per cent weighting at PSLE, equal to that of the other three examination subjects - English, mathematics and science.

More than 80 leaders and members of the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations (SFCCA) met last Saturday in an emotionally charged two-hour session at the federation's premises in Toa Payoh.

The SFCCA is an umbrella body for 188 Chinese clans and community groups.

SFCCA secretary-general Lim Fang Hua, 63, told The Straits Times yesterday that leaders from all member clans and groups were invited to voice their opinions on the issue.

The controversy over language weighting was prompted by Education Minister Ng Eng Hen's remarks in a press interview a fortnight ago.

Mr Lim, who is also president of the Singapore Futsing Association, said: 'We are still gathering feedback from members and will write to the Government on the matter soon.'

In his interview, Dr Ng said his ministry was looking into whether mother tongue language performance at PSLE should count so much because of the worry that 'it could exclude someone from progressing in his educational pathway even if he did well in other subjects'.

Clan leaders at last Saturday's meeting were not convinced by that argument.

The president of the Sam Kiang Huay Kwan, Mr Lee Peng Shu, 60, who is also SFCCA's deputy secretary-general, said equal emphasis on English and Chinese for ethnic Chinese pupils should not be changed because it had been effective in ensuring the success of Singapore's bilingual education policy.

'We should not change according to how well our pupils do in the other subjects, or whether they like their mother tongue languages or not, because our future and our competitiveness are at stake,' he said.

The president of the Singapore Amoy Association, Madam Lin Deng Li, 61, felt that the best time to lay a strong foundation and encourage pupils to master the mother tongue language would be when they are in primary school.

'If we cannot get them to learn Chinese well at the primary level, it will be impossible when they get into secondary school and university because they will have so many more things to learn,' she said.

Agreeing, the president of Singapore Kwangtung Hui Kuan, Mr Ho Kwok Choi, 70, and SFCCA's treasurer, noted that the standard of Chinese taught in Singapore schools was already low.

'If it dropped further, I suggest we might as well not teach the language any more,' he lamented.

Singapore's efforts to promote bilingualism and encourage more business with a rising China would fail if students were not taught the importance of learning the language when young, he noted.

He asked: 'Do we want to see our students picking up Chinese, going to China to learn Mandarin, only when they are about to retire?'