Yesterday, I was talking to a Chinese reporter. At the end of the phone call, she suddenly complimented my Chinese, as she is surprised. This also happens a few months ago, while I was doing a Chinese radio show.

Now, I am not trying to boost here. I being to China and Taiwan enough to know kids there speaks better than I do.

What concerns me is that if the reporters complimented my Chinese, I wonder what Chinese standard do they get from average Singaporeans?

As I was telling my wife (who was an ex-Chinese teacher) last night, if my Chinese is considered good in Singapore, there is no hope for an average Singaporeans to ever do business in China.

For the Singaporean out there, lets do a simple test to see if you can translate the following sentence without to resorting to mixing it in English. Common phrases, you would likely to use in everyday life.

1. Can I have the bill?

2. I will send you an Email later today.

3. Please call for a cab for me.

4. My name is David and I represent Microsoft.

5. I will upload the document to the share folder later.