 In 1992 at the start of the Government 's annual Speak Mandarin Campaign , the Minister for Information and the Arts George Yeo said in a newspaper article that the rising use of English by Chinese Singaporeans was a " disturbing trend " as " [ w ] e become very exposed to Western cultural influences via books , magazines and films . Some influences are good . Others are harmful , especially to the structure of the family . " This provoked Woon to respond that " [ t ] he subliminal message being sent is that those who speak English are dangerous to society and that the wider use of English threatens the social fabric of Singapore " . He deplored this view because good values were neither Asian nor Western : " Why should we confine ourselves to one or the other ? Singapore isn 't a Western society . It isn 't an Asian society . It is a cosmopolitan society . " He noted that " [ t ] he emancipation of women , the rule of law , the equality of citizens irrespective of race , language or religion , the right to representative government : These are values we have adopted from the ' decadent ' West . " 
