[Pic is courtesy of Madam Alicia Wee's family. Mr Foo Hee Kuen and Madam Alicia Wee's three children: Sheryl, 12; Linus; 10; and Sandrea.]

Although more conversant in Mandarin, Madam Alicia Wee and her husband spoke only English at home to their first child Sheryl after she was born in 1997.

They wanted her to be more familiar with English and to do well in the English-language education system here.

But after three years, Madam Wee, 39, a human resource specialist, and her husband Foo Hee Kuen, 46, a defence executive officer in the Republic of Singapore Air Force, switched to speaking Mandarin at home.

Why? Because Sheryl was unable to communicate with her grandparents and cousins in Muar, Johor, during family visits there.

Madam Wee and her husband also use Mandarin with their two younger children, Linus, 10, and Sandrea, seven. She said their decision was not due to the 'China' factor.

The Government has cited the emergence of China as a reason for promoting Mandarin as it allows bilingual Chinese Singaporeans to act as a conduit between China and the Western world.

Madam Wee is a bit worried that her children might not be able to fare well in English language and other subjects at school.

While Sheryl and Linus score above 80 marks for their Chinese language subject, they get around 70 marks for English.

Is she regretting the move to use Mandarin at home? 'No,' said Madam Wee. 'If we had spoken only English with them, they may have grown up resistant to learning the Chinese language.'

Also, being Chinese-educated, she is not keen to speak 'broken English' with her children.

'More importantly, I've always believed that a Chinese must be able to speak Mandarin,' she said.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.