TAMIL LANGUAGE FESTIVAL 2021

ASPIRATIONS FOR THE FUTURE GENERATION

Virtual Tamil Language Festival 2021

The Tamil Language Council (TLC) is pleased to present the virtual Tamil Language Festival (TLF) 2021, taking place from 2 April to 2 May. This year’s celebration will feature 44 programmes by 42 partners, as the community unites to promote and preserve the Tamil language in Singapore.

The TLF 2021 launch ceremony “Thamizhodu Inaivom” took place at 9pm on Saturday 3 April via a special programme telecast on Mediacorp, featuring a variety of performances by TLF programme partners and Vasantham artistes. Mr S Iswaran, Minister for Communications & Information and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, was Guest-of-Honour. The focus of TLF 2021 continues to underscore the importance of nurturing our future generation.

During TLF 2021, the community can look forward to participating in a variety of literary, oratorical, arts and cultural programmes via Zoom, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. These programmes will encourage everyone to “Love Tamil, Speak Tamil”, embrace their mother tongue, and use the language at home and in their daily lives. TLF 2021 will welcome 6 new partners, as they present programmes featuring drama, musical, competitions and talks.

“The Tamil Language Council thanks all partners for their continued support in presenting a festival calendar rich with a variety of programmes, We also appreciate the community’s understanding of the need to continue to keep everyone safe by presenting our programmes online,” says Mr S Manogaran, Chairman of the Tamil Language Council.

Mr Manogaran adds, “This year’s Tamil Language Festival celebrates the future of Tamil in Singapore. Having the festival officially launched by children and youths during the launch programme, represents our vision for the younger generation and our hopes for them to be empowered to take the lead in promoting the use of our Mother Tongue. We are also marking the 20th Anniversary of the Tamil Language Council, by introducing a Tamil Youth Festival this September. With programmes organised by youths for youths, we hope the community will support the Youth Festival and encourage the younger generation to continue using the Tamil language.”

Specially for Youths and Students

The TLF has over the years, cultivated a strong youth following, and the TLC hopes that this year’s festival will continue to enjoy the community’s support for the youth and students’ programmes.

“Tamil Aruvi”, organised by Elakeyaa Selvaraji, is the festival’s first-ever Tamil podcast based programme. The 5-episode podcast series will feature segments by language experts and an oratorical competition for secondary school students. This programme aims to inspire the students’ confidence in speaking the Tamil language, and create an avenue for them to express their thoughts and develop their language capabilities.

Source: Tamil Language Council Press Release – 3rd April 2021