What "Dear You" Teaches Us About Our Roots

By Sharon K

Recently, two movies were released which can perhaps help us get a sense of why Chinese dialects still strike a chord with many, even if the number of speakers is dwindling. Dear You (2026) is entirely in Teochew, while How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (2024) is mainly in Thai, with some Teochew spoken by the grandmother.

Source: Wikipedia, Theatrical Release Poster.

Source: Wikipedia, Thai Theatrical Release.

Both movies drew a great deal of interest in Singapore, with tickets sold out within hours of release. Even younger people who can no longer claim to be fluent in Teochew flocked to the cinemas, some even crossing the Causeway to watch them. This occurred despite Singapore’s very successful Speak Mandarin Campaign launched in 1979, which discouraged the use of dialects at home. In both movies, even younger viewers who could not understand Teochew well said that the sound of the language evoked memories of the intimacy and love from their childhood. This nostalgia and the grief of a language lost brought many to tears. 

Why did these movies evoke such strong emotional reactions from so many viewers?

Many shared that Teochew was the language they heard growing up—in lullabies, stories, and even scoldings. They might barely speak Teochew themselves now, using mainly English or Mandarin at school or work, but it still felt like their “heart language” even though it was no longer their strongest. This public reaction reflects a deep grief at losing a language so closely associated with emotional intimacy, family relationships and cultural memories. With the loss of this language comes a loss of identity and roots, as well as barriers to intergenerational communication.

This deep sense of cultural loss highlights a profound truth: a language is far more than just a tool for practical communication; it is deeply intertwined with our identity.

To delve deeper into the power of languages, perhaps we should go back one step by examining what a dialect actually is.

While Teochew is referred to as a “dialect” in Singapore, it should be regarded as a language in its own right. Languages are generally considered to be distinct from one another if they are mutually unintelligible—meaning, speakers of one cannot understand speakers of the other at a functional level without explicitly learning it. By this definition, Chinese “dialects” like Teochew, Cantonese, Hokkien and Hakka are not merely variants of Mandarin, but linguistically distinct languages.

If "dialects" are actually distinct languages that hold the keys to our deepest emotions, what does this mean for Wycliffe’s mission? Is a purely emotional connection a compelling enough reason to invest vital time, effort, and resources into translating the Bible into minority languages?

Put simply: why bother?

This is a question Wycliffe is often asked! From an efficiency angle, it admittedly doesn’t seem to make sense to have a translation team—including foreign advisors and consultants—spend years translating a book that is already available in most major languages. With public education in national languages increasingly widespread in many countries, why not simply concentrate on teaching people to read in those majority languages?

Video playlist on Teochew Oral Storying: In partnership with the Paya Lebar Chinese Methodist Church’s (PLCMC) Teochew Congregation

God’s Word in the “Heart Language”

When we relate to God, it is not just about facts. The relationship is one of love and trust, and it is deeply emotional. In other words, relating to God is not merely cognitive but intimately personal. God’s Word resonates much more deeply with hearers when transmitted in the heart language of family and culture. Through it, abstract concepts such as faith, forgiveness, and redemption are understood and accepted more readily.

For someone whose heart language is a minority language, a translation in a national language simply does not carry the same emotional weight. Furthermore, many ethnic minorities do not speak or understand a major language well, and they struggle to grasp God’s message when it is delivered in an unfamiliar tongue. They need to receive the message in their heart language!

As Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa, once famously said:

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart."

Wycliffe‘s Projects

Wycliffe Singapore supports language projects which aim to make God’s Word available in the heart languages of minority peoples, whether in print, audio, or video formats. Over and over again, we hear of people who experience God speaking clearly to them for the very first time when they hear Him speak in their own tongue.

For instance:

• Elo: The mother-tongue translators themselves, although fluent in the national language, have commented that they understand the Word of God far better in their own language.

• Brao: Church leaders fluent in the national language prefer to read the heart language scriptures when preparing teaching materials. As they explain: “It is so much easier when we read it in our own language to start with.”

• Zedsee: A seasoned believer offered this wisdom to a newer believer eager to share the gospel: “If you do not use Zedsee, you will be regarded as an outsider. If you want people to feel more comfortable hearing the gospel, you need to use Zedsee and be like one of them.”

  
  

As Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:22-23:

"…I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."

That’s why we continue to translate the Bible!

Join us in the urgent mission of bringing God’s Word to the ends of the earth. You can partner with us by emailing r200_projects@wycliffe.sg to fund specific R200 (“Reaching 200”) language projects, or by visiting wycliffe.sg/give to support the critical underlying work that makes every project possible.