[Manthink]

That generation which didn't learn Mandarin or learn it well is now in their 60s and 70s. It does not mean they are less Han just because their Mandarin is poor. They speak English peppered with Hokkien, Malay and some Cantonese, Hainanese and Teochew, which is true Singlish.

China was backwards at that time so there was no point in learning Mandarin.

Different languages for different era. Now Mandarin is important but last time it was not  Did these boomers lose anything? Nope

CECA-minded Oyk touched  a very interesting FACT - Someone once said learning Chinese will not make you a living in SG...
For any Chinese-educated who graduated from Nantah or have little or no experience with other a European langauge, that period was a hard hard humbling experience. On top of that your children schooled with a subject called  "2nd Language"...

Borrowing that same question - Did those Chinese-educated boomers-gen lose anything in the 60s & 70s ?  I am sure many will agree they suffered immeasurably...