The first ever English Tamil Glossary in Singapore was released on 3 February 2018 by the Chairman of the National Translation Committee (NTC), Mr Chee Hong Tat. Mr Chee is also the Senior Minister of State for Ministry of Information and Communication as well as the Ministry of Health.
The glossary was prepared by the Tamil Resource Panel(TRP), one of the three panels under NTC; the other two being the Chinese and Malay Resource Panels. According to the Head of the TRP, Mr A Palaniappan, the process of compiling the words and terms started nine years ago. Working once a month on a Saturday, the panel combed through the English words and terms, often consulting dictionaries and online reference materials for the actual meaning and nuances of the words. Similarly, the panel rigorously debated the suitability of equivalent words in Tamil.
The TRP members are appointed for a term of two years by the Ministry and the panel members come from the media, namely MediaCorp and Tamil Murasu, and government officials from Parliament, Ministry of Education and the Sate Courts. The different backgrounds of the members gave the panel the benefit of the experience these members brought with them.
The book, supported by the Tamil Language Council (TLC), will be distributed to the media, government agencies where there are translator and to all Tamil teachers and students.
Palaniappan A, Head
Tamil Resource Panel (TRP)