When Singapore gained independence, the founding leaders of the country decided to adopt a policy of bilingualism. This meant that the education system would equip pupils with knowledge of two languages: English and a mother tongue. The policy persists today and is a cornerstone of the education system in Singapore.
The rationale behind the teaching of English to all pupils is that English is the international language of business. Singapore does not have natural resources or vast amounts of land, so the only way for it to do well economically is by harnessing its human resources to perform high-value jobs, which would then attract multinational corporations to set up shop in the city, bringing in foreign investment. For this to happen, its labour force must be conversant in English so as to be able to communicate with colleagues and bosses from around the world.
But the founding leaders worried that if only English was taught, the population might become Westernised. They did not want that, because it did not align with their values at that time. They wanted Singapore to be rooted in the fact that it is an Asian city. So they made it compulsory for pupils to learn a mother tongue language alongside English. Through this mother tongue, the idea was that pupils would be reminded of the culture that they come from.
Pupils are assigned their mother tongue language based on their ethnic group. The three major ethnic groups in Singapore are the Chinese, Malays, and Indians, and each has a corresponding official mother tongue: Mandarin for the Chinese, Malay for the Malays, and Tamil for the Indians. Eurasians have no mother tongue assigned to them because of their mixed heritage, and they are allowed to choose which mother tongue language they want to take up for the purposes of formal schooling. Many choose Mandarin because they hope to tap into the growing economic power of China, or Malay because it is easier to learn as it uses the same alphabet as English.
The three official mother tongues are also official languages of Singapore, and English is the fourth official language though it is not an official mother tongue. This is deliberate. By keeping English neutral, it can be used to bring the different ethnic groups together without one community having an unfair advantage over the others. This is significant because one of the key reasons why Singapore split from Malaysia to become independent was because the Malaysian government adopts a "Malays first" policy which the Singapore government of the day disagreed with. Under the Malaysian government's approach, Malay is given a higher status than other languages, and policies are crafted to prioritise the interests of the Malay community. In contrast, no ethnic group is prioritised by the Singapore government.
Trends in language use
An increasing number of families are using English rather than their mother tongue at home. The Singapore population is now largely conversant in English, but standards of the three official mother tongue languages are slipping. This is because people have taken the government's message to heart and regard English competence as more important to their future success in life, leading them to put more effort into learning it and practising it as often as they can with family and friends. In this way, using English in everyday life has become a habit for many Singaporeans.
The government has had to admit that the bilingualism policy is not producing people who are competent in both English and their mother tongue. They even had to create a lower-level 'B' syllabus to cater to the growing number of pupils who could not cope with the regular mother tongue syllabus. There is, on the other hand, also a 'Higher' syllabus for elite pupils who demonstrate native-speaker mastery of their mother tongue.
Given the rising prominence of English and the population's preference for English over the mother tongues, the government's insistence on keeping English at arm's length is odd. The government seems to regard English as something that must be exploited purely for pragmatic reasons, namely the economic benefits that it unlocks. They do not want to view English as part of Singapore's heritage, because to do so risks Westernising Singapore, and they will have none of that because Singapore is, according to them, Asian.
Ironically, the same government has, in modern times, taken pains to portray Singapore as a cosmopolitan, globalised city, as this makes the state more attractive to foreign investment. Immigrants are welcomed with open arms, and this has thrown the ethnic composition of Singapore's population into flux. In turn, the status of the mother tongue languages has been diminished further, and English has gained even more importance as it is the only language that connects an increasingly diverse group of people crammed into a small island. For these reasons, the government may eventually be forced to rethink the way it sees English. English may no longer be just a practical skill, but a vital aspect of the societal fabric.
English education in Singapore: What is "good" English?
When Singapore was under British rule, the colonial government gave the Peranakans and Eurasians intensive instruction in English to create an elite class of English-educated workers. The Peranakan and Eurasian communities became wealthier than the other ethnic groups because they held better jobs for which a command of English was essential. Seeing this, the other ethnic groups strived to learn English too, so as to move up the socioeconomic ladder.
Even after independence in 1965, the teaching of English focused on getting pupils to emulate British English. You were good at English if you could accurately reproduce the way a British person would speak and write. For example, you had to pronounce words using the Received Pronunciation accent, which announcers on the British Broadcasting Corporation use even today.
In the 1990s, younger and more progressive teachers and principals spurred greater acceptance of local lingo in schools. The Ministry of Education (MOE) began including texts by local authors and playwrights in the curriculum. These texts contained Singlish expressions. But they were confined to the teaching of drama and literature and were not used in English language classes, showing that MOE was far from accepting Singlish as a "legitimate" type of English.
At the turn of the millennium, the government swung back to a flat rejection of Singlish, unleashing the Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) which aimed to eradicate the local variety of English entirely in favour of "standard" English. Until today, "standard/good" English is defined by looking outside of Singapore. The only difference is that now, American English and not British English is increasingly used as the example of what is "ideal" due to America's status as a superpower.
The government justified its disgust towards Singlish by explaining that it was a contaminant that, if allowed to flourish, would cause Singaporeans to be unable to speak "proper" English, which would in turn result in Singapore losing its economic competitiveness.
We cannot be a first-world economy or go global with Singlish... The fact that we use English gives us a big advantage over our competitors. If we carry on using Singlish, the logical final outcome is that we, too, will develop our own type of pidgin English, spoken only by three million Singaporeans, which the rest of the world will find quaint but incomprehensible. We are already halfway there. Do we want to go all the way?
~ then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong at the 1999 National Day Rally
The government also does not accept Singlish as being part of Singapore culture.
In 2016, a major disturbance arose when the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which is a highly respected resource for determining what is "standard" English and what is not, added over 500 Singaporean terms including "angmoh", "sotong", and "shiok" into the official dictionary. Given that the stance of the Singapore government is that the West has the final say on what constitutes "good" English, this tacit acknowledgement and approval of Singlish by OED ruffled some feathers and stirred up considerable anxiety about the future role of Singlish. Seeking an expert opinion from Professor Wee, a reporter asked if there will come a time when Singlish is made an official language of Singapore. (For the record, Professor Wee declined the interview.)
The debate
Ordinary Singaporeans disagree on Singlish. Some are on the same page as the government, denouncing Singlish for not being "proper". Others support it, usually on the grounds that it forms part of the Singaporean identity that they are proud of. But even these supporters of Singlish usually admit that it would not be appropriate to use the local variety in certain settings such as the workplace, reserving it for informal environments such as family gatherings instead.
From the government's perspective, it is insufficient to teach pupils "good" English in school, because if Singlish persists on the street, the pupils will lapse back into it once they leave the classroom. In 2012, founding Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew recounted an observation he made on a trip to Jamaica that convinced him of this:
I was in Jamaica in 1975. Most Jamaicans are descended from West Africans brought to the Caribbean as slaves. They learned, first Spanish, then English from their slave masters. Yet, apart from those at the top of their society, they spoke not English, but Jamaican Creole, which I could not understand. It hit me like a sledgehammer: despite learning English in school, they were back to pidgin Creole once out of school.
Singlish is the local equivalent of Creole, so the government thinks that it is necessary to eliminate Singlish altogether to prevent a repeat of what was happening in Jamaica.
Things boiled over thanks to Phua Chu Kang, a very popular sitcom character who spoke Singlish. He struck a chord among Singaporeans with his down-to-earth nature, especially when contrasted against his on-screen sister Margaret who spoke "standard" English and was snobbish. Local television viewers appreciated Phua's use of Singlish because before he came along, they had had to contend with locally produced shows in which the characters spoke with an outlandish American accent. But the government fretted that the portrayal of Singlish in mainstream media would end up making Singlish seem more legitimate, encouraging people to use it even more.
Then-Prime Minister Goh suggested that Phua should be sent for English lessons, and the television operator, which is owned by the government, duly obliged, toning down Phua's use of Singlish. A flurry of letters and articles appeared in the press, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of Singlish. The government launched SGEM during this period in the official response to the debate: it clearly signalled that Singlish would not be tolerated by the authorities.
MOE revamped the English syllabus to reinforce the teaching of grammar. Schools began issuing fines to pupils who were caught using Singlish.
Although it has since softened its anti-Singlish rhetoric, SGEM in its early days was so fervent in its opposition of the local variety that it engaged in what could be counted as discriminatory or stereotyping behaviour. In a 2001 publication, it claimed that the "use of Singlish can be a problem because it gives the impression that the speaker is unprofessional or poorly educated". In one of its lessons on "good" English, it uses two fictional characters in its examples. Simon, who speaks "good" English, comes across as having a "steady and mature" personality, is rich, and has his own car. Gary speaks only Singlish and he is poor, childish, and irresponsible, asking to borrow Simon's car despite being uninsured. Reflecting on the lesson, a Singaporean who had knowledge of the matter wrote:
Texts that reflect prejudices stigmatize less able speakers as not only linguistically deficient, but also culturally and intellectually deficient. Using such a strategy to compel people to learn a language is, quite simply, hitting below the belt.
Supporters of Singlish are fighting back against efforts to wipe out the local variety. Singlish dictionaries are being written and updated actively, YouTube videos are being produced to teach people how to speak Singlish, and there is even a Speak Good Singlish Movement (SGSM) which directly opposes SGEM.
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