English in Singapore

doi:10.1017/9781009748148.012

8 - English in Singapore

from I.III South-East Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 April 2026

Jakob R. E. Leimgruber

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Raymond Hickey

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Raymond Hickey: Affiliation:
University of Limerick

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Summary

The city-state of Singapore is officially quadrilingual (Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and English) and home to a diverse population. Colonised by Britain in 1819, English has since had a special place on the island. Initially confined to the elite, it soon became a desired commodity, learnt and acquired by different groups at different times, always in conjunction with the other languages with which it co-exists. As Singapore embarked on its path towards independence, English became a compulsory subject in education, and, in 1987, was made the sole medium of instruction. These developments resulted in large-scale language shift, with English now the majority language in Singaporean homes (2020 census). The local vernacular Singlish has its origin in this high-contact situation. It features influences primarily from Malay and southern Chinese. While it is regarded by policy-makers as undesirable, Singlish enjoys some acceptance in the population, not least as a marker of local identity.

Keywords

SingaporeEnglish Singlish diglossia languagecontact Chinese Malay Tamil

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: The New Cambridge History of the English Language
Africa, Asia, Australasia and the Pacific
, pp. 229 - 252

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009748148.012 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2026

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