General Information » Culture & Lifestyle » Language

Singapore has four official languages : Malay, Chinese, English and Tamil. Malay is the national language but English is the unifying language between all the various ethnic groups. Only the elderly may not understand any English and pretty much everyone under 40 years old speaks some. Road signs and all signage are in English, while official public notices are either in English and Chinese or in all four official languages. English is the language of business and government administration and while it is the first language in most schools, bilingualism is compulsory; students must learn English and their mother tongue. Many Singaporeans speak English in public and their mother tongue at home. In 1979, the Speak Mandarin campaign was launched to create a unified Chinese language environment because most Chinese spoke in dialects, effectively different languages. Hanyu pinyin, the common system of romanisation of Mandarin, is adopted by Singapore. While not a simple representation of Mandarin in Roman type, learning the basics will allow you to get to grips with the sounds and be able to read it. And with over three quarters of the population speaking Mandarin as their mother tongue, it’s always appreciated if you make the effort to communicate in the local language, even if it is only the basic pleasantries.