Singapore’s multiethnic society has given rise to a complex, diverse linguistic environment. While English serves as the country’s official administrative language, there are three official mother tongues — Malay for the Malay community, Mandarin for the Chinese community, and Tamil for the Indian community.

Other languages or dialects are also spoken within these communities, making the development of local languages even more intricate. For example, within the Malay community, besides Malay, some individuals also speak Javanese and Boyani. In the Chinese community, there are speakers of Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hainanese, Hakka, and other dialects. The Indian community also has speakers of Punjabi, Hindustani, and Bengali, among others.1

Becoming an official language

During the British colonial period, English was Singapore’s administrative language. Legislation, administration, announcements, documents, and other government-related matters were conducted in English. However, the colonial government adopted an open, tolerant attitude towards the languages used by different ethnic groups, allowing them to develop independently with minimal interference. As a result, there were various schools catering to different language streams, such as Malay-language schools, Chinese-language schools, Tamil-language schools, which continued for years.

In the 1950s, due to political considerations and the pursuit of a merger with the Federation of Malaya, the government implemented a multilingual policy that positioned Malay as the national language. Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (1923–2015) remarked, “The first political reality we had to deal with was the Federation of Malaya. Its constitution recognised Malay as the national language and the sole official language. Because I wanted Singapore to become part of the Federation, our education policy had to be mindful of this reality. We had to make Malay our national language too.”2 He further emphasised, “while all should learn the national language, other races should have the freedom to study and use their own languages.”3

Singapore gained independence on 9 August 1965. The Constitution of the Republic of Singapore explicitly states the provisions regarding official languages and the national language. Malay, Mandarin, Tamil, and English are the four official languages in Singapore, with Malay also being the national language. From a legal perspective, this ensures the official, legitimate status of the languages of the major ethnic groups. Singapore became the first country, outside of regions with written Chinese and spoken Mandarin as the predominant medium (such as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau) to elevate Mandarin to constitutional status as one of the official languages.

Certainly, the languages and dialects in Singapore have long been in a dynamic state of change. Before and during the early years of nationhood, there was linguistic diversity and complexity, with various dialects and accents within the same language. National language policies and planning have affected the mother tongue of the Chinese community since the country’s independence, especially with the Speak Mandarin Campaign that was launched in 1979. Chinese dialects have gradually declined, and Mandarin has become the predominant means of communication within the Chinese community.

The term huayu (Mandarin) has been the subject of some debate. However, many people find it an acceptable term for “the common language used by overseas Chinese”, distinct from the Standard Mandarin spoken in China. This is particularly accepted in regions like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and other parts of Nanyang (Southeast Asia), where people are accustomed to using a form of Mandarin that is linguistically close to Standard Mandarin, whereby pronunciation is guided by hanyu pinyin. The Mandarin commonly used in Singapore serves not only as the primary means of communication among the Chinese community, but also as the standard language used in Chinese radio, television, newspapers, and mother-tongue language education in schools.

The development of Mandarin in Singapore

Mandarin has developed in Singapore over more than a hundred years. In the 1957 population census, only 0.1%4 of the Chinese population claimed Mandarin as their mother tongue, and 26.7% claimed to be able to speak Mandarin. However, since the government initiated the Speak Mandarin Campaign in September 1979, which advocated the use of Mandarin and the reduced use of dialects, Mandarin has seen widespread adoption. In the year 2000, the proportion of Chinese households where Mandarin was the language most frequently spoken at home was 45.1%. This increased to 47.7% in 2010. Although there is a slight decline in the usage of Mandarin since 2020, with English becoming more prevalent, it still remains at 40.2%.5

The standardisation of Mandarin in Singapore is largely aligned with the standards and norms of Standard Mandarin in China. The phonetic systems, including initial consonants, finals, and tones, closely resemble those of Standard Mandarin. The lexicon shares similarities with Standard Mandarin, although there are variations in everyday vocabulary. Differences may arise in political terminology due to the two regions’ distinct political systems.

The Speak Mandarin Campaign was started in 1979 to encourage Chinese Singaporeans to communicate with each other using Mandarin rather than in dialects. It had the slogan “Speak More Mandarin and Less Dialects”, as shown in this campaign booklet. Reproduced with permission from Ministry of Communications and Information, National Museum of Singapore Collection, courtesy of National Heritage Board.
A 1952 copy of Rediffusion’s official bi-weekly magazine. The radio station started operations in 1949 and had two channels, namely the Gold Channel, which broadcast in Chinese and dialects, and the Silver Channel, which broadcast in Chinese and English. National Museum of Singapore Collection, courtesy of National Heritage Board.

Local Mandarin in Singapore has also incorporated expressions from other dialects. Most Chinese people in Singapore are descendants of immigrants who arrived during the Qing dynasty and Republican era from coastal provinces in southern China such as Fujian, Guangdong, and Hainan, and naturally brought their respective dialects along with them. These dialects have influenced the pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and colloquial expressions of Mandarin in Singapore.

Singaporean Mandarin is also influenced by other languages, especially Malay and English. Over time, some Malay words have been incorporated into Mandarin, such as basha (pasar), which means market, and ganbang (kampung), which means village. In Singapore, a former British colony, some English words and concepts have also been absorbed into Mandarin — such as andi (auntie) and qianluo (money mule).

Key features of Singaporean Mandarin

Singaporean Mandarin is not equivalent to China’s Standard Mandarin. Strictly speaking, it is a regional variant of Standard Mandarin.

Describing the characteristics of a language involves both its inherent features and distinctions observed in comparison with other languages. Based on the observations of scholars, here are some key features of local Mandarin in Singapore.

When Mandarin is spoken in Singapore, people have the tendency to not use neutral tones (literally “light tone”, which means the second syllable is pronounced in a lighter tone than the first syllable) and erhua (the addition of the “r” sound to the end of certain words). Most words that would typically have neutral tones in Standard Mandarin are pronounced without them in Singapore. For example, dàfāng (generous), cōngmíng (clever), bàbà (father), māmā (mother), nǎodaì (brain). The erhua of Standard Mandarin pronunciations such as wánr (play), càihuār (cauliflower), bànr (half side of something), and bǐjiānr (the nip), is often simplified, and the retroflex ending is omitted. Additionally, consonants found at the start of syllables in Standard Mandarin (such as “zh”, “ch”, “sh”, and “r”) are pronounced with less retroflexion in Singapore. Some vowel sounds are also conflated, such as the merger of “en” and “eng”, or “in” and “ing”.

In terms of vocabulary, Singaporean Mandarin preserves some words from Southern Chinese dialects, such as toujia (towkay), jiaotou (corner), pashu (kiasu, or fear of losing), yilu lai (all the way, continuously), wulong (mistake), jiasi (furniture), jitongyajiang (inability to communicate effectively, literally “like a chicken speaking to a duck”). Additionally, Singaporean Mandarin has incorporated some English words, such as guben (coupon, parking ticket/voucher) and luoli (lorry, truck).

As for grammar, many expressions in Singaporean Mandarin are influenced by Hokkien and Cantonese. For example, the term 粒 (lì) is used for both small, round objects, such as yi li mi (one grain of rice), and large, round objects, such as yi li xi gua (one watermelon). Some expressions exhibit overlapping forms, such as si qiao qiao (describing someone who has died completely) and kou hua hua (sweet-talking, using flowery speech).

Additionally, there are other colloquial phrases and specific expressions that originate from other dialects. An example is mei yu xia ye hao, which literally means “having shrimp is better than having no fish”. This phrase is used to express that having something is better than nothing. Kou shui duo guo cha, which literally means “more saliva than tea”, is used to describe someone who talks a lot but lacks substance, or who engages in empty talk.

In summary, Singapore Mandarin is a unique linguistic variant that maintains consistency with Standard Mandarin while incorporating characteristics from various Chinese dialects. It is a dynamic language that reflects the multicultural nature of Singapore.