Why are so many languages needed in Singapore?

Answer 1

Singapore was a sleepy Malay fishing village when in 1819, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles stepped foot into this place. Until 1824, Singapore was still a territory controlled by the then Sultan of Johor. It officially became a British colony on 2 August 1824 when John Crawfurd, the second resident of Singapore, officially made the whole island a British possession by signing a treaty with Sultan Hussein Shah (of Johor) in which the Sultan and the Temenggong handed it over to the British East India Company.

In order to attract people to come to Singapore to established the trade market and to populate the country, Raffles introduced "free trade". It simply means that all trading done in the country would be free, so people did not have to pay tax to the government to trade in Singapore .

As a result of that, many people from many different countries began to come to Singapore. We have Indians and Chinese that come here to seek a living or to trade their local goods, or Malays that simply move to Singapore from Malaysia itself to trade for free. People from different races started moving into Singapore and live permanently.

This has resulted in a multi-racial society in Singapore. The population of Singapore is made up of many different races, which meant many different languages. Hence, there are many different languages in Singapore, but mainly English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.

People from the different races needed to communicate with each other. Hence, they needed a common language, which in the instance of Singapore is English.

Answer 2

Singapore used to be a British Colony. Most people can speak English, though their pronunciation tends to be different than standard English.

The government has also been running campaigns for Better English speaking for over a decade now, and most Singaporeans are fluent in English.

Answer 3

Promoting English in Singapore would allow the country to better integrate into the global economy and bridging the gap between different language speakers.

Answer 4

Singapore was once an english colony so the language stuck around.