Language Culture In Singapore

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Singapore is a sovereign city-state and island country in Southeast Asia. It is one of the countries that has started as a third world country and became a first world country with rapid speed. In 1819, founded as a British trading post, Singapore was colonized by United Kingdom. However, it declared independence from British colonization in 1963 and joined together with other former British colonies to form Malaysia. However, Singapore separated from Malaysia because of conflict over the rights of ethnic Chinese citizens (Dixon 27) and obtained independence as the Republic of Singapore in 1965. Now, Singapore has developed rapidly, and it is one of the Four ‘Asian Tigers,’ which is group of countries recognized as notable for maintaining high growth rates and fast industrialization (Liu 1444-46). The population of Singapore is approximately 5.3 million, composed of 74% Chinese, 14% Malay, 9% Indian, and rest are other ethnicities such as Europeans, Eurasians, etc. (Singapore Census of population 2010) Chinese, Malay, and Indian are the major ethnic communities in Singapore. One of the unique and interesting characters of Singapore is that its language policy is best described as multilingualism. Because of this, Singapore has four official languages; Chinese (Mandarin), Malay, Tamil, and English (Singapore at a Glance).
In Singapore, the Two most widely used official languages are English and Mandarin Chinese. Although all four official languages have the same equal status, English is definitely their main language. Except for the time when they study their mother tongue in Singapore’s educational system, English is used in every institution. According to Sherman Tan, although there are four official languages promoted in Singapo...

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...of Education Singapore). Singapore’s bilingual education policy has succeeded in many ways. It succeeded in making the balance between English, which all had to learn, and other official languages by making Mother Tongue Language policy (Dixon 28). As of The Programme for International Student Assessment’s (PISA), Singapore is second place in math, and third place in science in the world, and it is ranked fifth place in global education survey.
Singapore is a one of the unique sovereign city-state and island country in Southeast Asia. As a multicultural society, diverse ethnic groups have formed and shaped the country and its identity. Singapore has four official languages, freedom of religion, and diversified culture. The country may be small ostensibly, but it is one of the recognized countries in the world with its diversified culture and great education system.

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