Founded in 1965, Singapore is a relatively young country. Because of British colonization, Singapore’s official language is English, and every child is required to receive English education. However, because a large number of people moved from China in the 1960s, Chinese and Cantonese became two important everyday languages. And because Singapore was once subordinated to India and Malaysia, Indian and Malay became the “third and fourth” mother tongue of Singapore. I believe that because Singapore’s entire population is moved from other territories, it will lack a mature universal language system in a short period(within a hundred years). Instead, it will adopt bits and pieces from other language system and use them as the base. Multilingualism, then, has become a necessary step for Singapore to move forward in every aspect. 

The existing multilingual environment reflects Singapore’s multicultural phenomenon. This short paper mainly talks about two aspects: 1. Multi-language and multi-culture are inseparable. 2. Multi-language has the most fundamental meanings in many domains in Singapore.

Walking in Singapore, you can find that your senses are receiving different linguistic stimuli. Vision: You will see signs in English, Chinese, Malay, and Hindi. Hearing: You will hear the first four languages, as well as the dialects of various local areas, and more importantly, the 40-year-old, more mature Singaporean fusion language: Singlish. Smell and taste are more tricky because they are not strictly spoken or written languages. But in a broad sense, I think that the food that corresponds to smell and the taste is also a silent language—because it brings together the memory of the whole nation. The ingredients, cooking methods, seasonings, and the use of utensils all tell the history, habits, and preferences of different races. Unlike in a mono-ethnic country like China, where culture and language do not need to be deliberately integrated; unlike in the United States, cultures and languages are always separate and difficult to reconcile. Singapore is a strange country: people of different skin colors and different cultural backgrounds come to this small place in Southeast Asia to flee from home or try to conquer this island. However, after a few decades, everyone begins to integrate in an orderly manner and create a mutual future for themselves. There is no doubt that this multilingual environment in Singapore comes from the harmonious coexistence of various cultures. Even though Singapore’s official language is English, there are still four different languages on the subway sign (see the examples in the picture). Unlike many other places, it can only be used in English or in up to two languages. Singapore’s largest population is Chinese, so Singapore has every reason to write only English and Chinese on the sign. However, this country chooses to include texts from four different cultures in the sign to express its fair treatment of every culture.

In the past two weeks or so, I have traveled to some major areas of Singapore. After seeing different architectural styles, architectural purposes, crowds, and language, I think there is a saying in the sample paper that is consistent with Singapore’s national conditions: “We argue that linguistic landscapes, like other landscapes, are subjective representations rather than the objective physical environment.”(Leeman)

Basically, the difference in language is almost equal to the difference in the race. This difference is linked to many things in Singapore: your living area, your child Education, your lifestyle, your political welfare, etc. For example, Singapore has a quota system for schools: a school must receive a fixed percentage of people from each races. For example, Singapore’s prime minister needs to alternate among races. If this year is am European, and the next one will be a Malay, then a Chinese, an Indian. Looking forward to the future, I see a monolingual Singapore with all cultural intricacies mixed in. I believe that Singapore can adopt diversity in every aspect.