On Singapore's Bilingual Policy

How does a nation with four constitutional official languages, and dozens of ethnic dialects within each official language, create a medium of communication?

What leads to racial riots?

It’s when the people of a nation do not feel united via nationalism, but, instead, through race, religion, or other means. A secular and multi-racial nation, such as Singapore, faces this issue—how do you make the Indians, the Malays, and the Chinese feel like they are the same people, especially when they each have their own unique culture, music, art, and language? One of the many ways to start tackling this issue is to create a lingua franca, with everyone speaking the same common language.

During Singapore’s pre- and immediate post-independence era, there certainly wasn’t a lingua franca. While Founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was campaigning in the 1959 Legislative Assembly General Election (pre-independence), he found that rallying in English and Mandarin Chinese was simply not enough; in Lee’s own words, “...I was able to make Mandarin speeches off the cuff… But, unfortunately, at that time, the majority of the audience was Hokkien-listening—you reach the largest number of people in Hokkien.”. When Lee’s People’s Action Party (PAP) lost its two greatest Hokkien orators – Lim Chin Siong, who was arrested, and Ong Eng Guan, who formed his own political party – Lee himself had to learn Hokkien to rally the people and to serve his duty effectively as the Prime Minister. In the Singaporean Army, the Chinese – that is, the Teochews, the Cantonese, the Hainanese, the Shanghainese, and the Hakkas – had a lingua franca in Hokkien, but even at that, the Army had name tags in different colours to signify what language each officer spoke and comprehended—blue for English, pink for Mandarin, and red for Hokkien.

It was not a sustainable situation, and Lee knew of it; in the late 21^st century, Singapore embarked on an ambitious journey to establish a national lingua franca.

Lee’s methods? Among others, to standardise the medium of instruction. The bilingual policy was an obvious decision to be made—the economic incentives for Singaporeans to learn English and Standard Mandarin Chinese to communicate in an English-dominated World with rising Chinese influence alone makes it worth, no less the social incentives for Singaporeans of all classes to understand each other. The results were positive, to say the least. Everyone comprehends each other, and, more importantly, everyone sees each other as their own—and so the PAP enacted the bilingual policy.

The education system then comprised primarily of private Chinese-, Malay-, and Tamil-medium schools, with government-aided mission schools that taught in English. With a majority of, poor, students enrolled in Chinese-medium schools – such as The Chinese High School (now known as the Hwa Chong Family of Schools) – and only the ‘upper-class’ being able to attain a ‘pompous high-class English education’ in English-medium schools – such as Raffles Institution – the social divide was inherently built in the system. Unlike today’s era where Hwa Chong is seen as an ‘elite’ school, three score years ago, any student wanting to learn in Hwa Chong, River Valley, or any other Chinese-medium school could be enrolled. Entrance was without selection, differentiation or discrimination (such education is termed “有教无类” in Mandarin).

Unlike the English-educated who enjoyed good job opportunities upon graduation, job prospects were generally unfavourable for the Chinese-educated. Studying in Chinese-medium schools was seen as ‘gangster-ish’ and a breeding ground for anti-establishment ideals, a notion which carried on from riots of the pre-independence era and the prevalence of Chinese triads. This is similarly reflected in Singaporean filmmaker Jack Neo’s ‘Long Long Time Ago’ and ‘The Diam Diam Era’ film series.

“Nobody bothered to listen to the reports from Hwa Zhong.”

- Tooh Fee San, then-Board Member, Sports Board, Ministry of Education

Tooh would subsequently serve as The Chinese High School’s longest-serving principal, and establish the academic and non-academic prowess Hwa Chong is now known for.

In 1979, with the establishment of the Special Assistant Programme (SAP), the bilingual policy was implemented. Effectively, the medium of teaching for all subjects, barring language education, had to be switched from Chinese to English overnight. Students and teachers alike found it hard to cope, and many Chinese conservatives (and Chinese chauvinists) protested - but as English became the working language in Singapore, parents gradually started to understand and accept the rationale behind the SAP.

“...当时的我们的心情都是非常的坏，情绪也非常的火动；因为在一夜之间就要从一个语言换去另外一个语言。

Translation—At that time, we (Students and Teachers of The Chinese High School) were moody and unhappy; because overnight, we had to change from one language to another (to teach and learn).”

- Mr. Song He Cai (transliteration of 宋和才), Teacher of Mathematics, The Chinese High School, 1963 – 1996

Decades later, the situation has been turned on its head—English is now the first language of Singaporeans and being fluent in Mandarin is now a rarity. SAP schools – with their unique amalgamation of Chinese culture and an English-education – are now the key pillars enshrining, to a certain extent, Chinese values and culture within the Singaporean youth. Hwa Chong, Dunman, River Valley, and other SAP schools were transformed from an unappealing chinese-medium school with unfavourable job prospects to ones which are now fought after vis-à-vis the Bicultural Studies Programme.

“I decided to save the good Chinese language schools as Chinese schools switched into English as the main medium of instruction. The Chinese schools taught students to be bilingual, disciplined, and have self-confidence. The best Chinese schools thus became Special Assistance Programme schools. … We have unified the system but in the process, also preserved some of the values and virtues of the old Chinese school system.”

Founding Prime Minister Lee in My Lifelong Challenge: Singapore’s Bilingual Journey

Do SAP schools foster Chinese elitism? To a certain extent, yes. Do SAP schools only aid a minority of, academically-accomplished, students? To a certain extent, yes. Do SAP schools have an overwhelming underrepresentation of non-Chinese? To a certain extent, yes (albeit there probably is not much of a demand from non-Chinese students). But, it’s, perhaps, the best system in an English-dominated World with an English medium of instruction.

The bilingual policy is one of many, many policies Lee’s Government implemented to ensure linguistic harmony and, by extension, racial harmony in Singapore. Other notable examples include the four nationwide language campaigns: the Speak Good English Movement; the Malay Language Council; the Tamil Language Council; and, most famously, the Speak Mandarin Campaign of the Promote Mandarin Campaign. Beyond that, a plethora of other measures exist: the closure of Nanyang University, the establishment of junior colleges, shifting the Chinese education system from a three-years-high-school-and-three-years-pre-university system to one with four years for the former and two years for the latter, and more.

Did Lee’s methods work for good or for bad? I cite Singaporean Chinese’s sub-par Mandarin fluency (in non-SAP schools, at least) pointing us towards an evident answer. But, concurrently, I, too, cite how the Army no longer bears coloured name tags. At least, now, you can understand the words in this article.

I, as always, thank you for reading.

My words, in this article, are only as good as my comprehension of others’ words. Read for yourself, think for yourself, decide for yourself—don’t take my word for the truth. Be a sceptic, and read—

Bibliography

National . “Report on the Ministry of Education 1978 (the Goh Report).” National Archives of Singapore, 1978. https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/956--1979-02-10.pdf.

National Archives of Singapore. “SPEECH by MINISTER MENTOR LEE KUAN YEW, at PARLIAMENT, 25 NOVEMBER 2004, 4.01 PM.” Nas.gov.sg, 2024. https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/2004112501.htm.

———. “SPEECH by the PRIME MINISTER, MR. LEE KUAN YEW, in PARLIAMENT on 23 FEBRUARY, 1977.” National Archives of Singapore. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/lky19770223.pdf.

National Library Board. “Special Assistance Plan Schools.” www.nlb.gov.sg. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=9648a15d-33a3-4622-b91b-12aec4fe7ee2.

Singapore, National Library Board. “Bilingual Policy.” www.nlb.gov.sg, August 31, 2016. https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=82fbbca5-e8e2-40cc-b944-fbb2bd2367fe.