Multi-Culturalism – a phrase oft-used in reference to Sg

It is important to look at the make-up of the population if you’re going to have any idea of how Singapore works, its positives and pressure points alike. The population of Singapore including non-residents is approximately 5 million, with Chinese people forming an ethnic majority with large populations of Malay, Indian and other people. According to government statistics, the population of Singapore as of 2009 was 4.99 million, of whom 3.73 million were Singaporean citizens and permanent residents. Government facts are always helpful to get your hands on, regardless of how much massaging other hands may have done to them.

Interestingly, to combat a falling birth rate, the government is encouraging foreigners to immigrate to Singapore and have children. See my thoughts later on who is driving the country forward; is it the locals or the foreign workers? According to the collective intellect at Wikipedia, various Chinese groups form 74% of Singapore's residents, Malays 13%, Indians 9%, while other groups form the rest. Reflecting this, you have four official languages; English, Malay, Tamil, and Chinese (Mandarin), all prominently displayed on all public signs which I think is positively inclusive.


Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) signage - the underground, subway, metro...

Spot the difference

Singapore is indeed a multi-racial and an effective multi-lingual nation. The national language of Singapore is Malay for historical reasons, and it is used in the national anthem, "Majulah Singapura” which still plays, gloriously, on the free-to-air channels at close of scheduling every night I believe.
English is the operating language of Singapore and has been heavily promoted as such since the country's independence, principally with the aim of allowing Singapore to run on an even playing field with the business world outside of Asia. However, as I am becoming more familiar with it, most Singaporeans speak a localised hybrid form of English known as Singlish ("Singapore English"), which incorporates vocabulary and grammar from Standard English, various Chinese dialects, Malay, and Indian languages. It is one of the things that I have immediately fallen in love with, the wit and humour that is used to create many of the Singlish phrases that are in wide use.
While Mandarin is a more pure form of Chinese, you’re more likely to come across a regional dialect because most Singaporeans are descended from immigrants who came from the southern regions of China where other dialects were spoken, such as Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka and Hainanese. Bahasa Malay is generally spoken by Singapore's Malay community, while Tamil is spoken by about 60% of Singapore's Indian community. Indian languages such as Malayalam and Hindi are also spoken in Singapore.
As you can imagine, it’s a buzzing place with all manner of chat going on around you when you walk down the street. Moving from Little India, to Chinatown to Raffles Place is like taking part in a big language class.
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