A Sociolinguistic History of Early Identities in Singapore

Inclusion, exclusion, and racial identity in Singapore's language education system

“…Since its founding as a British port in 1819, Singapore has consistently retained a multiracial, multilingual character, with an identity rooted in this pluralism (Chew, ; Goh, ). Today, Singapore's citizen population of 3.4 million is generally conceived of as consisting of a Chinese majority (comprising approximately three quarters of the population), Malay and Indian minorities, and a diverse group of ‘others’ (Singapore Department of Statistics, ).…”

“…Chinese immigrants to Singapore, for example, came primarily from regions of southern China that were perceived as culturally and linguistically distinctive (Chew, : 47). These groups spoke a range of southern Chinese varieties (primarily Hokkien, Teochew, and Cantonese), and established separate schools that educated children in these varieties (PuruShotam, : 43).…”

“…Individuals of this heritage are descended from immigrants from regions within both modern Malaysia and Indonesia. While some spoke Malay, many immigrants spoke other Malayo‐Polynesian languages (e.g., Javanese), and initially conceived of themselves as belonging to those ethnic groups, rather than the Malay race (Chew, : 38–43). As in the case of the Chinese community, a unified Malay identity gradually emerged in the context of intermarriage, cultural assimilation, and the rise of Malay nationalism (PuruShotam, : 40; Chew, : 38–43).…”

The dynamics of multilingualism in contemporary Singapore

“…The linguistic archaeology of Singapore's past has only been partly charted by previous sociolinguistic accounts (Gupta ; Chew ). The pre‐colonial history of Singapura (‘Lion City’ in Malay) indicates its emergence as a port dates back as far as the second century ce , and that a prosperous trading city was in existence on the island in the fourteenth century.…”

“…Its role as a trading hub was superseded by Malacca from the fifteenth century onwards, and by the time the British arrived in the region the island was under the control of the Johore Sultanate. The historical accounts of the pre‐colonial period indicate that for centuries the island had served as a meeting place for Arabs, Chinese, Malays, traders from the Indonesian islands and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, and that Singapore had a history of multicultural, multilingual and multiracial contact for many centuries before the British arrived (Chew ).…”