The Decline of Pan-Indian Identity and the Development of Tamil Cultural Separatism in Singapore, 1856–1965

The other mother tongues of Singaporean Indians

“…While currently the language of 54 per cent of the Indians, the choice of Tamil as representative of the community was historically affected by political concerns domestically as well as in the region. Scholars (PuruShotam, 2000;Rai, 2009;Solomon, 2012) have highlighted that the decision for Tamil was influenced by 'a gathering momentum of Tamil cultural revivalism' (PuruShotam, 2000, pp. 45-46) in the southern states of post-independent India grappling with resistance to the adoption of Hindi as the national language.…”

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

“…While the majority of Indian immigrants to Singapore in the colonial period came from Tamil Nadu, significant populations hailed from a range of other Indian states and spoke a variety of languages (Chew, : 48–51). Tamil language education first came to prominence in Singapore as a result of Tamil social reform organizations begun in the 1930s that promoted literacy; the institutions and political influence established as a result of this movement are what led Tamil to be selected as Singapore's official Indian language (Solomon, ). Today, 37.7% of Singapore's Indian population speaks primarily Tamil at home, 12% speaks another Indian language, while 44.3% speaks primarily English (Singapore Department of Statistics, ).…”

Televised minority beauties

“…While Tamil is not an accurate language indicator of the heterogeneous Indian languages spoken in Singapore, 2 the rise in Tamil consciousness may be traced back to the formative years of the nation-state. Exploring the Tamil reform movement that was put into motion by G Sarangapany in colonial Malaya, John Solomon highlights how the working-class Tamil-speaking majority successfully carved a Tamil cultural separatism that remains relevant today (Solomon, 2012: 269). This pan-Tamil identity matched well with the Singapore’s government vision of multiculturalism that gave this otherwise marginalized working-class community constitutional rights as an officially recognized ethnic minority.…”