In fact, most of the ancestors of Singaporean Chinese came from southern China, such as Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan Province, including Chaoshan people, Cantonese people, Putians, Hainan people, Fuzhou people, Hakka people, etc.

1. How many languages ​​are there in Singapore?

Singapore is an authentic immigrant country, with local residents including Chinese , Malay , Indian and other ethnic groups. Among them, the Chinese population has the dominant proportion, with a proportion of up to 75%.

Why do there are so many Chinese people in a small island in Southeast Asia?

In fact, most of the ancestors of Singaporean Chinese came from southern China, such as Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan Province, including Chaoshan people, Cantonese people, Putian people, Hainan people, Fuzhou people, Hakka people, etc.

Many friends think that since Chinese people have the advantage in numbers, then Chinese must be the local common language?

In fact, this is only half true.

There are 4 official languages ​​in Singapore, namely Malay , Chinese, Tamil and English.

Among them, Malay is Mandarin, English is an administrative term, and the daily common language is mainly English and Chinese. There are also many native Singaporeans who like to speak Singapore English , that is, Singlish .

What is the reason for this?

In fact, Singapore was once part of , and later it was forced to be independent and become a sovereign state. In order to respect the indigenous peoples on the island, the Singapore government uses Malay as Mandarin.

English has also had a long history in Singapore.

First of all, Singapore was a British colony for a long time, so under the influence of politics, English, as a strong language, had a certain impact on the residents of island countries.

Secondly, Singapore's geographical location is called the "maritime transportation hub". In order to facilitate communication among people of different races, Singapore chose to use English as the common language.

In addition, Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew is a Chinese, and when he founded the country, he mainly moved closer to the West and did not establish diplomatic relations with China, so he finally chose "English first".

However, Singapore is still dominated by Chinese people after all, but there are many dialects in Chinese society and are not coordinated. In order to allow local Chinese to communicate more smoothly, Lee Kuan Yew launched the year-round "Promotion of Chinese" in 1979. Although the movement has achieved certain achievements, , in fact, the current Chinese society in Singapore has been divided into two, one is the Chinese-speaking Chinese society and the other is the English-speaking Chinese society.

In other words, English still maintains its position as a strong language, while the use of Chinese is declining.

and above are official statements. Now we are going to the people of Singapore. Let’s take a look at whether Singapore immigrants speak Chinese?

2. Does Singapore immigration speak Chinese?

1. Xiao Zhang, from Fujian, 32 years old, Singapore PR

I think there are not many people speaking Chinese in Singapore now. Whether it is work, government documents or public places, everyone still tends to use English, and in fact, many young people don’t know how to communicate in Chinese.

In addition, we discuss business with customers in the company, unless the other party is a Chinese company, they usually communicate in English.

In recent years, there have been more new immigrants around you. Everyone can speak Chinese in private. This is actually mainly based on communication needs. The Chinese on the other side are of course speaking Chinese, and if foreigners are speaking English, they will speak English in a unified way.

2.Maomao, a Chinese in Singapore, 27 years old,

I am Chinese, my Mandarin level is fine, my parents always speak Cantonese at home, and I am still used to speaking English now.

I remember when I was watching TV shows, I also spoke Chinese, but now I use English.

The Chinese friends around me grew up in Singapore and mostly speak English. Several people think that Chinese is very difficult, haha.

PR friends usually speak in Chinese and English, let’s separate occasions.

3. Xiaolin, 29 years old, Singapore PR

I got a green card in 2019 and have lived in Singapore for six years. Maybe because there are many Chinese in the company, we usually speak Mandarin.

My English level is fine, daily communication is enough. Actually, I think you still need to master English.

After all, Singapore is a bilingual society, and English is an administrative term, which means that the government’s official documents and some official websites use English, so if you can’t speak at all, it will be difficult to integrate into the local society.

This is all about the question of "Does Singapore immigrants speak Chinese?", and we are welcome to send a private message to communicate.