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Typically, when people see that I’m Asian and Singaporean, the following conversation would ensue.
“Did you learn English back in Singapore?”
“We learn everything in English in school,” I would say. “English is our main language, while our mother tongue is our second language.”
Yup, Singapore is a bilingual society.
All lessons in school, with the exception of our mother tongue classes, are taught in English. Our mother tongue could be Chinese, Malay, or Tamil, and etc. depending on our ethnicity or preference.
I have always felt lucky to have grown up in Singapore. It’s one of a few countries in Asia that uses English as the primary language. Knowing my level of discipline, I might never have been able to develop it into a proficient level on my own.
Before Singapore gained independence in 1965, we were a British colony. Bilingualism was one of the legacies left behind, along with driving on the left side.
It was a good thing the founding father of Singapore, a shrewd man with great foresight, saw the usefulness of bilingualism with English as the primary language too. He retained the bilingual mode of education, shaping Singapore as we know it today.
