In Singapore, English is a co-official language
together with Mandarin Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. It is the
main language used in government, law, education, business,
and international communication. Since 1987 English has become
the sole teaching medium in primary, secondary, and tertiary
education. A high percentage of the approximate 3.3 million
population know English, to varying degrees. The variety can
be broadly divided into two main forms, a standard variety
close to RP-accented British English, and an informal
colloquial variety influenced by Chinese and Malay, which is
referred to as 'Singlish'.
Reading Crewe, W. (ed.)
(1977) The English Language in Singapore. Singapore:
Eastern Universities Press. Foley, J. (ed.)
(1988) The New Englishes: The Case of Singapore.
Singapore: University Press. Platt, J. & H.
Weber (1980) English in Singapore and Malaysia.
Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University
Press. Deterding, D. (2007) Singapore English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.