Many developing nations in Southeast Asia are confronted with the need to create a new national identity, due to the ethnic and cultural diversity present in the societies. The conflict faced by these new multi ethnic states, like Singapore, is the conflict of one’s loyalty to the ethnic community, and also loyalty to the wider community.
The period after Singapore’s separation from Malaysia in 1965 saw much discussion about the Singaporean identity. There was not, in the 1960s and 70s, a common Singaporean identity but there should be. It was thought that the Singaporean identity would not emerge spontaneously but had to be created by policies and campaigns.
The Singaporean identity seemed to focus on meritocracy, where Singaporeans used their talents successfully in the global community yet be able to stay true to one’s roots and Asian values. Singaporeans are to be modern and cosmopolitan and yet retain Asian traditions.
An example of how language is used as a tool to create the Singapore identity is the example of the Speak Good Mandarin campaign. It is not a new campaign, and I feel that it is not really about the language per se, but is really about preserving the Chinese culture.
The government gives the reasons that as Chinese, we need to have a sense of our roots and that the rich Chinese heritage should be protected, and that it will be difficult for the Chinese culture to continue without the language. Also, the values that are inculcated as a result of that culture are encouraged, for example, Confucian values have worked well in Singapore all these years.
However, there are some assumptions made by the ruling party here in promoting Mandarin, and that is the assumption of Chinese culture as unchanging, and the need for it to be preserved. But the fact is culture is evolving all the time, and there might even be a new language in the future. The other assumption is that if we did not keep our Chinese culture, we would be losing our own culture and eventually has no culture at all. However, I believe that everyone has a culture, and the emphasis on this campaign elevates the Chinese culture above other cultures.
There is a great difficulty of reconciling the fact of being Chinese and also a Singaporean. To be a Singaporean, the government has encouraged us to have blended identities yet remain separate. What I mean is this: Each race is expected to preserve their own traditions, and tolerance of other races keeps this in check. The Chinese will forever remain Chinese and the Malay will remain Malay forever.
There is this distinction that keeps every race apart, yet at the same time, to be Singaporean is to be this cosmopolitan person with a blend of various cultural influences brought by the different migrant communities. The leaders of the ruling party have often rejected the ideology of a melting pot, where all the races were to retain their distinct languages, religions and traditions.
This campaign alienates other ethnic minorities and strengthens race consciousness among Singaporeans, mainly because this campaign focuses mainly on the Chinese.
The general language policy of Singapore can be described as multilingualism, which states that all four official languages are to be treated as equal. However, it is arguable whether these languages are equal. English has become a unifying language on an economic level. According to Stewart (1968), language policies of some nation states fall into two categories. The first is to eliminate linguistic diversity, and assimilating all ethnic minorities into a national culture. The second is to be tolerant of cultural diversity and reflects cultural pluralism, which is adopted in Singapore today.
Although English was to function as the lingua franca in many areas, the challenge here is that while it is important to have attachments to one’s ethnic tradition, this may hinder the development of a new identity. Therefore, bilingualism as a policy was used to provide some cohesiveness.
The other Mother Tongues like Mandarin, Malay and Tamil are languages thought to instil values in Singaporeans and are called ‘moral compasses’. With the stabilisation from Asian values, a Singaporean would be able to select the positive influences of Western culture and be able to reject negative influences. The theory of culture and identity led to the efforts to teach mother tongues in schools and to use them to further moral education.
By maintaining economic development through the use of English, the role of language in Singapore is to create an attachment among Singaporeans to the country and at the same time, retain the traditional values through the use of Mother Tongues.
National Identity in Singapore
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