Mother Tongue Language Analysis

With a history that is comprised of colonial dominance, struggles for independence and economic success, combined with the coexistence of different cultures and races on its land, Singapore has always been on a quest to find its identity and culture. Much of what has been achieved today can be attributed to the pragmatism of its leaders. The state chases after the image of a modern, cosmopolitan city yet still conservative in some aspects and still hold on to asserting our local identity. Thus, the result is a culture that presents itself as a tension between stepping up to fit in among the globalized cities yet still wanting to retain a sense of its local roots. All of this happens within the capitalist landscape of the state, which prioritizes

Multiracialism is often hailed as one of the pillars that support Singapore’s existence as a society. In short, it is defined as the “equality of political representation and social acceptance in a society made up of various races.” After independence in 1965, the coexistence of different races and cultures became something that the government greatly emphasized. It was and is still being paraded through various forms such as education, media, and policies. The most straightforward example is that it is required of students to study both English and their Mother Tongue Language in school. Born out of sheer pragmatism, it is a requirement for students to be bilingual in order to be able to communicate with each other as well as retain the roots of their individual ethnicity. Another example is the implementation of Social Studies as a mandatory subject so as to introduce and raise awareness of a simplified version of multiracialism and multiculturalism at a young age. The assimilation of news and entertainment content such as radio stations, magazines and television programs cater to all four main languages of the state: English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. The Housing Development Board (HDB) implements quotas so as to prevent the formation of racial enclaves in a specific area or neighborhood . And of course, the most pertinent example would be the yearly affair of the state’s National Day Parade,

It is only recently that the arts has an important place in the nation’s development as it is seen as being able to contribute as an economic benefit for the country. The state’s lofty ambition to transform itself into a ‘Global City for the Arts’ reflects very much on the attitude of the state towards art and the desire to shed its image as a “cultural desert”. Policies and plans have been put in place since the 1990s as a reification of culture. For example, the Renaissance City Plan has been laid out since the 1990s, highlighting how culture is a necessity for the country’s economy and tourism to flourish ‘culture as a means of image branding’ . However, this is also a prominent example as to how the government has been commoditizing the arts and “industrializing creativity and innovations for economic gains” . The culture of pragmatism stretches out as far as the arts, where investments are made if they can generate economic benefit for the state in return. The launch of Esplanade Theatres on the Bay served a dual purpose for the arts in Singapore. On one hand, the whopping S$600 million spent on building it is justified by how it is a platform for the local arts yet at the same time, its facilities are a bait to entice