This is Singapore

Singapore tops the list of “safest country for solo travellers”, with Norway in 2nd place:
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/solo-travel-safe-dangerous-destinations-wegoplaces-gallup-singapore-venezuela-a8751926.html
Not bad for my two “home countries”.:wink:

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I though you could claim two “home countries” as well?? (Even bilingualism)

Why is Singapore so rich???
Here is one opinion on why:

Actually the short answer is very simple; stability, good governance and very low corruption.
Of course there are a lot of things that is behind these three main reasons, but that all follows from the above; Rule of Law, high standard in education, health care and social cohesion.
Other factors are; low crime and racial harmony.
None of this come by itself, nor was it inherited from the former colonial Master, Britain. (Except English Common Law and Westminster System of Government)

If residencies in excess of one year qualify as home countries, I can claim 4 and a handful of others consisting of several months. In languages, quadrilinguist as well as cunnilinguist when the occasion presents itself.

Maybe 49 years qualify?? At least I feel like Singapore is my second home country.
(Feels more like “home” than Norway actually)
Quadriliguist that is impressive!!! May I ask which four languages those are??

See PM.

From another thread:

I don’t know how long you have been in Singapore, but your facts are wrong.

The change to English as the language media of education started already in the mid-1970’s. Native English speaking teachers were brought in to teach, even at public Primary Schools, to ensure proper pronunciation.

Of course the elite schools, (ACS, St,Josephs etc.) which was run by various Churches, used English long before that, while elite Chinese schools (Hwa Chong, CHS etc.) used Mandarin.

The “Speak Mandarin” campaign came in late 1970’s. Before that most schools were race and clan based, using Chinese dialects, Malay and Tamil as the media of teaching.
The various Chinese dialect groups had their own schools run by various Clans under an umbrella organisation:

Until the 1970’s most people lived in separate Kampongs based on their race and Chinese dialect group. Basar Malay and Pidgin English was the only way they could communicated between groups.

Today most Singaporean are living in HDB flats with a mix of different races in each neighbourhood and nearly all are able to speak English, hence the need for such pidgin languages should be gone.

But surprisingly enough, a special Singapore English, (or Singlish) has developed in the last 50 years and is having a revival. It is commonly used in informal conversation between Singaporeans, while more structured English is used in formal setting, such as in education, business and administration.

Don’t know your Singlish? Well, here is a basic guide for ang mohs:

I taught a class of a dozen or so folks in their twenties in Singapore in '85. Mixed Chinese and Malaysian ancestry. They all spoke UK English, but my ability to understand them ranged from easy even on the telephone (one or two) through easy but not easy on the phone, to one young man from KL who I could not understand at all. Any single word he said was clear as crystal; but put them in a sentence and he dropped all but the leading and trailing consonants in the sentence.

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singlish is only spoken by young ones, older ones can speak English properly.
Yes there are Singlish terms but what I mean is pronunciation so bad you cannot understand them.
English for government and business was agreed at federation, and yes old school English teachers who were native speakers of English came and taught in many schools so most older people can speak English perfectly.
(Some missed out if they went to Chinese schools, hence some cab drivers that cant really speak English, but thats rare.)
Then the english teachers became locals and that was the end of that.
Speaking Madarin didnt help as it clips the start and end off the worlds which destroys English. The Cantonese, Teo Chew speakers do far better as that language goes up and down like English… You ask a typical bad speaker in Singapore what dialect they can speak and it either nothing or mandarin
You can spot a young Singaporean overseas once you hear them speak.
Its no secret, I have a friend in the ministry of education and they know its an issue.
here are some other opinions…
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=youtube+bad+english+singaporeans&t=ffnt&ia=videos&iai=PAy-xRLl2Ik&pn=1&iax=videos

https://sgtalk.org/mybb/Thread-Jim-Rogers-Singaporeans-“Speak-Bad-English-and-Bad-Mandarin”?page=9

My favourit Singapore breakfast; Kampong eggs, Kopi-O kosong and Kaya Toast:

Singlish is not just bad or broken English, it is basically a simplified English mixed with words and phrases of mainly Hokkien and Malay origin (some cantonese, hakka and hainanese may be thrown in as well)
The Government have tried to suppress the use of Singlish since it is not easily understood by non-Singaporean, although a similar “language” is spoken by some Chinese Malaysians.

I found this video that explains it much better then I can:

PS> I may remembered wrong on when the change to English as compulsory media of education and the “Speak Mandarin” campaign started. (Checking)

There are lots of misconceptions about Singapore, both in the Western world and among Asians.
Here is but a few being rebutted by a Brit:

ombugge
the confusion with speak mandarin is it was taught in most schools but that was dependent on your race as you had to speak 2 languages.
Later they had a big speak mandarin marketing campaign, then mother tougue was lost , then tried to restart so now the result is poor mandarin, poor english, especially from the Chinese

Just Left Singapore yesterday after being there for around 4 weeks, possibly the safest country i have ever visited. I really enjoyed the area, even got to play tourist for a couple days. Have to head back there again next week for sea trials.

yes it very nice to live somewhere that a 5 year old can walk to the bus stop and use public transport to get to school without a problem.

Is Singlish about to be accepted as an official language in Singapore?:
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PS> There is a tendency to pump that button like they believe it is hydraulic driven, not electric signal lights.

Singapore is again in top spot as the most expensive city in the world to live in for expats:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-19/these-are-the-world-s-most-expensive-cities

PS> This is the cost for high living expats, renting luxurious condominium apartments, driving cars and eating in expensive restaurants, not for locals living in owned HDB flats, travelling by MRT or bus and eating in hawker centres. But even for Singaporeans and PRs, Singapore is an expensive place to live compared to other countries in the region. The higher wages in Singapore compensate for that though.

those higher wages are causing issues re companies reducing staff in Singapore, as its cheaper to move them anywhere else in Asia these days, no fault of the locals but they are the most expensive staff in Asia now

The Jewel at Changi Airport is now open for you: