Standard Singaporean Mandarin

Standard Singaporean Mandarin is the standard form of Mandarin used in Singapore. It is used in all official Chinese media including all television programs on Channel 8 and Channel U as well as various radio stations. The written form of Chinese used in Singapore is also based on this standard.

History

Mandarin has been used as a lingua franca in Singapore alongside Hokkien for many decades after the Second World War. Before the standardisation of Singaporean Mandarin in the year 1979, Mandarin was largely used in its colloquial form which is based on the Beijing speech, with infusions from various southern Non-Mandarin Chinese languages such as Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hainanese as well as Hakka. This colloquial form of Mandarin served as a bridge between speakers of various mutually unintelligible southern Chinese languages.

After Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew announced and kickstart the Speak Mandarin Campaign in 1979, the Promote Mandarin Council started research on Mandarin standardisation based on case studies in Mainland China and Taiwan.

Differences between Standard Singaporean Mandarin and other forms of Standard Mandarin

• A table comparing standard phrases used in Singapore, Mainland China and Taiwan.

See Also

• Singaporean Mandarin
• Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin
• Standard Malaysian Mandarin
• Colloquial Malaysian Mandarin