Why doesn't Singapore make Chinese the national language and English the national language?

Singapore was originally a part of the Federation of Malaysia, but for some special reasons, Singapore was kicked out of the Federation of Malaysia and had to declare its independence and become an independent country. The situation in newly independent Singapore is not optimistic. As an emerging country, it urgently needs to be recognized by other countries in the world. As an island country, Singapore's fresh water resources are very limited, and it needs a lot of fresh water to develop. Singapore can only humbly negotiate with other big countries to obtain fresh water.

Although Singapore was in a bad situation when it was first established, its geographical position is very superior. Singapore is located in the eastern port of Malacca Strait, connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. At the same time, Singapore, which has many natural ports, develops the economy of ship call and transshipment, so Singapore's economy has gradually developed.

Singapore and China are geographically close, so many China businessmen choose to be praised when Chinese mainland has not implemented reform and opening up? Four little dragons in Asia? Singapore, one of the countries, is engaged in commercial development. China people have developed their economy and settled down in Singapore. Chinese have made great contributions to the rapid economic development of Singapore. Nearly 70% people in Singapore are Chinese, but the national language of Singapore is not Chinese, but English, the language of western countries. What is the reason?

1. English was chosen as the national language of Singapore.

The national language of Singapore is English rather than Chinese. In fact, this decision was made at the urging of one person, that is, Lee Kuan Yew. Lee Kuan Yew was once the Prime Minister of Singapore and the founding head of Singapore. As the supreme leader of Singapore, he has held many positions, had many important feelings and made indelible contributions to the development of Singapore, so he himself has been praised for it? Father of Singapore? .

In fact, Lee Kuan Yew is a Singaporean Chinese. As a China person, Chinese is definitely more cordial. Coupled with the reality of the proportion of Chinese in Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew chose English instead of Chinese as the national language of Singapore. This naturally has his reasons.

After World War II, as an important entrepot trade center during World War II, Singapore's economy entered a state of stagnation. Singapore has a small land area, a single economic structure, underdeveloped industries and no industrial base at all. When British troops left Singapore, without British support, Singapore's already stagnant economic situation became even more critical, and the social situation in Singapore gradually warmed up.

In order to stabilize social order, promote economic development and get rid of the current situation that Singapore's economy can only rely on entrepot trade, Lee Kuan Yew can only make a very important decision to declare English as the national language of Singapore, regardless of the fact that 70% of Singapore's nationals are Chinese.

Many people still can't understand this decision made by Lee Kuan Yew. Obviously, more than 70% of the population in Singapore are Chinese. If you choose Chinese as the national language, isn't it more convenient to govern?

As a leader of a country, Lee Kuan Yew doesn't think so. Lee Kuan Yew never gave a clear explanation and answer about the reasons for choosing English as the national language. It was not until the World Outlook written by Lee Kuan Yew himself was published in various countries that this question was answered.

Second, the reasons for choosing English as the national language of Singapore

There are three main reasons, one is economic, the other is political and the other is historical. First of all, Lee Kuan Yew believes that the country that ruled Singapore in the past was Britain, a typical western capitalist country. This country has also established a capitalist system in Singapore, which is different from the socialist system in China.

English is the official language in western capitalist countries. If Singapore uses Chinese as the national language, it will be at a disadvantage in communication with western countries.

This is not conducive to the economic development of Singapore, and the newly established Singapore needed economic development most at that time. Taking English as the national language and implementing the preferential policy of attracting investment can attract a large number of western capitalists to invest in Singapore, establish a large number of industries and learn from the advanced experience of western countries' economic development, thus establishing a good industrial base in Singapore.

As an island country, Singapore has a small land area and a serious shortage of fresh water resources, and its economy is largely dependent on other countries. Lee Kuan Yew believes that this situation can be changed to some extent as long as a good industrial heritage is established and Singapore's previous port economic development model is shaken off. At that time, English had become a worldwide language. Taking English as the national language can facilitate Singaporean students to study abroad. One of the reasons is that these students can turn to serve Singapore's economic development after studying advanced science and technology abroad.

The second reason is that in the world at that time, due to the coexistence of two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, countries in the world were mainly divided into two camps: the capitalist camp and the Oriental Group. If Singapore, which is a capitalist country, chooses Chinese as the national language, it will arouse the suspicion of western countries and get no support from capitalist countries. However, due to its own capitalist system, it cannot enter the Oriental Group. Therefore, under such circumstances, in order to distance ourselves from the socialist country China and enter the capitalist camp, we have gained something. At Lee Kuan Yew's insistence, Singapore can only choose English as the national language.

Partly because of historical reasons. As we all know, ancient China was the political, economic and cultural center of East Asia and Southeast Asia. Ancient China established a self-centered tribute system, and ancient Singapore was an important part of this system. In modern times, China declined, the tributary system collapsed, and Singapore also broke away from this system.

After the collapse of the tributary system, many countries have chosen to ignore or forget the history of being tributary countries, such as Japan and South Korea, and Singapore is no exception. After the founding of New China, Singapore, as an independent country, did not want to remind people that it had been attached to China. Therefore, even though nearly 70% of Singapore's nationals were Han Chinese at that time, Singapore chose English as the national language in order not to remind people of ancient history.

Summary:

It is not without reason that Lee Kuan Yew chose English as the national language. He did a lot of thinking before finally making this decision. The results also proved that his efforts were not ineffective. The decision made by Lee Kuan Yew at that time saved Singapore and laid the foundation for its future development. Singapore's economy has developed rapidly and become? Four little dragons in Asia? One becomes a developed country worthy of the name.