Chinese in Singapore account for 70%, but why is the official language English?

Yes, in Singapore. Chinese account for 70% of the total population, so why is English the official language of Singapore? I believe many friends have such questions. Today, I will answer your question ~

First of all, Singapore has four official languages, namely English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. Secondly, all primary and secondary school students in Singapore should learn a national language on the basis of existing English education (most Chinese choose Chinese, but some Chinese choose Malay which is relatively easy because they know nothing about Chinese).

One of the reasons for the founding of Singapore is that 70% of the population is Chinese and its economy is developed, which Malaya can't tolerate and has been kicked out. At that time, Chinese was still the common language of Singapore. For example, the very famous Nanyang University (one of the "predecessors" of the National University of Singapore where Nanyang Technological University is located) is taught in Chinese.

However, there is a prime minister that Singaporeans will never forget, Lee Kuan Yew! He comes from an English education background! And Singapore has always belonged to the Commonwealth! Singapore's policies and national defense are inevitably helped and supported by the US imperialists. Therefore, after the Singapore government introduced English as the first language in the 1970s, Nanyang University encountered many obstacles. The only overseas Chinese university in the world finally became history in 1980 (the Singapore government wrote in history that it merged with the University of Singapore to become the National University of Singapore).

Now walking in the street, the Chinese level of young people is not as good as the English level of ordinary people in our street. They just "learn" and use old-fashioned words. This is because Chinese is constantly innovating in the process of use and conforms to the changes of the times. However, Chinese words popular in Singapore have not spread as fast as in Chinese mainland, such as "overbearing president falls in love with me" and "calling him crazily". The spread of words and sentences has a certain lag. For example, we all say "air conditioning" now, but Singapore still uses the word "air conditioning". "Bathing" is still the old version of "shower" in Singapore; In addition, some words were given to other meaning by Singapore in the process of communication, such as "plot against", which means "calculating silently in your mind". Do you feel a little embarrassed?