With minor differences this is the accepted version that appears in K.K. Tam (ed) Englishization in Asia. Hong Kong Open University Press , 2009 (Chapter 3, pp. 46-69). 1 Englishization as an Aspect of Building the Singapore Identity ♣ L.H. Wee lianhee@hkbu.edu.hk May 2007 ABSTRACT This paper argues that Englishization must be understood as the combined processes of Anglicization and Indigenization. In Anglicization, non-English elements are made English-like while in Indigenization, English is used in a way to fit into local non- English contexts. Using Singapore English as a case study, one sees how Englishization took place in Singapore by melting together all the ingredient languages that have found their way into this tiny island. Some languages are local to the Southeast Asian region, some came from the Southern provinces of China, some from India, and English came with colonization. This provided all the fuel for the making of Singapore English that is to become an important part of Singapore identity because it inherits all that is valuable in the component cultures. Thus, while Singapore’s survival depends directly on her ability to be part of the global culture, Singapore cannot give up SgE if she is to maintain her identity. The conflict between cultural preservation and global communication can be easily resolved if one recognizes that speaking “perfect” English is not the only way to communicate with the rest of the world. Since all languages have different registers, one can simply use an acrolectal variety of SgE for international communication and more basal varieties for casual purposes. This solution is not new and is in fact practiced by all Singaporeans consciously or unconsciously. However, it is rarely stated explicitly as a way of balancing the apparently conflicting needs of cultural preservation and global communication. 1. Introduction This paper looks at the linguistic aspect of the formation of Singapore identity. This is particularly interesting not only because Singaporeans can be easily identified by the way they speak but also because Singaporeans have mixed reactions about their linguistic endowment. To foreigners, Singaporeans are highly multi-lingual, having proficiency in at least English and a combination of the Chinese languages, the Indian languages and also Malay. This is not to say that the average Singaporean speaks so many languages, but he would certainly have access and familiarity with all or some of these languages. This gives rise to the impression that the average Singaporean is effectively multilingual even though native competence may not have been attained for all the languages that Singaporean claims to speak. In other words, if person A speaks only English, person B only Mandarin, then even if person C speaks English half as well as A and Mandarin half as well as B, C will be revered by both A and B as an effective multilingual. The average Singaporean is like person C. Among Singaporeans, there is increasing awareness that their competence in all the languages they lay claim to do not match up to the standards of standard varieties. In other words, Singaporeans do not speak English as well as the British, the Americans or the Australians, neither do Singaporeans speak Mandarin as well as the Chinese. For example, the typical Singaporean often finds himself in the awkward position of having to substitute words from one language with those from another. Whether one sees this as deliberate code-switching or unconscious code-mixing, there is something to be said about the extra effort needed by Singaporeans to avoid having