ABSTRACT

This article assesses whether Baba Malay is an endangered language and its potential for long term transmission in Singapore. Along with the other non-official and minority languages, Baba Malay has suffered a rapid decline, not least because of the official language policy of post-independent Singapore (with its emphasis on ‘English-knowing bilingualism’, Pakir, 1991). As the Baba Malay speakers are ‘Chinese’ in ethnic identification, their children progressively entering the school system had to learn ‘Chinese’ (that is, Mandarin) as their second school language, after English, the medium of instruction ‘for all’. In twenty-first century Singapore, a rapidly dwindling group of Baba Malay speakers can still be found in the wider speech community, but how are they resisting (and simultaneously absorbing) the inevitable forces of globalization, technology, and modernization and the rapid rate of language change in the country? The current status of Baba Malay, and the current size of the Baba (also known as ‘Straits Chinese’ and ‘Peranakan’) community are examined here, with special reference to language maintenance and revival measures, such as those introduced and enacted by local community groups (for example, the Gunong Sayang Association, Singapore and the Peranakan Association of Singapore).