The difference between Singapore English and British English?

Question

Can anyone answer the difference between Singapore English and British English?
For example: Accent, grammar, usage, etc.
Compare to Singaporeans and Hong Kongers, which one has a higher English level?

Answer 1

Singapore's English foundation comes from the British that colonised Malaya ( malaysia, singapore and borneo isles ), so the usage of it should be the same, barring the accent.

The only difference is in Singapore... there is the addition of the mysterious words "Lah", "mah" ,"leh", "wa lau" and couple of others which somehow only the locals of that region seems to comprehend, to everyone else its a huge mystery.

Answer 2

Residents in Singapore are pretty good in formal writing. However, when come to informal conversation, you can easily feel their uneasiness.

Also, when you read something like "...please revert to my previous email...", you have a high chance that it comes from a Singaporean. Revert is not the "revert" entry found in the Oxford dictionary as far as Singaporeans are concerned.

Another hint that tells a Singaporean apart is when you find them write "... I did a lot of visitation during the recent Chinese New Year...", and "...I normally do my marketing on Sunday...". Visitation and marketing take on different meanings in Singapore.

My conclusion is:
Singaporeans in general understand English much better although there is still some way to go in terms of expressing their thoughts in the language verbally, especially in informal settings that have English speakers from other countries.

Answer 3

Is there such a thing as British English that is commonly understood? To quote prof Higgins '"Oh, why can't the English learn to.....set a good example to people whose English is painful to your ears." Having said that, find out from your varsity friends when is the next linguistics 101 lecture, try to sneak in. If I recall, Singlish is not pidgin, but creole, it has its counterparts too, like Malglish (Malaysia), Japlish (Japan of course), and of course the ever hilarious Chinglish of Mainland China. Some called it a bastardized form of English and discourage it. I find it fascinating, especially the 'pure' form spoken by uneducated people of Eurasian origins, nowadays you hear the leh, mehs, knnccb sounds borrowed from chinese dialects.