Hokkien in Penang. Sounds very different.
I just thought of an analogy to American slavery.
The English-educated Chinese had all the best jobs but were yes ma’am to the British. They’re the equivalent of the house negro. They defended their slavemasters while the field negro complained.
The Chinese-educated Chinese didn’t have good job prospects upon graduation, but were more confident in their future. They’re the equivalent of the field negro.
So, I finally went to Singapore last week. All together I spent less than 3 days there, but this is my impression from interacting with Grab drivers, food vendors and shop keepers.
Most of North East Asian looking Singaporeans I interacted with spoke perfect Mandarin. Sure, some of them have a slight distinct SAE accent, but they are still extremely comfortable holding a conversation in Mandarin at near native level or above, even those in their 30s to 40s.
Before they’ve clocked that you speak Mandarin, they would speak a bit of English, which once again, maybe with slight local accent, but doesn’t mean they are not speaking at native level, and as soon as you give away that you speak Mandarin, it’s all Mandarin all the time. I had one driver of Cantonese descent, perfect Mandarin. Most of the Hokkien descents also spoke perfect Mandarin. Many of them play Mandarin music in the car. Some play Buddhist mantra videos on their car that are obviously made in Taiwan.
So, I dunno. Unless bilingualism is failing for kids under 20, from what I see Mandarin is actually doing pretty well in Singapore.
There was a young obviously Hokkien driver, last name Ng (黃 in Taigi and Hokkien), who seemed to understand my family’s conversation in Taigi, but only spoke perfect Mandarin with us. There was an old guy, who switched to Hokkien the moment he heard us speaking Taigi, and said his ancestors came from Kimmen. However, he began spouting CCP propaganda like China is the next super power, hating the Japanese, wanting to exterminate the Japanese, Taiwanese independence advocates are all Japanese and should be shot, and Hong Kong hasn’t changed one bit after the 97 transfer. I sort of countered his arguments by throwing in a line after each absurd statement in a calm and joking fashion. Saying that Hong Kong used to hold huge Tiananmen Square Massacre memorials every year, but they are not allowed to do that anymore somehow refrained him a little bit.
Anyway, Singapore feels like an interesting mirror to Taiwan from my short experience.
I totally agree with the “interesting mirror” analysis.
To its credit, Singapore has better Indian food though.
Guy
Well… There are two Mas India in Hsinchu now, they are pretty good. Indian food can be cheaper in Singapore for sure.
So, how good is the English of the people there? Not so good? Or didn’t you find out, because you spoke Mandarin or Hokkien most of the time?
I walked past a few older guys working and conversing in real Singlish, with the grammar and everything. Everyone I spoke to are fluent in English. I think the ratio of speakers I interacted with having a more stereotypical accent is lower than those that speaking English with hard to place accents. If I have to describe it, it’d be like really suburban Australian accents that leans just a bit more American. As opposed to Hong Kong, where people who really can speak English often sound pretty RP.
How likely is it that Taiwan will catch up with Singapore in terms of bilingualism (Mandarin/English) I wonder. I sometimes come across elementary school students here who are pretty good at speaking English and are not shy to talk to foreigners like they used to be in the past. I kind of see some improvement in that regard thanks to parents and schools pushing for classes in English.
No chance of catching up in terms of English unless most people are also using English outside of English classrooms and Buxiban.
English in Singapore has the same status as Mandarin in Taiwan, so it’s not a surprise that people spoke decent English in general. What shocked me is that broken-Mandarin seems greatly exaggerated.
If I could pitch in: based on two visits to Singapore in 2026, I’d say roughly in line with what you could expect in Anglophone Canada.
In both places, English is a common language. In both places, you will also find heaps of immigrants from the PRC speaking mainlander Mandarin, with varying levels of English.
For people who grew up in Singapore / Anglophone Canada, their English is of course fine.
Guy
Ong Yi Ting’s English accent is basically what I hear most in Singapore.
Ong Yi Ting’s youtube channel has more of the Hokkien shorts. Her full videos are in Mandarin or English. I know most of her shorts are on tiktok, but I’m not gonna use a Chinese platform.
Malaysian (Penang) and Indonesian (Medan) Hokkien speakers.
I wonder without subtitles how much speakers of Taigi could understand.
Everyone is taught English in Singapore and then they pick a second language.
How they learn and use English is a different matter all together. Thus, Singlish.
More likely that the CCP will take over the island first
China will take over Singapoore?!? 
Guy
Lán-lâng-uē speaker from the Philippines