Introduction: A Sociolinguistic history of early identities in Singapore -- Racial Identities: Plurality in the Making -- Regional Identities: Separate but Undivided -- Religious Identities: Syncretic and Inclusive -- Orthographical Identities: Change and Ideology -- Individual Identities: Language Choice and the Use of Lingua Francas -- Hybrid Identities: Case Studies of Attraction and Engagement -- Intergenerational Identities: Negotiating Solidarity and Plurality -- Language, Power and Political Identities. The 1969 Singapore General Elections -- National Identities: The Reordering of Pluralities
Summary
'Pulau Panjan', 'Po Luo Chung', 'Pulau Ujong', 'Lung ₆ya-men', 'Temasek', 'Singapura' are all former names of Singapore and belie its colourful history as the El-Dorado and nexus of Southeast Asia. Who were Singapore's previous multilingual inhabitants? What were the pidgins, creoles and languages that thronged its market places and created its forgotten identities? How did polyglot migrants caught in the throes of an earlier globalization organize their respective identities? What hybrid identities arose from such cross-cultural interactions? This book presents a fascinating history of early identities in Singapore as examined through the retrospective lens of language. A long view has been chosen for its advantage in providing unexpected socio-political and linguistic insights into the long term effects of change and continuity
