Building Names in Singapore: Multilingualism of a Different Kind
Abstract
There has been much discussion about the ideological or political underpinnings of toponyms, e.g.,
Faraco and Murphy (1997) on Spain, Cohen and Kliot (1992) on the Israeli administered territories,
Nash (1999) on the Irish Republic or Yeo (1992, 1996) on Singapore. The Israeli, Irish and
Singaporean examples are different from the Spanish one in that the struggle is also expressed
linguistically through the form of the names chosen. Yeo (1996) notes the preference for street names
based on the Malay language in the 1960s as an expression of Singaporean political independence. In
this paper, I examine the names given to residential buildings (condominiums) in Singapore: what
kinds of names are used and the reasons for any patterns discerned. While street names are usually
tightly controlled by municipal boards, building names are usually given freer rein, although they
would still need governmental approval. Building names would therefore reflect the attitudes of the
commercially powerful rather than those of the politically powerful. In the context of the Singaporean
state ideology of multilingualism (Singapore has four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin
Chinese and Tamil) and multiracialism (and therefore multiculturalism), it might therefore be expected
that the multilingual nature of the community might also be expressed in the building names accorded.
The official languages are clearly not equal based on their degree of representation. Also of note is the
presence of languages such as French and Spanish which do not form a part of the normal linguistic
repertoire of a Singaporean.
Faraco and Murphy (1997) on Spain, Cohen and Kliot (1992) on the Israeli administered territories,
Nash (1999) on the Irish Republic or Yeo (1992, 1996) on Singapore. The Israeli, Irish and
Singaporean examples are different from the Spanish one in that the struggle is also expressed
linguistically through the form of the names chosen. Yeo (1996) notes the preference for street names
based on the Malay language in the 1960s as an expression of Singaporean political independence. In
this paper, I examine the names given to residential buildings (condominiums) in Singapore: what
kinds of names are used and the reasons for any patterns discerned. While street names are usually
tightly controlled by municipal boards, building names are usually given freer rein, although they
would still need governmental approval. Building names would therefore reflect the attitudes of the
commercially powerful rather than those of the politically powerful. In the context of the Singaporean
state ideology of multilingualism (Singapore has four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin
Chinese and Tamil) and multiracialism (and therefore multiculturalism), it might therefore be expected
that the multilingual nature of the community might also be expressed in the building names accorded.
The official languages are clearly not equal based on their degree of representation. Also of note is the
presence of languages such as French and Spanish which do not form a part of the normal linguistic
repertoire of a Singaporean.