Monday 12 June, 2023

The lecture is open to the public and will be held at the ACM Ngee Ann Auditorium at 11am (SGT). 

TAMIL AND 'OTHER' SOUTH ASIAN LANGUAGES IN SINGAPORE

The emphasis on bilingualism in post-independent Singapore has created a complex sociolinguistic environment.  In the South Asian minority, the lack of uniformity in the socio-historical circumstances informing the formation and development of the diaspora, and the heterogeneity of ethno-linguistic groups has added to the problematic of determining the position of South Asian languages. While Tamils comprise the majority, speakers of Hindi, Malayalam, Bengali and Punjabi, amongst others, cumulatively comprise a substantial portion of the total South Asian population in Singapore.  While the state has been the dominant player affecting the survival of these languages, policy decisions that attempt to ‘discipline’ differences within the ‘Indian’ category has not gone uncontested especially in the case of speakers of non-Dravidian languages whose agency has enabled a number of smaller languages to gain a measure of official recognition.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Rajesh Rai is Associate Professor and Head of the South Asian Studies Programme, National University of Singapore. His research interests are in the areas of: Diaspora Studies; South Asian Nationalisms; and the Postcolonial History and Politics of South Asia.