S’porean Grad Wins Praise in Viral London Interview for Showcasing Our Multilingual Roots

A Singaporean graduate based in London is going viral after proudly explaining how multilingual Singapore is in a street interview.

Abigail, 25, who has just completed her graphic design studies at the London College of Communication, shared that despite English being the first language for Singaporeans, it isn't the only one spoken here.

“Based on our ethnicity, we would speak Tamil, Mandarin, Malay. Most of us grow up with grandparents, and we can speak dialects, for example, Hokkien and Cantonese,” said Abigail.

When asked if she spoke Mandarin herself, Abigail shared how the language is a subject in Primary and Secondary school for her.

“You pass the exam like O-Levels. If you fail, or if you take basic Chinese level, you need to continue taking it [for] two years in your A-Levels,” Abigail explained.

In Singapore, students who do not meet the D7 grade in High Chinese, or who took the standard O-Level Chinese and received a D7 or better, must pass it at the A-Levels if they go to Junior College.

She also highlighted Singapore’s multicultural roots by sharing her own heritage.

“My mum’s side of the family is from Malaysia. My grandfather, he’s Teochew, he’s from China, and my grandmother is Peranakan, which is Malay mixed with Chinese.

Singaporeans watching the clip surged with pride, many praising Abigail for showcasing how diverse and multilingual we are.

“A cool Singaporean! We definitely speak more than one language! Very well represented,” read one comment.

However, one thought Abigail was a little too polished and wrote, “We speak Singlish lah!”.

Technically, that is true, too.

Others pointed out how they were impressed by Abigail’s sense of style, most of which was thrifted, save for her black Uniqlo shoes.

Now, who says Singaporeans can’t dress?

Photos: worldmicrophoneeldn/IG, redhead_abigail/IG