Editing Standard Chinese (section)

=== Singapore ===
{{Main|Singaporean Mandarin}}
Mandarin is one of the four official languages of Singapore, along with English, [[Malay language|Malay]], and [[Tamil language|Tamil]]. Historically, it was seldom used by the [[Chinese Singaporeans|Chinese Singaporean community]], which primarily spoke the Southern Chinese languages of [[Hokkien]], [[Teochew dialect|Teochew]], Cantonese, or [[Hakka Chinese|Hakka]].{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} [[Standard Singaporean Mandarin]] is nearly identical to the standards of China and Taiwan, with minor vocabulary differences. It is the Mandarin variant used in education, media, and official settings. Meanwhile, a colloquial form called Singdarin is used in informal daily life and is heavily influenced in terms of both grammar and vocabulary by local languages such as Cantonese, Hokkien, and Malay. Instances of code-switching with English, Hokkien, Cantonese, Malay, or a combination thereof are also common.

In Singapore, the government has heavily promoted a "[[Speak Mandarin Campaign]]" since the late 1970s, with the use of other Chinese varieties in broadcast media being prohibited and their use in any context officially discouraged until recently.<ref>{{Citation |title=New Hokkien drama aimed at seniors to be launched on Sep 9 |date=1 September 2016 |work=[[Channel News Asia]] |url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/new-hokkien-drama-aimed-at-seniors-to-be-launched-on-sep-9/3091668.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219200949/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/new-hokkien-drama-aimed-at-seniors-to-be-launched-on-sep-9/3091668.html |archive-date=19 December 2016}}</ref> This has led to some resentment amongst the older generations, as Singapore's migrant Chinese community is made up almost entirely of people of south Chinese descent. [[Lee Kuan Yew]], the initiator of the campaign, admitted that to most Chinese Singaporeans, Mandarin was a "stepmother tongue" rather than a true mother language. Nevertheless, he saw the need for a unified language among the Chinese community not biased in favor of any existing group.<ref name="Yew 2000">{{Citation |last=Yew |first=Lee Kuan |title=From Third World to First: The Singapore Story: 1965-2000 |date=2000-10-03 |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=978-0-06-019776-6 |ol=7275961M}}</ref>