The Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) has issued a rare "red" alert, its highest risk rating, in its annual Haze Outlook report.

In a Jun. 24 statement, it warned of severe transboundary haze across the rest of 2026, affecting Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

The report identified August to September as the "peak danger period".

The heightened risk is driven by a combination of factors, including the returning El Niño phenomenon and a surging demand for biofuels, said the research institute and think-tank.

The report evaluates haze risks by consulting governments, businesses, think-tanks, and non-governmental organisations.

Rare alert

This marks only the second time the SIIA has triggered a red alert since the annual report launched in 2019.

The last time the institute issued a red rating was in 2023, a year that ultimately saw a spike in regional haze incidents.

According to the report, the coming months could bring "one of the hottest and driest dry seasons on record", increasing the danger of land fires that could spread out of control.

The report also suggested that given the prevailing conditions, 2027 may end up being the hottest year on record.

Why so hot?

Historically, the most severe haze episodes have occurred when El Niño and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) overlapped, such as in 1997, 1998, 2015, and 2023.

The IOD is a climate pattern characterised by fluctuations in sea surface temperatures across the Indian Ocean.

El Niño conditions are under way as of this month, while the less-predictable IOD remains a possible compounding factor.

However, the report noted that either climate pattern alone can trigger severe haze, as seen during the IOD-driven dry spell in 2019.

Biofuel boom

Other factors, including human activity, may also affect the incidence of haze.

In January 2026, Singapore faced several weeks of hazy conditions following the spreading peat fire in Johor, Malaysia.

SIIA warned that in the months ahead, growing biofuel demand caused by disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz may increase incentives for unsustainable land clearing among some producers.

These pressures are expected to persist even if the Middle East conflict resolves.

Khor Yu-Leng, associate director of SIIA, explained:

"The fuel crisis is also driving demand for biofuels, with Southeast Asian countries increasing the percentage of vegetable oil in diesel at the pump.

This trend will continue even if the U.S.-Iran agreement holds, as countries now want energy independence."

ASEAN cooperation

Despite the forecasts, "we must not be fatalistic", said Simon Tay, chairman of SIIA.

Indonesia has strengthened its institutional response to forest and land fires, and businesses have expanded fire prevention measures in recent years.

The think-tank called for regional cooperation and sustainable land management to minimise risks and strengthen climate resilience.

“ASEAN needs to take greater ownership of this challenge as the region enters a potentially severe dry season and faces the longer-term impacts of climate change," he said.

"There is much that can be done to prevent the worst and strengthen climate resilience, energy and food security, and regional cooperation... Supporting solutions with adequate funding will be critical.”

A 31-year-old man died in an accident on the Tuas Second Link bridge on the morning of Jun. 22.

According to Shin Min Daily News, the fatal accident occurred at around 9am that Tuesday as the man, identified as cross-border commuter Sheng Baoyuan (transliteration), was riding his motorcycle into Singapore for work.

It was reportedly his first day at a new job.

Motorcycle believed to have skidded out of control

A friend of Sheng's sister, surnamed Ji, told Shin Min that Sheng had recently taken up a new job as a deliveryman and was on his way to work for the first time that day.

She said it was raining heavily at the time, and that his motorcycle is believed to have skidded out of control.

While a video provided by Ji did not capture the moment of the accident itself, it showed a lorry driving past, and two motorcycles were also seen lying on the road behind it.

Photos circulating online showed Sheng's motorcycle badly damaged, with parts strewn across the road.

Ji said an eyewitness had told the family that Sheng fell off his bike and was struck by a lorry, dying at the scene.

"We hope that more witnesses can come forward and tell us what happened," she said.

Initial findings

According to Shin Min, a statement from the Iskandar Puteri district police said Sheng was thrown from his motorcycle after hitting a vehicle, and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Separately, when Shin Min contacted the Malaysian police overseeing the investigation, they said preliminary findings indicated that Sheng had collided with a multi-purpose vehicle that had stopped in the middle lane due to traffic congestion, and was thrown under a lorry.

A second motorcyclist had also collided with Sheng's motorcycle, sustaining minor injuries.

The police said investigators believe Sheng was not run over by any vehicle.

He added that the lorry driver who was at the scene has been identified and asked to give a statement and assist with investigations.

He stressed that these were preliminary findings and the case remains under investigation, cautioning against drawing conclusions until it is finished.

Leaves behind a one-year-old son

Ji said Sheng used to commute to Singapore via Woodlands Checkpoint, but believed he had switched to Tuas Checkpoint after changing jobs, Shin Min reported.

She added that he leaves behind a son who is not yet two years old, and that his family was devastated by the sudden loss.

"He is the pillar of his family. I hope the investigations will reveal the truth," she said.

Sheng's wife also paid tribute to him on Facebook, describing him as a good husband who loved her and their son deeply.

Lorry company denies hit-and-run claim

Relatives of the deceased had alleged online that the lorry driver left the scene after checking on the situation, calling it a hit-and-run.

When Shin Min contacted the Malaysian transport company that owns the lorry involved, a company representative said the lorry had been travelling straight at the time and did not hit anyone.

"The driver did hear a noise coming from behind the vehicle and stopped to investigate. After determining that it was unrelated to the lorry, he continued on his way, so the incident does not constitute a hit-and-run," he said.

He added that the lorry driver is scheduled to give a statement at the police station on Jun. 25, and that the company will cooperate fully with investigations.

"The deceased's relatives and friends have also contacted me, and I've explained what happened to them. I'm not too clear on the specific details of what happened, but the police have said it has nothing to do with us, and we don't want to be wrongly accused," he said.

Thankful for his domestic helper's 12 years of service to his family and care for his three daughters, a 63-year-old Singaporean man brought his family to his domestic helper's hometown in the Philippines to visit her in June 2026.

Five years ago, the family's helper, 54-year-old Marilou Serrano Galindo, had returned to her hometown in Maddela, located in the Philippines' Quirino province, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Tan Teck Lee then brought his wife, three daughters and son-in-law to visit Marilou from Jun. 8 to Jun. 16, 2026.

They travelled for about 11 hours to visit her hometown, including a flight to Manila, another domestic flight, and a two-hour car ride before reaching their destination.

With family for 12 years

Speaking to Shin Min, Tan said Marilou had been with the family from 2009 to 2021, when his youngest daughter was only eight years old, and his eldest daughter was 16.

He credited Marilou with helping take great care of his three daughters. They have remained close.

"Although she returned to the Philippines in 2021, she has maintained contact with our family, especially my three daughters."

Philippines hometown

Tan added that he had previously brought his wife and two young daughters to visit Marilou's hometown in 2019 and made many fond memories there.

At the time, Marilou had invited Tan's family to go with her when she went home to visit her family.

"...[Her] family was very welcoming and took good care of us," Tan told Shin Min, adding that they "even came back to Singapore together later".

Shin Min reported that Marilou has a son and a daughter in the Philippines.

Tan said: "Marilou's daughter is very filial and hoped that her mother could come home to reunite with her family, take care of her grandchildren and enjoy her retirement.

"So she chose to return to her hometown in 2021."

Meaningful trip

He added that this trip in June 2026 was especially meaningful as his eldest daughter and son-in-law had accompanied him, Shin Min reported.

It was like a big family outing, Tan said, adding that Marilou's family took his family sightseeing every day, which they enjoyed.

"We went boating, enjoyed the scenery, ate local food, celebrated Marilou's birthday together, and took many photos, creating happy memories," he said.

On top of that, Shin Min reported that out of gratitude for the respect her employer had shown her, she allocated the only room in her house with air-conditioning for Tan's family to stay in.

Thankful that she had been treated like family while working for her employer, Marilou wanted to make their stay comfortable.

She specially installed a water heater, Shin Min reported, adding that she also prepared pillows,  cleaned the house, planned the itinerary and bought fresh ingredients as she wanted Tan's family to try her cooking.

Attended daughter's wedding

Shin Min reported that when Tan's eldest daughter got married in June 2025, Marilou flew to Singapore with her sister and brother-in-law to attend the wedding and spend a week on holiday.

At the time, Tan applied for leave to bring them around, according to Shin Min.

Following this, Marilou invited Tan and his family to visit her hometown and arrangements were made for the trip.

Favourite memory

Having known Marilou for over a decade, Tan told Mothership that his favourite memory of her is "how deeply connected she is to her family".

"After completing her daily chores, she would often sit down and video call her family on WhatsApp to catch up with them," he said.

Tan added: "Over time, I also got to know some of her family members and would occasionally join in to say hello.

"It is heartwarming to see the love and commitment she has for her family despite being far away from them."

Local actor Elvin Ng has been dealing with the aftermath of sandfly bites for four months, going through multiple rounds of treatment, including steroid injections, after creams and antihistamines failed to bring relief.

Ng shared on Instagram that he had just gone through another round of localised steroid injections on each bite spot to bring down inflammation and reduce scarring.

He wrote:

"So yes that's me going through another round of steroid injections to each sandfly bite infection/allergic reaction which has refused to go away since 4 months ago. It's actually not that painful (luckily there's ice) but I was just bracing myself for each shot and squeezing any life out of the plushie (luckily I have it) for destress purposes."

How it started

Ng said he had been at his usual suntanning spot at one of the Sentosa beaches, a place he had visited many times before, when the bites happened without him noticing.

He wrote:

"I learnt after that it is by the water between the wet and dry areas which are most likely to have sandflies and they can't even be seen by the naked eye."

The bites only became a problem about a month later, right around the time he was also dealing with an eye operation in late February during Chinese New Year.

He added:

"They started getting inflamed a month (delayed reaction) after I was at the beach suntanning, at about the same time I had to go for my eye operation which was the first few days of CNY in end Feb, so it has been a really tough start to the horse year with a bad eye and super itchy legs until now (and even after my eye has almost fully recovered)."

Why steroid creams didn't work

Ng visited a GP twice and was prescribed antihistamines and steroid creams, but neither made much of a difference. He eventually found that localised steroid injections directly on each bite were more effective, as the wounds had formed scabs that the creams could no longer penetrate.

He said it was his first time getting sandfly bites and that he was likely highly allergic to them.

"They became really inflamed and unbearable," he wrote.

His advice to others

Ng said he was sharing his experience to help others avoid going through the same ordeal, urging beachgoers to always apply insect repellent before heading to the beach, even just to suntan.

He continued:

"Hopefully this helps, and you won't need to go through the same kind of crazy itchiness (scratching till they bleed) I've been tolerating for months, and you can do better to protect yourself from this 'common enemy'."

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The National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) and the Migrant Workers Centre (MWC) will be extending S$100 in cash and S$100 in NTUC vouchers to MWC members affected by unpaid wages.

Affected migrant workers can join as an MWC member to receive the cash and vouchers.

150 job vacancies from 40 construction firms are being offered to the affected workers.

Lodging, transport, and food for them are also being arranged.

This comes after over 100 migrant workers from KPA Engineering and SK Industries went down to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) services centre on Jun. 22 to seek help for unpaid wages and housing issues.

About 400 migrant workers were affected.

Visit

In a visit to the Tuas View Dormitory on the morning of Jun. 24, NTUC Secretary-General Ng Chee Meng and Ministry of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash spoke to migrant workers.

They also passed out lunch to the workers.

Speaking to the media, Ng said MOM and NTUC are working to help the migrant workers recover their salaries.

“I think the practice of abandoning the workers and not paying salaries is not something the NTUC will stand without acting upon it. Employers must be responsible, and I am glad that many employers have come forward to assist these migrant workers,” he said.

Ng added that the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) and its partners are working to contact the employers.

“I understand that they may not be in the country, and the due process will have to take place,” he concluded.

Dinesh also highlighted the experiences the migrant workers are facing as a result of this incident, citing that “some of them really do not have much money in their pockets at this point in time”.

He added that MOM would allow them to have interim special passes for “a couple of weeks until they are connected to a new job”.

“We take a very serious view of the employers who might have caused the migrant workers to be in this situation,” he said.

Workers

Some migrant workers spoke to the media during the visit.

Islam Md Raiful, a 20-year-old Bangladeshi national who has been staying in Singapore for six months, said he was owed more than S$2,400 over three months.

Every month, Islam sends about S$500 to his family in Bangladesh to cover his siblings' school fees and living expenses.

He said that as a result of the unpaid wages, he had to borrow money.

Islam has not told his family about this incident.

“This one’s a very critical situation for us (his family)”, he said.

When asked about the help provided, he expressed gratefulness and said it was “very helpful”.

Another migrant worker, Jayasankar Vinothkumar, a 41-year-old Indian national who has worked in Singapore for about 14 years, also spoke about the implications of the unpaid wages.

He joined KPA Engineering on Aug. 2, 2025 and stated that there were already prior issues with salary payouts.

Jayasankar said his eight-year-old daughter apparently stopped attending school as he was unable to pay for her school fees.

Jayasankar is the sole breadwinner of his family, and he is expecting another child.

The Malaysian woman who mocked locals in China for "smelling bad" in a viral video has been identified as a member of the Malaysian police force.

The Malaysian police has also opened a disciplinary investigation into the incident, Bernama reported.

This was shared on Jun. 23 by Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohd Khalid Ismail, who added that the woman will remain on active duty while the investigation is ongoing.

"Apart from disciplinary aspects, appropriate action will also be taken if any breach of the law is established," he said.

He also reminded all police officers and personnel to uphold proper conduct whether in Malaysia or abroad, and even when not in uniform.

Controversy

Nur Asyiqin binti Mohd Dalil, also a social media influencer, was travelling in China in the video in question, which has since been removed from her TikTok.

She was seen queueing with a few other Malaysian tourists while waiting to board a bus.

While some of them covered their noses, one could be heard saying in Malay, "It smells so bad! Did none of you shower?"

The remarks sparked outrage from both Malaysians and Chinese, with many Malaysians calling the group's behaviour embarrassing and disrespectful.

On Jun. 20, Asyiqin apologised in a statement on TikTok, saying she took full responsibility for her behaviour that has "caused discomfort to various parties".

She explained that it was a "spontaneous reaction" without any intention to offend or embarrass.

This apology came days after a previous statement she posted, one from her lawyers stating that she had taken legal action against those who made defamatory statements.

Asyiqin's lawyer also confirmed she was "part of the [police] force", but did not specify her rank, according to South China Morning Post.

Related stories

A car was seen travelling erratically, cutting across lanes, and mounting the centre divider along Tampines Avenue 7, in the direction of Loyang Avenue on Jun. 22.

It then rammed into the back of a stationary taxi, which was pushed into the opposite lane.

The taxi, along with other vehicles, were waiting for the traffic light to turn green at the time.

Another car to the left of the taxi was also hit.

The male taxi driver and his passenger were conscious when they were taken to hospital, the police said, who were alerted to the incident at 5:30pm.

The accident involved two cars and a taxi, the police said.

Investigations are underway.

Two self-radicalised Singaporean men have been issued orders under the Internal Security Act (ISA), the Internal Security Department (ISD) said in a press release on Jun. 24.

Tarmizi bin Mohd Taha, 30, a customer service officer, was issued an Order of Detention (OD), while Cyrus Dzulqarnain Al-Shahriar, 19, a student, was issued a Restriction Order (RO).

Their radicalisation was triggered by the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Both orders were issued in March 2026.

Aspired to join Hamas

Tarmizi's interest in the conflict began after Hamas' attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, after which he joined social media channels discussing the conflict and was exposed to Hamas propaganda.

By 2024, he had come to view Hamas as defenders of the Palestinians and believed armed violence against those deemed responsible for their oppression was justified.

He also frequently posted pro-Hamas content online to garner support for the group.

Tarmizi had also discussed Hamas' Gaza operations with an online foreign contact who claimed to be a Hamas member.

In late 2024, the contact had offered to help him travel to the Palestinian territories to join Hamas.

But Tarmizi only took up the offer after watching a video in August 2025 of a Palestinian being killed, which sparked a strong sense of outrage and re-triggered his earlier intent to join Hamas.

However, he lacked the funds to proceed.

He also indicated he would be willing to carry out armed violence against Israel or attacks in Singapore on Hamas' instruction.

He also intended to use his skills from his previous work experience in administrative and logistic roles, including as a logistics assistant during his National Service in the Singapore Police Force (SPF), to contribute to Hamas, believing that such actions would ultimately lead him to achieving martyrdom.

ISD ultimately assessed Tarmizi to pose an imminent security threat warranting detention.

Online postings inciting violence against others

Cyrus' radicalisation involved Composite Violent Extremism (CoVE), which ISD previously termed "salad bar" extremism, referring to a form of violent extremism in which individuals subscribe to multiple, sometimes conflicting, extremist ideologies.

In 2022, he joined online groups to learn more about Islam, but was also exposed to anti-Western and anti-LGBTQ content.

He subsequently made online posts inciting violence against the LGBTQ community.

After the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, he was exposed to pro-Hamas narratives and came to support the group's violent actions, including the killing of civilians, which he saw as a form of jihad.

He also considered travelling to Gaza to join Hamas, but did not act on it.

In mid-2024, Cyrus encountered a niche online Islamist extremist group that subscribed to violent accelerationist thinking, and was invited into its private chat group the following year.

The group believed in creating “chaos” through the use of violence if necessary, to establish a future with Islam as the leading global civilisation.

They believed that they needed to destroy the current “world order”, where first world countries, including Singapore, were considered an extension of the United States, and under the control of Zionists.

He went on to support Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and his support for Hamas deepened.

He also became supportive of attacks targeting Westerners, such as Al-Qaeda's 9/11 attacks and the 2002 Bali Bombings, and glorified them online.

At a group member's request, Cyrus visited the Esplanade area twice to photograph an extremist e-publication against the backdrop of Marina Bay Sands, then posted the photos publicly in November 2025 as a pledge of allegiance to the group.

He subsequently considered himself a member, going on to harass users he saw as anti-Islam, spread fake news to defame them, and incite violence against them.

In early 2025, Cyrus encountered online content about school shooter Elliot Rodger and grew intrigued by his incel views.

After exploring incel forums, he began identifying as one himself, posting online threats to kill or rape women and fantasising about violence against LGBTQ individuals and couples in school settings.

However, these thoughts did not progress beyond ideation.

While Cyrus took no preparatory steps toward violence, his support for terrorist and extremist groups and his online incitement were deemed to be of security concern.

He has been placed on a RO so ISD can monitor him and put him through rehabilitation to address his radical beliefs.

Conflicts abroad continue to drive radicalisation

Tarmizi and Cyrus are the seventh and eighth Singaporeans dealt with under the ISA, whose radicalisation was triggered or accelerated by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since it re-escalated.

While Singaporeans remain deeply concerned about the conflict's humanitarian toll, ISD stressed that extremist narratives exploiting foreign conflicts must not be allowed to take root locally, and that it will act firmly against anyone who supports, promotes or prepares for armed violence.

Cyrus is also the second person dealt with under the ISA to have been radicalised through CoVE, highlighting the growing diversity of violent extremist ideologies driving self-radicalisation in Singapore, particularly among youths.

Public urged to stay alert

ISD reiterated that anyone is susceptible to radicalisation, and urged the public to stay alert to warning signs and report concerns early.

Possible signs of radicalisation include:

• Displaying symbols of extremist or terrorist groups (eg. using a Hamas flag as a social media photo);
• Frequently visiting radical websites;
• Posting or sharing extremist views online, including support for terrorists or the use of violence;
• Sharing extremist views with friends and family;
• Making remarks that stoke hatred toward other races, religions or communities;
• Expressing intent to take part in violence, locally or abroad; and/or
• Inciting others to violence.

Anyone who knows or suspects a person has been radicalised, or is involved in terrorism-related activities, should contact ISD at 1800-2626-473.

Restriction order

Individuals issued with a restriction order are not permitted to change their residence or employment, or travel out of Singapore without approval from the director of ISD.

They also cannot access the internet or social media, issue public statements, address public meetings or print, distribute or contribute to any publication.

They are not allowed to hold office in, or be a member of, any organisation, association or group without approval from the ISD director.

ISD also announced that 33-year-old Radjev Lal Madan Lal, who was detained in April 2022 after he was self-radicalised and made preparations to engage in armed conflicts overseas, has been released from detention on a RO in April 2026.

Restriction orders for three individuals were also allowed to lapse upon their expiry due to good progress in rehabilitation.

They are Abd Rahim bin Abdul Rahman, 57, Mohamed Faishal bin Mohd Razali, 35, and Husaini bin Ismail, 67.

A woman in her mid-60s who was hit by a falling shop panel after cycling past a grocer in Jurong West has won her negligence suit against the shop owner.

In a judgment published on Jun. 22, District Judge Evans Ng found that the defendant, Loch Grocer, whose sole shareholder and director is Lee Chee Hoon, was "wholly liable for the accident on Mar. 15, 2023".

Lee argued that Aminah had dislodged the panel while she was cycling past.

However, Judge Evans Ng said the claimant, Aminah Mohamed Kassim, "was cycling at a reasonable speed" and did not swerve to avoid any obstacles before the accident.

Fell off bicycle

Aminah was cycling from Jurong West Street 42 towards Jurong Spring Community Club in the late afternoon when the accident happened.

According to court documents, she said as she cycled past the shop unit at Block 507, Jurong West Street 52, "something hard hit her on her left from behind".

Three panels were put up on the day of the accident.

According to the judgment, Lee said the panels were "very light" and "can be picked up by a child".

However, the judge said: "It is unclear what specimen of a child Mr Lee has in mind."

He estimated the thickness of each panel to be at least 3mm and used an estimated density of polycarbonate to conclude that each panel should have weighed at least 10kg.

Defendant owes duty to secure items

The judge added that the defendant owed a duty to take reasonable care to secure items within the shop's control, such as the panels, for the safety of visitors and other parties.

He said that the set-up was "inherently unstable and unreliable" as the height of each panel exceeded the canopy and was compressed into an arch, held between the shop's canopy and the ground.

"A panel with its concave face towards the Shop is likely to fall sharply and abruptly towards the outside if it is unintentionally dislodged."

Footage from a closed-circuit television video (CCTV) camera showed Aminah cycling past the last panel as it "disappeared" from view.

An employee who was deep within the indoor premises did not see or hear the accident.

The judge added that "any passer-by within a metre or so is unlikely to be able to react fast enough to avoid being hit".

Theories on how panel fell

Aminah claimed a strong wind could have dislodged the panel, while Lee alleged that Aminah's bicycle had dislodged the panel.

The judge rejected both Aminah's and Lee's theories on how the last panel dislodged.

He said that the outdoor fabric banners were not shown to be fluttering.

He added that a metal trolley was protruding from the middle of the storefront, which meant Aminah would have approached the panel with a sufficient margin after clearing the trolley.

This meant that she was unlikely to have cycled into the panel either.

The judge noted: "I also find that the way in which the panel dropped out of view in the video was inconsistent with what would have happened had the front wheel or the handlebars of her bicycle hit its vertical edge."

He said Lee was given the chance to explain, but the latter could only "guess".

He added that Lee did not identify the employee who put up the sign or get them to testify.

No contributory negligence

Judge Ng said he found no contributory negligence on Aminah's part, as there was no prohibition against cycling on the pathway.

He added that there was no legal requirement for cyclists to wear a helmet if they were not cycling on a road.

"I have reviewed the photographs taken of the area too, and it does not seem inappropriate for cyclists to travel on the relevant pathway and take the precise route that Mdm Aminah did, provided they proceed at a reasonable speed and keep a proper lookout for others."

Judge Ng noted that the costs of the trial shall be reserved until the assessment of damages, which will be conducted in a separate hearing.

Statistically speaking, most Singaporeans don't speak Teochew.

But when news broke that the Chinese film "Dear You", originally filmed in Teochew, would be dubbed into Mandarin here, there was a sense of general perturbation.

MPs, like the PAP's Cai Yinzhou and WP's Kenneth Tiong, spoke up about the matter. Cai said he'd filed a parliamentary question for debate.

Tickets to the Teochew-dialect version, initially slated for a limited eight screenings, sold out within two hours. Eight more screenings were released due to popular demand; they were promptly sold out again, this time within the hour.

And in the latest news, Golden Village has sought IMDA approval for 50 more screenings of the Teochew-dialect version.

A bit of history

You'd have been hard-pressed to find someone speaking Mandarin in Singapore pre-independence.

Early immigrants came from impoverished parts of China, where they spoke regional dialects like Hokkien, Teochew, and Cantonese. Mandarin, a prestigious Beijing-based dialect associated with government officials and academics, was largely alien to them.

Back then, over 80 per cent of Singapore households spoke Chinese dialects. A 1957 census showed that only 0.1 per cent of Singapore’s population spoke Mandarin most frequently at home.

As of 2020, these numbers have seen a reversal. Just 8.7 per cent reported using dialect as their primary spoken language; Mandarin has ballooned to 29.9 per cent.

How did this happen?

In short: It was led by founding PM Lee Kuan Yew, who launched the Speak Mandarin Campaign in 1979.

Some years earlier, in 1966, the Singapore government had adopted a bilingual education policy. Singaporeans would learn English and a mother tongue language — which, for the Chinese, was Mandarin (a decision in line with the People's Republic of China, which had officially adopted Mandarin as the national language in 1956).

But there was a problem. Chinese Singaporeans continued to speak dialect at home, and students struggled with having to learn two new languages at the same time.

Lee set out on the campaign in a bid to fix this. Dialect programmes on radio and TV were shuttered. Lee himself stopped speaking Hokkien entirely, switching to Mandarin instead.

Slogans like "Speak more Mandarin and less dialects" and "Please speak Mandarin, your children's future is in your hands" were also peddled to the community through the 1970s and 80s.

The campaign was incredibly successful. By the late 1980s, the majority of Chinese Singaporeans spoke Mandarin; today there is no argument about what their mother tongue is.

"If the government had left language habits to evolve undirected, Chinese Singaporeans would be speaking an adulterated Hokkien-Teochew dialect," Lee said. That problematic possibility has now been thoroughly eliminated.

An old policy

Both the Speak Mandarin Campaign and the bilingualism policy still exist today. These days, though, they have to contend with English.

The OG movements were in some ways too successful. Lee wanted Singaporeans to speak English — both as a unifying language among the different ethnic groups, and for the rather more economically pragmatic reason of connecting Singaporeans with the Western world.

He succeeded. As of 2020, English has overtaken Mandarin as the most-spoken primary language in Singaporean households at 48.3 per cent.

It's an achievement that has come with the unfortunate side effect of a rapidly diminishing Mandarin fluency among young Singaporeans. But that's a story for another day.

What was surprising to many Singaporeans, however, is that despite the evolution of the bilingual policy, remnants of its dialect-opposing roots remain.

Namely through the fact that "Dear You" was dubbed for general release in Singapore, with the Teochew version only initially approved for "festival/niche screenings".

As to why, IMDA explained:

"This continues to support the bilingual policy which aims to promote Mandarin as the main language amongst Chinese Singaporeans.”

But in 2026, discouraging dialect is no longer mutually exclusive with encouraging Mandarin. At work or at home, dialect is unlikely to ever reach a level of pervasiveness even close to what it once was.

That said, while it will most likely never be at risk ever again of undermining "your children's future", it could potentially help you connect to your grandparents' past, maybe even spark an interest in Chinese culture.

As my colleague noted: she wouldn't share the same closeness to her grandma if she had never learnt to speak Teochew.

So maybe it's time for a change — to preserve, rather than suppress.

A new frontier

"Dear You" has — quite unintentionally in all likelihood — helped spark this move.

On Jun. 22, MDDI issued a new statement on the film. While promoting Mandarin as one of Singapore's official languages remains a policy goal, dialects "are an important part of Singapore's cultural heritage", the statutory board said.

"We hear the calls for dialect films to be more freely screened in cinemas. Under the current framework, applications have to be made for such screenings.

However, IMDA will take a more flexible approach in considering these applications."

They added that the government "supports the use of dialects in practical ways", and will continue to keep its approach under review to support the appreciation and use of dialects in Singapore.

It's perhaps the clearest acknowledgement to date by the authorities that dialect no longer poses a threat to Singapore's Mandarin-speaking ambitions. Once a problem to be "policy-managed" away, dialect is now priceless cultural heritage that needs to be protected, or risk dying out.

More importantly, it is a green light, albeit a tentative one, for future dialect-promoting activities on our little island.

In future, could Chinese dialects be offered as a third language in schools? Maybe Hokkien- or Teochew-focused extracurriculars, enrichment classes, even tuition centres?

In his 2009 speech, then-Minister Mentor Lee had made a rare erroneous prediction: "The trend is clear. In two generations, Mandarin will become our mother tongue," he said.

Half a generation later, we are already there. The question is what comes next.