as the main language to maximise economic benefits. Since English was rising as the global language for commerce, technology and science, promotion of its use in Singapore would expedite Singapore's development and integration into the global economy. Furthermore, the switch to English as the only medium of instruction in schools aided in bridging the social distance between the various groups of ethnic language speakers in the country. Between the early 1960s to the late 1970s, the number of students registering for primarily English-medium schools leapt from 50% to 90% as more parents elected to send their children to English-medium schools. Attendance in Mandarin, Malay and Tamil-medium schools consequently dropped and schools began to close down. The Chinese-medium Nanyang University also made the switch to English as the medium of instruction despite meeting resistance, especially from the Chinese community. There has been a steep increase in the use of the English language over the years. Singapore is currently one of the most proficient English-speaking countries in Asia. Then Education Minister, Ng Eng Hen, noted a rising number of Singaporeans using English as their home language in December 2009. Of children enrolled in primary school in 2009, 60% of the Chinese and Indian pupils and 35% of the Malay pupils spoke predominantly English at home. Singlish is the native language of 32% of Singaporeans, but has the largest number of speakers if statistics were to account for speakers of English as a second language. Singlish Singlish is an English-based creole language with its own consistent rules and phonology widely used in Singapore. However, usage of this language is discouraged by the local government, which favours Standard English. The Media Development Authority does not support using Singlish in television and radio advertising. Despite this, Singlish is still widely spoken across the island and viewed by most Singaporeans as a trait that identifies them as uniquely Singaporean. Chinese language According to the 2000 population census, Mandarin and other varieties of Chinese are the most common languages spoken at home. They are used by 51% of the population. The table below shows the change in distribution of Mandarin and other Chinese varieties, as well as English, as home languages of the resident Chinese population of Singapore in 1990, 2000 and 2010. It can be observed that the percentage of the population which speaks English and Mandarin has increased, while the percentage of those who speak