Popular Nanyang and the construction of a pluralist Sinophone community: the case of Rediffusion Singapore

Originating in the UK in 1928 and introduced to Singapore in 1949, the cable radio service Rediffusion gained popularity for its affordable, multi-ethnic programming. In addition to a channel featuring Tamil, Malay, and English content, Rediffusion offered a dedicated Chinese channel that included not only Mandarin programmes but also broadcasts in various Sinitic dialects such as Hokkien, Cantonese, and Teochew. This article examines Rediffusion’s role from the 1950s to the 1970s in fostering a pluralistic Sinophone community in Singapore, collaborating closely with Chinese clan associations organized around Sinitic dialect affiliations. However, this linguistic diversity diminished with the implementation of the “Speak More Mandarin, Less Dialect” policy in 1979. In compliance with the policy, Rediffusion gradually reduced and eventually phased out its dialect programmes. I interpret this shift in Rediffusion’s programming as indicative of Singapore’s increasing linguistic homogenization, despite the People’s Action Party (PAP) government’s efforts to present the nation as multicultural and multilingual. The post-independence rhetoric of fostering a multicultural society with four official languages—English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil—ironically streamlined the diverse Sinophone community into a monolithic one, with Mandarin imposed as the “official” mother tongue for all Sinophone subjects, regardless of their dialect heritage.