Singapore committed to keeping Tamil as an official language: Minister

Singapore Cabinet Minister S Iswaran reportedly said that the government is resolute in its commitment to Tamil as an official language. His remarks appeared in an interview published in ‘The Tamil Community and the Making of Modern Singapore’ - a book on the South Indian community. Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan launched the book on Sunday.

“The government’s policy position and support for Tamil is clear”, Mr Iswaran said citing examples of the language being used in parliament and as a subject in schools along with English, Chinese and Malay. “The ‘Tamil Language Festival’ is one way to achieve this by engaging and involving the younger generation and wider community in this effort to celebrate and promote Tamil language and culture,” he was quoted as saying.