Tamil In Parliament

The Parliament of Singapore is one of the rare few parliaments in the world where Tamil is used as an official language. This rare phenomenon owes its origin to indigenous as well as colonial legislators who recognised the need for multilingualism a decade before Singapore gained independence. Currently, a Member of Parliament may speak in any of the four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin, or Tamil, and simultaneous interpretation is provided for the benefit of all members in the parliamentary chamber. This facility is also extended to guests and visitors attending the parliamentary sessions.  This practice of multilingualism dates back to 1956, when the Legislative Assembly of the then-Colony of Singapore resolved that its debates could be conducted in any of the four languages. On 8 February 1956, David Marshall, then Chief Minister of Singapore, moved a motion: “That this Assembly is of the opinion that for the purpose of oral debate the language of the Assembly shall be English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil; and a Select Committee be appointed to examine, report upon and make recommendations in respect of matters necessary to enable effect to be given to the proposal.”  The following day, the motion was passed in the First Legislative Assembly of the Colony of Singapore with 29 Ayes, 0 Noes and 3 Abstentions. 

In supporting the inclusion of the Tamil language, R Jumabhoy  said, “Sir, I take pleasure in supporting the motion before the House. As I have said, Sir, the majority of Indians here are Tamils and I must give them credit…  Sir, multi-lingualism was debated on this very Floor by the previous Legislative Council on 28 January 1955. The motion was by a very intelligent local born Indian, Mr C R Dasaratha Raj, and, claiming a division, the voting for was (supported by) Mr M P D Nair, Mr C R Dasaratha Raj, Mr Thio Chan Bee, Mr Lim Yew Hock and R Jumabhoy.” Speaking at the Assembly on the same day, Lee Kuan Yew referred to a story in the Singapore Standard, dated 15 January 1954: “Demand for a multi-lingual Legislature for Singapore was made in three languages by the trade unionists at the first open session of the Rendel Constitution Commission at the Victoria Memorial Hall yesterday. The unionists stressed that the language barrier placed on candidates standing for election to the Legislative and City Councils was preventing genuine workers’ representatives from entering the Councils. The three workers’ representatives – K M Byrne, M A K Karipaya and Inche Ismail Bin Bajee – declared that Singapore was being ruled by an English-speaking minority of ten per cent of the total population.”

Following the passage of the motion, a Select Committee was established in December 1956 to examine the feasibility of providing interpretation services in the Assembly. When the Committee completed its deliberations in 1957, it recommended the relay system of interpretation, whereby English serves as the pivot language and interpreters pick up the English original or translations of the vernacular languages from their colleagues to provide multilingual and simultaneous interpretations. No single staff member has been able to give interpretations in all four languages. Thus, a permanent interpreter was appointed for each language. The first Tamil interpreter was S Narayanan, who served in his post for 31 years (1959-1990). Presently, there are also a few part-time interpreters assisting each language when the Parliament is in session. The following individuals from the Indian/Tamil community served as Members during the period 1955 to 1965:  J M Jumabhoy, R Jumabhoy, Madai Puthan Damodaran Nair, A V Winslow, A P Rajah, G Kandasamy, John Mammen, S Rajaratnam, S Ramaswamy, S T Bani, S V Lingam, C V Devan Nair (Mrs), P Govindasamy and S Rajoo. According to the Official Reports, S Ramaswamy’s (Bukit Merah) speech in the Assembly on 20July 1959 appears to be the first Tamil speech in the chamber. In his remarks, Ramaswamy said, “First of all, I am grateful to the new Constitution for giving me an opportunity to speak in Tamil – my mother tongue. I am happy to speak in my mother tongue.”

Singapore gained independence on 9 August 1965, and the Legislative Assembly came to be known as Parliament.  P Govindaswamy was the first Member to speak in Tamil in the Parliament on 14 March 1967. Ten years later, on 23 February 1977, during a debate in the Parliament, then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew said, “(L)let me remind Members of the changes that took place in 1959 when the PAP came in – multilingualism, four official languages. And for Mr P Govindaswamy, we keep a translator, special for him, in Tamil. The Member for Anson is costing the House more than any other Member of this House. He can speak English. But exercises his right to speak in Tamil and I respect the right, as we must. It is written in our Constitution; Malay is the national language and four official languages.” Over time, though English has become the primary language of Members of the Indian community, some of them still speak in Tamil when the subject matter is particularly important to the Tamil/Indian community. The trend is to have at least one Tamil speech during the Debate to thank the President for his/her Address at the Opening of Parliament and during the annual Debate on the Budget.



For more information
Singapore. (1967). Parliament. Parliamentary debates: Official report. Singapore : Govt. Printer, 1965-. (Call no.: RSING 328.5957 SIN). https://www.parliament.gov.sg/parliamentary-business/official-reports-(parl-debates)

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The information in this article is valid as of August 2025 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. If you have any feedback on this article, please submit here.