“The basic strategy for building a first world economy is to create a world-class education system,” says former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (1999 ) in his National Day rally speech. As a small Asian country with limited natural resources, the Singapore government's plan to transform the economy from a labor-based economy to a knowledge-based economy has been a success. The government focused on improving the education system and aimed to become the educational center of Asia (Lee, 1999). Today, Singapore is one of the richest countries in the world and its economy is considered one of the largest, ranking second after Switzerland and surpassing that of the United States and the United Kingdom (World Economic Forum, 2013). Singapore's education system is also highly regarded by other countries, and its universities, especially the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Singapore Management University (SMU), have collaborated with top universities from all over the world; thus attracting foreign students to continue their studies in Singapore (Lee, 1999). Due to the government's vision of becoming a successful country and educational center in Asia, it has aimed to provide a good English-speaking environment. The government believes that to communicate with the world, Singaporeans must know how to speak standard English (Lee, 1999, p. 1). This will also give them a great advantage over their competitors (ibid, p. 1). Former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (1999) highlighted in his speech that to achieve these goals, the Singaporean community, especially the young generations, must learn Standard English while adults are advised to discourage the young generations from speaking. use of Singlish. Although Lee Kuan Yew (1999) also recognized that Singlish… middle of paper… is able to recognize Singapore as a culturally diverse country through Singlish. It is a unifying factor for students and teachers in classrooms. It presents a unique flavor that amazes the international community. And it preserves a unique heritage that Singaporeans identify with. Through Singlish, Singaporeans are able to present a part of their identity. I believe that in a world where English is the lingua franca, having a unique variation of the language is as important as being able to communicate with other people because it gives the speaker the ability to differentiate their self that is uniquely theirs. Identity is an important aspect of life. Through language we are able to communicate with other people. And having the ability to communicate with other people while representing your identity is a gift. Singaporeans should appreciate this.