Four languages, one station name: typing Singapore's MRT

Singapore's four official languages are English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil. Researchers who studied the MRT's signs say they appear in all four in public places, and that signs in train stations were English only until 1991. The same study counted more than 1,500 photographs in 30 Circle Line stations and found that 63 percent of the signs were in English alone.

What we ask you to type

HelloSubway uses the English name of each Singapore station, such as Dhoby Ghaut, Choa Chu Kang or Prince Edward Road, and there is no language choice. Singapore's signs use all four languages, but English is the form that appears everywhere, and it is the only one that is spelled with the letters on every keyboard. Type the names as written, with spaces.

Names from several languages

Many of the names come from places that existed long before the MRT. Some are Malay, some are Chinese in origin, and some are English street names. Ubi, Hume, Expo and Bugis are short, and Prince Edward Road and Gardens by the Bay are long. The English spelling is one stable form that every player can type.

A possible next step

Showing the Chinese name as a second line, the way we do with Japanese kanji above the romaji, is something we may add. It would not change what you type. For now, the line guides show the English names with the codes, which are the quickest way to find your way around the system. See the difficulty ranking to pick your first line.