Origins of Singlish

Singapore Colloquial English, better known as Singlish, is a local vernacular that is widely spoken by people in Singapore. Singlish derives its roots from 146 years (1819-1965) of British colonial rule over Singapore.

Singapore, an important trading post at the southern tip of the Malay peninsula, was multiracial and multicultural right at the start. During the years of British colonial rule, Singapore grew massively in population as the British encouraged immigration. A large number of immigrants came from the Southern parts of China, making up the largest ethnic group in Singapore with approximately 77% Chinese. 

Singlish has its origins in the schools of colonial Singapore. In the 19th century, the local lingua franca was a pidginised variety of the Malay language which probably explains why many of the loan words in Singlish are from Malay. By the 20th century, all education was in the medium of English with students learning another language, their mother tongue, together with English. As more and more people experienced learning English, English became widely spoken alongside Singapore's many other languages. 

Nearly everyone in Singapore is bilingual, with many people being able to speak three of even four languages/dialects. Naturally, the presence of other languages/dialects influenced how English was spoken in Singapore and due to this, Singlish shares many similarities with pidgin varieties of English and can easily give the impression of "broken" or "bad" English.

While there have been many debates on whether the usage of Singlish is good or bad, most Singaporeans are affectionate towards Singlish as it is part of their national identity. 

References:

1. How did Singlish Come About? http://www.nlb.gov.sg/blogs/ask/adults/1224 
2. Singapore Colloqiual English (Singlish). http://www.hawaii.edu/satocenter/langnet/definitions/singlish.html

Here are more books on the subject!
1) Title: An essential guide to Singlish
Author: Illustrations by Miel ; [project editor, Samantha Hanna]
Call Number: SING English 427.95957 ESS

All Rights Reserved, Gartbooks , 2003
2) Title: The Coxford Singlish dictionary
Editors: Colin Goh, Y.Y. Woo
Call Number: SING English 427.95957 COX

All Rights Reserved, Angsana Books, 2002
3) Title: Sounds and sins of Singlish : And Other Nonsense
Author: Rex Shelley
Call Number: SING English 427.95957 SHE

All Rights Reserved, Singapore : Times Books International, 1995
- See more at: http://www.nlb.gov.sg/blogs/ask/adults/1224#sthash.Td76wYD7.dpuf