People have dreamt of driverless, or autonomous vehicles (AVs) for a long time. In the past, it was a lack of real-world viability that had prevented the vision of a ‘robot car’ being turned into reality. But now, European, Japanese, US and Chinese companies – including big names like Google, Bosch and Toyota – are researching in this field. Singapore is among the countries trialling this technology. Permanent Secretary for Transport Pang Kin Keong has said, “The trials will help us shape the mobility concepts which can meet Singapore’s needs, and also gain valuable insights into how we can design our towns of the future to take advantage of this technology.”
The government of Singapore has been insisting that everyone in the nation speak English for a long time. English is used in schools, at work, and in government. But many locals speak – Singlish – a hybrid language which mixes English with local dialects and languages. Singlish was first developed when Singapore gained independence 50 years ago, and the government decided that English should be the common language amongst all the different ethnic groups. Each group brought in their own words and grammar. So while English became the official language, Singlish became the street language. It is efficient and colourful: you don’t have a coffee – you “lim kopi”. And if someone asks you to join them for a meal but you’ve already had dinner, you simply say: “Eat already.” 
