Tsubaki posted an article about a cross-promotion between Yakitake Japan! and a bakery chain, with a few pictures. What do you know, all signs are in English, and none are in Chinese (except the price stickers). But according to the CIA, most of Singapore is Chinese. Anime is an entertainment of the... foreign workers?

I knew Russians who lived in Singapore, so I'm aware that one can get by with English there (which is the language of all educated Russians, see). The same is true in Moscow, Helsinki, or Tokyo (and even Los Angeles). But in neither of those places bread shops have signage in English in preference (ok, perhaps in downtown LA they do, but you know what I'm saying).

And since we're on topic, why do Singaporeans even need that awful ODEX? If anyone who buys bread is fluent in English, just import DVDs from Australia, America, or England. Do they execute vendors of region-free players on sight or something?

UPDATE: TJ e-mails:

You do realise that the primary language for all Singaporeans is English? Just that most of us can speak two or three languages, which may not be conducive for correct grammar in the less-linguistically inclined. Chinese is an ethnicity, just like how Russian is yours but you are American.

I do realize it now. This realization was the point of the post, but I guess it wasn't expressed clearly enough. Before I thought Singapore was more like India or HK.