Chinese language romanisation in Singapore

The romanisation of the Chinese language in Singapore is not dictated by a single policy, nor is its policy implementation consistent, as the local Chinese community is composed of a myriad of topolect groups. Although Hanyu Pinyin is adopted as the preferred romanisation system for Mandarin and the standard of Chinese education, the general lack of a romanisation standard for other Chinese varieties results in some level of inconsistency. This may be illustrated by the many variants for the same Chinese characters often found in surnames such as Low, Loh, Lo; Tay, Teh; Teo, Teoh; Yong, Yeong.

For example, the surname Zheng (traditional Chinese: 鄭; simplified Chinese: 郑) alone has several variations including Teh, Tay, Tee, Chang, Chung, Cheng, and Zeng. The variations Tay or Tee come from Singapore, while Teh or Tee normally have roots in Malaysia, Chang, Chung or Cheng from Hong Kong, and Zeng or Zheng normally from Mainland China.