Translation

Raising translation standards

About the National Translation Committee

• The committee is chaired by Mr Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State for Ministry of National Development, and Ministry of Digital Development and Information.
• Members of the public are invited to email MDDI_NTC_Secretariat@mddi.gov.sg if they have any queries or feedback.

Full list of current NTC members

Full list of current RP members

About the National Translation Committee 10th Anniversary Commemorative Book

Since its establishment in 2014, the National Translation Committee (NTC) has brought the public, private and people sectors together to raise the translation standards of our four official languages in multilingual Singapore.

The NTC 10th Anniversary Commemorative Book “Word by Word: Connecting Communities Through Translation” recounts this decade-long journey of growing the translation community by leveraging new technologies, supporting professional development and nurturing the next generation of talents.

Meet our people, hear our stories:

English	Chinese	Malay	Tamil

SG Translate Together Web Portal

• The SG Translate Together (SGTT) Web Portal allows members of the public to generate localised first-cut translations and contribute post-edited translation data to improve the accuracy of the SG Translate Machine Translation (MT) engine. This engine was jointly developed by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) and A*STAR’s Institute for Infocomm Research (I²R), with the support of the TRANS Grant.
• The registered users, known as Citizen Translators, can edit the MT generated translations and submit them for review. These reviewed translations will be used to further train the MT engine.
• The portal serves as a one-stop platform for the translation community, where they can develop their translation skills, utilise translation resources, share their insights with one another and stay updated on translation-related programmes and events.
 

Citizen Translators Project

• The Citizen Translators (CT) Project was launched in 2021, as part of the Government’s efforts to raise the overall translation and language standards in Singapore. An initiative under the National Translation Committee and part of the SG Together Movement, the project is a first in Singapore involving members of the public which aims to harness the expertise of the community to crowdsource the best translations for government communications materials.

• CTs support the vetting and proofreading of translated communication materials from various government agencies.

• CTs identify errant translations in government communication materials, and report them to the NTC Secretariat.

• CTs receive updates on NTC key announcements and events, and are engaged - digitally and in-person - through the SGTT forum, quizzes, workshops and seminars.

• CTs who participate in translation-related events and activities get rewarded under the CT Recognition Framework.
• Interested parties may sign up as a CT by registering on the SGTT portal here.

Promoting best practices

Whole-of-Government Period Contract and Framework Agreement (WoG PCFA) for Translation Services

Introduced on 7 May 2015, the framework provides a list of translation vendors who have been evaluated for quality and price competitiveness. With this framework, government agencies will be able to procure quality translations at a fair rate with a quicker turn-around time.

Government Terms Translated

MDDI’s Translation Department maintains the Government Terms Translated repository, which agencies, translation companies and the public can refer to for translations of Government policy-related terms in the four official languages. Click here to visit the repository.

Nurturing talent

Information Service (Translation) Scholarship

In 2015, MDDI introduced the Information Service (Translation) Scholarship, aimed at identifying and grooming young Singaporeans who have a strong interest in translation as well as a deep familiarity with Singapore’s translation landscape and context. Click here for more information on the Information Service (Translation) Scholarship .

Translation Talent Development Scheme (TTDS)

• Launched in 2018, the TTDS is an initiative to support Singaporean translation and interpretation (T&I) practitioners from the private sector in deepening their skills.
• Awarded recipients can receive up to S$10,000, to offset 90 per cent of the expenses incurred in their participation of capability development programme(s) related to translation, interpretation and/or languages in Singapore and overseas.
• Click here for more information on the TTDS and how to apply.

Community-in-Translation Events Grant

• As part of the NTC’s efforts to raise translation standards in Singapore, the Community-in-Translation initiative was launched in 2016 to reach out to and engage the community through translation-related activities.
• The Community-in-Translation Events Grant (CiTEG) provides funding support for ground-up events with a strong translation element.
• Interested applicants can submit applications for funding to defray expenses in organising translation-focused events featuring English, Chinese, Malay and/or Tamil.