This video was first published on straitstimes.com in 2014.

SINGAPORE - Once upon a time, there were at least five main dialects uttered across streets and markets in Singapore: Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka and Hainanese.

Today, Mandarin is the predominant language spoken by Chinese here, and many from the younger generation can barely speak a word of dialect.

For the Chinese New Year, The Straits Times went around the island in search of people to say the most common festive greeting - "Happy New Year, and may everything go according to your wishes" - in their native dialects.