Polyglot

Most Singapore Government websites are in English

Although there are 4 languages - Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and English, that make up Singapore's official languages. Most Government websites are presented in the English language only.

An example of a Singapore Government website that's only in English

Even when content is available in Malay, Mandarin, or Tamil, it is often limited to specific speeches or downloadable infographics.

Preparing content in Malay, Mandarin and Tamil is tedious and expensive

Unless the government agency has internal capabilities to prepare content in the other vernacular languages, preparing content in Malay, Mandarin and Tamil will typically require engaging external vendors to perform three tasks:

1. Translations (translating the content from English)

2. Vetting (ensuring the translations is fit-for-purpose)

3. Proof-reading (ensuring the translations is error-free)

The cost of these tasks is proportional to the word count. Consequently, high-volume content results in high costs, creating significant friction and a barrier to maintaining multilingual websites.

Existing tools in the market lack local contexts

While automated tools like CMS multilingual modules or built-in browser translators can reduce barriers, they often fail to capture Singapore’s unique context.

Examples of automated translations using Google Translate:

In Singaporean Malay, the term used to describe "Government" in Singapore is "Pemerintah".

Automated tools often use "Kerajaan" which refers to a monarchy — a system Singapore does not have.

In Singaporean Chinese, the term used to describe "Chinatown" in Singapore is "牛车水" which means bullock water-cart in English — a term reflecting the enclave's past

Generic translators may use literal or regional terms that don't resonate locally.

What we have built: A translation tool that addresses existing issues and scales fast

Solving cost and efficiency with Large Language Models (LLMs)

By leveraging LLMs like Claude and Gemini — paired with custom prompts and the Singapore Government Translated Terms database — we have achieved high accuracy and speed among internal testers.

The cost to translate a 1500-word webpage is remarkably low:

• $0.01 for English to Chinese translations

• $0.01 for English to Malay translations

• $0.06 for English to Tamil translations

Building in flexibility to ensure accurate and cost-effective translations

Given the rapid evolution of AI, today's leading model may not be tomorrow’s best. Polyglot is built to be LLM-agnostic, allow it to seamlessly adopt the best and most capable models as they emerge.

Scaling fast by building a widget that embeds directly on the front-end and an admin portal to manage translations

Directly integrating with a CMS provides control but is difficult to scale due to the diverse tech stacks across government agencies.

Instead, we built a widget that can be inserted with a simple script on the front-end, paired with an admin portal to manage translations. This approach allows for rapid rollout across various sites while maintaining the level of control usually reserved for deep CMS integrations.

The Hack for Public Good website with the Polyglot widget installed

Polyglot Studio - the admin portal to manage translations on a website with the widget installed