anyway why must be mandarin?
how about hokkien? many non-hokkiens speak it; even some malays and indians are very conversant in it.
i'd say go for hokkien over mandarin any time!
our generation X,Y only speak English/Mandarin among themselves thus their kids won't pick up the Chinese dialects.
Chinese dialects, long in decline will completely die out in Singapore in 20-30 years time. but the CCB and KNN will still remain in use.