It's 'love' - as voted by the participants in a British Council contest for Singapore's favourite English word.

In the online contest which was held over four months and drew 5,568 entries, 'love'' pulled in 2,666 votes, or 47.9 per cent of the total.

Rounding out the top six were 'peace' (1,518 votes); 'family' (1,411); 'mum' (1,230, far ahead of the 360 for the word 'father'); 'dream' (1,210); and 'cool' (1,202).

The contest was organised by the council and the National Library Board (NLB), as part of the Speak Good English Movement and also to celebrate the council's 60th anniversary here.

Said council director Eunice Crook, 56: 'I think the top words make a powerful statement about Singapore as a country. Despite being a great modern city, the words chosen reflect traditional, inner values.'

The word 'money' did not even make the top 10, coming in at 13th with 863 votes (just edging out words No. 14 and 15, 'music' and 'knowledge').

Said Ms Trudy Loh, 44, assistant director of the NLB's community partnerships and outreach division: 'Singaporeans usually use language on a very functional basis and we wanted to use this contest as a platform for widening their breadth of expression.

'Personally, I'm very heartened by the results. I think peace and love are very important, what with the world being in the state it is in today.'

The contest was inspired by a council campaign in 2004 that asked people in 109 countries to vote for the English word they felt to be most beautiful. The top choice was 'mother'.

This is the first the council has organised such a contest for a single country and there are no plans to launch it in other countries.

For the Singapore contest, about 300 students in various courses run by the council were asked to submit their favourite words.

Five council members in charge of this project whittled down the list and added some of their favourites, coming up with a shortlist of 60 words.

Online voters were asked to pick their favourite six words. Through a lucky draw, one participant, Mr Goh Puay Yong, won a pair of economy-class return air tickets to Britain.

The 46-year-old banker'sfavourite word is 'cool' - 'because we should all cool down. Life in Singapore is very stressful'.

A case in point - he would like to take his wife, a sales manager, and his two children, aged nine and 10, on vacation using his prize, but 'I need to take leave and I don't know when I can find the time'.

hxinyi@sph.com.sg