I've to write about this

Every now and then I'm reminded of a word-use or phrase that I only stumble upon in Singapore. In the last hour, I've twice come across the use of the contraction "I've" used in a way I haven't seen anywhere else but here or in old English. For example, "The list offers both comfort and security but at perhaps 1/3 or even 1/2 the price I’ve to pay in S’pore."

Certainly in North America, and I'm pretty sure most anywhere in the Commonwealth, this sentence would have been written, "...I have to pay in Singapore." In other words, when "I have to" is being used in the sense of "I must", it is always written out in full. Except in Singapore.

---

Well, a quick Google of "I've to" retrieves early hits in Africa and India. I wonder if this represents the independent misappropriation of the contraction in each country, or whether it's a carry over from colonial-era English.