Probably because they were first trying to sell an ML internally and it sounded like OCaml/Bucklescript didn't catch on. I think the new syntax is the raison d'etre to some extent.
Yeah, for better or worse that's ort of the default. I think ML syntax is fine, and in some cases great. However very few CS programs seem to teach MLs and AFAICT no bootcamps do so these languages tend to get picked up by dedicated autodidacts and academics. ReasonML might be a nice bridge,
