[Women's Weekly]

When we think of Singapore, one thing usually springs to mind – Singlish. Singapore, along with three other countries in Asia, namely India, Pakistan and Philippines are the only countries to adopt English as an official language. No doubt being a former British colony played a big part in seeing English installed as one of four official languages together with Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil. However, despite English being the common language of business, government and the medium of instruction in schools, it is not the national language of Singapore! That title goes to the Malay language, which is the symbolic national language of Singapore, even though only about 13% of the population speaks the language. Malay was chosen as the national language of Singapore to avoid friction with Singapore’s Malay-speaking neighbours, mainly Malaysia and Indonesia, after independence from Britian in the 1960s. Singapore has henceforth, saw its place in a rare group of countries whose majority of people do not speak the national language.

Back to our main topic, Singlish. The reason we discussed about the roles of English and Malay in Singapore is down to a uniquely Singaporean identity – the fact that an average Singaporean is exposed to so many different languages and dialects, both at home and in school and the workplace! Every Singaporean is taught two languages in school, English and his/her mother tongue, which in this case would be one of Mandarin Chinese, Malay or Tamil. On top of speaking two languages, an average Chinese Singaporean might be exposed to a few different Chinese dialects from young – Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka or Hainanese. As many of the older generation of Chinese Singaporeans still use dialect as their main communication language, it has resulted in the widespread use of many dialect terms in daily life, most notably in F&B, greetings, and even swear words. Coupled with the fact that the older generation of Malays and Indians in Singapore are also usually more comfortable in their mother tongue as compared to English, plenty of Malay and Tamil vocabulary has crept into the Singapore English vocabulary, giving rise to a unique brand of English is known to be short and straight to the point, at times combining with Mandarin Chinese, dialect, Malay and Tamil vocabulary! This unique brand of Singapore English? Singlish! 

I have been asked plenty of times by my foreigner friends as to what made Singlish so pervasive in Singapore, despite the schools here teaching proper English. One common answer I gave to them was, well, Singlish is a natural result of a multiracial society like Singapore’s. Back in the early days when the various ethnic races communicated primarily in their own native tongues, in this case usually dialects, Malay or Tamil, plenty of greetings and terms for everyday talk that have been so widely used are still used today as they have been passed down from the older generation to the younger generation. In many cases, it was more important for people to convey their thoughts accurately and precisely when talking to friends of other races, rather than spending too much time on constructing the perfect English sentence. For example, when asking if the other party wants something, instead of saying “Would you like to have this?”, people would instead ask “You want?”. Many of the Singlish phrases also take on the Chinese or Malay sentence structures. You may ask “Would you like to have this?” in English, but in Chinese the same sentence is “Ni yao ma? (you want?)”. Hence when a Chinese speaker who may not be well versed in English wants to say ask the same question, you may end up hearing “You want?” instead.

Ask a foreigner what they know of Singlish, and the first thing they would usually say is ‘lah’. It is pretty well known that Singaporeans love to attach “lah” at the end of an English sentence. However, do you know that this ‘habit’ was actually derived from the Chinese language? In the Chinese Language, ‘lah’ is a proper word attached to the end of a sentence to show emphasis. Seeing there are no proper equivalents in the English language, Chinese Singaporeans in the past therefore adopted the ‘lah’ and began to use it commonly in their English sentences where there was a need for emphasis. “Aiyah you know one lah!”. Additionally, there are also other ending words such as ‘leh’, ‘lor’, ‘meh’, ‘hor’, each with their own distinct characteristic. Using the wrong word may result in a totally different meaning! Look at the example below.

1.    “I don’t want lah” – I do not want it, period. To emphasize that I really do not want it.  

2.    “I don’t want leh” – I do not want it… To show that you do not want something but is reluctant to tell it firmly to the other party.

3.    “I don't want lor” – Okay since that is the case, I do not want it then. To show that you do not want something as a result of a prior reason. 

4.    “I don't want meh” – Are you saying I do not want this? I do not think that is the case. Usually used as a question, to counter a statement by the other party.

5.    “I don’t want hor” – I do not want this, are you clear? To clearly affirm my statement. Quite similar to ‘lah’, but with a tinge of impatience and dislike. 

Singlish does not equate to bad English. The common misconception is that someone who speaks bad English and attaches ‘lah’ at the end of every sentence must be speaking Singlish. That is simply not the case. In fact, Singlish is the culmination of various factors, such as the various Chinese dialect groups, the Malays and the Indians of the past striving to communicate with each other in a common language but not at the expense of losing the flavour of their mother tongues. It is the result of various cultural and linguistic influences on the English language. It is the result of a society of 4 official different races living together in harmony. In current times, most Singaporeans are adept at using proper English when the situation calls for it. We may choose to use Singlish with our fellow Singaporean friends because it feels natural for most of us, but we are also capable of communicating with our foreign counterparts in English they would understand perfectly.   

To end this sharing session, I would like to share 10 words that are commonly used in Singlish phrases. These words are so important and widely used, you might even have heard it for yourself already!

1.    Alamak – A Malay term used to express shock or surprise. “Alamak! I forgot to bring my EZ-link card!” 

2.    Jialat – The Hokkien equivalent of ‘alamak’. “Jialat! I forgot to top up my EZ-link card!”

3.    Aiyoh – A Chinese/Tamil term. Meaning “Oh No!” or “Oh Dear!”. “Aiyoh! Why are you so careless!”

4.    Boh Jio – A Hokkien/Teochew term. Used to show dismay at someone for not inviting you. “Why you boh jio me to your birthday party?!”

5.    Boh Liao – A Hokkien/Teochew term. Used to express boredom, or to describe someone/something of being silly. “You so boh liao meh, go to the park at 3am for what!?”

6.    Boh Pien – A Hokkien/Teochew term. Meaning no choice. “My boss told me to do so I have to do, boh pien.”

7.    Buay Tahan – A combination of Hokkien(buay) and Malay(tahan). Means “unable to stand/take it”. “Wah the weather so hot I buay tahan!”

8.    Kena – A Malay term. Means to be afflicted or to suffer from. “Wah I kena 3 mosquito bites last night!”

9.    Lepak – A Malay term. Means to relax. “Eh we go lepak at Starbucks!”

10. Nia – A Teochew term. Added to the end of a sentence to depict the meaning of “only”. Usually used in a belittling tone. “Aiyah this watch $10 nia, just buy lah!”

There you go, some ‘colourful’ words to add to your sentences when speaking with your Singaporean friends. Try them out today lah!