Happy Belated Bday, Singapore, LAH. I use Singlish too!
Ok, I admit I had to very grudgingly put it up because I couldn't even really be bothered about National Day this year, except for the fact that it was a public holiday and I could go out and have fun. I wanted to post something about National Day this year, but then I realized there was absolutely nothing to blog about National Day. What's there to gush over and discuss about-- soldiers jumping out of helicopers? Fireworks that we see every year? Certainly, those sights are already common and are things we've already taken for granted that we'd definitely see every year.
And so I thought I would have nothing to blog about, until a conversation with Friend A. Friend A and I were talking to a mutual friend, friend B, and we were talking about his good friends/buddies and those he couldn't exactly clique right away with.
Anyway Friend A told me that Friend B couldn't really communicate with another friend, C, because of the way he spoke. Now, C and I are prett good friends, and I thought he was the sociable sort that could get along with almost everyone. It was his amiable, cheerful disposition that made it easy to become friends with him. It wasn't about him being so charismatic, that he had a disarming quality about him, no not that at all. It was just I guess, pure friendliness and cheerfulness.
The reason why Friend B couldn't really communicate with Friend C was due to the fact that Friend C spoke a lot of singlish. Now I'm fine with that, because most of my normal friends do not speak crisp Queen's English anyway, and singlish was our standard language of communication. However, Friend B was a rather Westernized young man, and spoke with a light American lilt to his tone, in other words, he came close to having an American accent, but it was too light to pass off for one. But one of the things he just doesn't get is Singlish. Ok, I understand the fact that some people speak very very heavy, strong Singlish and it can be a little tough to understand them sometimes. That's all understandable. But here was the killer.
Me: So I don't think Friend B has any problem communicating with me right?
Friend A: No leh, actually he has a little.
Me: What?!!
This was their little conversation.
Friend B: I can't understand what Friend C is saying. Mr Moron* also.
Friend A: Nonono, Mr Moron's english is generally good ok.
Friend B: Oh Ok, I think it's just gotta do with the lah's and the lor's.
If the conversations are confusing you, basically Friend B thought my English was bad because I used Singlish and he found it difficult to communicate with me.
This made me darn hopping mad. NO ONE HAD TO EVER DEFEND MY COMMAND OF THE ENGLISH LANGAUGE BECAUSE EVERYONE ALWAYS KNEW I WAS LINGUISTICALLY ABLE! MAN! Seriously, I used to ace my literature and English classes back in secondary school. And back in college, I was the best in my class for General Paper and not to mention one of the best for Literature as well. I know these are not accurate gauges for linguistic proficiency, and are rather inadequate forms of measuring one's linguistic command, but I'm so pissed now I'm just going to use that to justify myself.
And here's a small record of literary achievements I'm proud of: Reading most of Roald Dahl's books by Primary 4 or 5.
Completing The Chronicles of Narnia by Primary 5. (Beat that!)
Reading Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd in Primary 6.
Scoring distinctions in English and literature in secondary school AND college.
Ok, I'm showing off, but who cares.
The fact that Friend B doesn't quite grasp the unique sub-language that is Singlish quite astounds me, considering he has been living in Singapore for almost... 16-17 years? The preference to speak perfect English is one thing, but if you can't even understand the most standard forms of Singlish used in conversations all around this country, can you call yourself a Singaporean? I sure do not think you qualify to be one, having been bred and raised in Singapore since young and failing to adequately understand that unique form of communication.
Mind you, I am perfectly, totally capable of speaking impeccable Queen's English IF I WANT TO. Writing wise, I opt not to use Singlish too because I think it can be mentally degrading, especially because writing is not just an outlet of expression but it also entails serious thought to elucidate one's feelings coherently. If we carelessly just utilize too much Singlish in our writings, not only does it look ugly, it shows how little goes into thought on our blogs. But speech and conversation is different. I would find it a huge burden to consciously rehearse the things I want to say in my mind and then speak it out in perfect, crisp Queen's English. It's something I'm capable of, but I rather go with what is natural to me and throw in the 'lah-s' and 'loh-s' for the sake of easy communication. Of course, that would be out of the question if I'm speaking to Westerners/Caucasians. Duh.
I'm darn pissed off. Since when has the usage of Singlish been a distinctive trait of people with a poor command of English? I tell you, half the bloggers out there are an eloquent, articulate lot, but when it comes to conversing in real life, Singlish comes out of their mouths naturally. I hate being judged for having poor English just because I speak Singlish! And no, I don't even use it that often. It's just that occasional lah-s and loh-s. OCCASIONAL. I barely even use hokkien phrases.
Sometimes, the overusage of Singlish can be a tad annoying, I admit. I cringe all the time when I watch Phua Chu Kang. Ok, so I can count with 1 hand the number of times I watched that intellectually degrading show, but for all the few episodes I watched (which was already enough for me), I always remember being rather irritated. More because of the tone of their speech, and their absolutely slapstick crap than the use of Singlish. But I'm digressing.
I think an attempt to eradicate or condemn Singlish as a whole is rather repulsive. The usage of Singlish IS an idiosyncracy of ours, the inhabitants of this little sunny island, and to rob us of that quirk would be to take a big part of our culture away. Singlish is inextricably linked to our self identity as a nation, and I think it should be left that way, considering we have nothing distinctive as a country to speak of. Sentosa? No way, they have Disneyland. Tall skyscrapers? Nah, there're way taller buildings in other countries. Young teenage deliquents? The punks in other countries makes our rebellious teenagers look like little lambs.
What is left to our credit is our reinvention of the most widely spoken language in the world. It's our defining mark, definitely.
****
Oh, Happy Belated Birthday Singapore. But no, i didn't watch the NDP because the soldiers jumping out of helicopters and the fireworks fails to enthuse me anymore. They try hard to elicit interest, but it's not working. But that doesn't make me any less proud of my country and my culture.
And so I thought I would have nothing to blog about, until a conversation with Friend A. Friend A and I were talking to a mutual friend, friend B, and we were talking about his good friends/buddies and those he couldn't exactly clique right away with.
Anyway Friend A told me that Friend B couldn't really communicate with another friend, C, because of the way he spoke. Now, C and I are prett good friends, and I thought he was the sociable sort that could get along with almost everyone. It was his amiable, cheerful disposition that made it easy to become friends with him. It wasn't about him being so charismatic, that he had a disarming quality about him, no not that at all. It was just I guess, pure friendliness and cheerfulness.
The reason why Friend B couldn't really communicate with Friend C was due to the fact that Friend C spoke a lot of singlish. Now I'm fine with that, because most of my normal friends do not speak crisp Queen's English anyway, and singlish was our standard language of communication. However, Friend B was a rather Westernized young man, and spoke with a light American lilt to his tone, in other words, he came close to having an American accent, but it was too light to pass off for one. But one of the things he just doesn't get is Singlish. Ok, I understand the fact that some people speak very very heavy, strong Singlish and it can be a little tough to understand them sometimes. That's all understandable. But here was the killer.
Me: So I don't think Friend B has any problem communicating with me right?
Friend A: No leh, actually he has a little.
Me: What?!!
This was their little conversation.
Friend B: I can't understand what Friend C is saying. Mr Moron* also.
Friend A: Nonono, Mr Moron's english is generally good ok.
Friend B: Oh Ok, I think it's just gotta do with the lah's and the lor's.
If the conversations are confusing you, basically Friend B thought my English was bad because I used Singlish and he found it difficult to communicate with me.
This made me darn hopping mad. NO ONE HAD TO EVER DEFEND MY COMMAND OF THE ENGLISH LANGAUGE BECAUSE EVERYONE ALWAYS KNEW I WAS LINGUISTICALLY ABLE! MAN! Seriously, I used to ace my literature and English classes back in secondary school. And back in college, I was the best in my class for General Paper and not to mention one of the best for Literature as well. I know these are not accurate gauges for linguistic proficiency, and are rather inadequate forms of measuring one's linguistic command, but I'm so pissed now I'm just going to use that to justify myself.
And here's a small record of literary achievements I'm proud of: Reading most of Roald Dahl's books by Primary 4 or 5.
Completing The Chronicles of Narnia by Primary 5. (Beat that!)
Reading Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd in Primary 6.
Scoring distinctions in English and literature in secondary school AND college.
Ok, I'm showing off, but who cares.
The fact that Friend B doesn't quite grasp the unique sub-language that is Singlish quite astounds me, considering he has been living in Singapore for almost... 16-17 years? The preference to speak perfect English is one thing, but if you can't even understand the most standard forms of Singlish used in conversations all around this country, can you call yourself a Singaporean? I sure do not think you qualify to be one, having been bred and raised in Singapore since young and failing to adequately understand that unique form of communication.
Mind you, I am perfectly, totally capable of speaking impeccable Queen's English IF I WANT TO. Writing wise, I opt not to use Singlish too because I think it can be mentally degrading, especially because writing is not just an outlet of expression but it also entails serious thought to elucidate one's feelings coherently. If we carelessly just utilize too much Singlish in our writings, not only does it look ugly, it shows how little goes into thought on our blogs. But speech and conversation is different. I would find it a huge burden to consciously rehearse the things I want to say in my mind and then speak it out in perfect, crisp Queen's English. It's something I'm capable of, but I rather go with what is natural to me and throw in the 'lah-s' and 'loh-s' for the sake of easy communication. Of course, that would be out of the question if I'm speaking to Westerners/Caucasians. Duh.
I'm darn pissed off. Since when has the usage of Singlish been a distinctive trait of people with a poor command of English? I tell you, half the bloggers out there are an eloquent, articulate lot, but when it comes to conversing in real life, Singlish comes out of their mouths naturally. I hate being judged for having poor English just because I speak Singlish! And no, I don't even use it that often. It's just that occasional lah-s and loh-s. OCCASIONAL. I barely even use hokkien phrases.
Sometimes, the overusage of Singlish can be a tad annoying, I admit. I cringe all the time when I watch Phua Chu Kang. Ok, so I can count with 1 hand the number of times I watched that intellectually degrading show, but for all the few episodes I watched (which was already enough for me), I always remember being rather irritated. More because of the tone of their speech, and their absolutely slapstick crap than the use of Singlish. But I'm digressing.
I think an attempt to eradicate or condemn Singlish as a whole is rather repulsive. The usage of Singlish IS an idiosyncracy of ours, the inhabitants of this little sunny island, and to rob us of that quirk would be to take a big part of our culture away. Singlish is inextricably linked to our self identity as a nation, and I think it should be left that way, considering we have nothing distinctive as a country to speak of. Sentosa? No way, they have Disneyland. Tall skyscrapers? Nah, there're way taller buildings in other countries. Young teenage deliquents? The punks in other countries makes our rebellious teenagers look like little lambs.
What is left to our credit is our reinvention of the most widely spoken language in the world. It's our defining mark, definitely.
****
Oh, Happy Belated Birthday Singapore. But no, i didn't watch the NDP because the soldiers jumping out of helicopters and the fireworks fails to enthuse me anymore. They try hard to elicit interest, but it's not working. But that doesn't make me any less proud of my country and my culture.
