Speaking Singlish has become part of our local roots and Singaporeans have naturally been associated with many different slangs like "la"and "lor". Education in Singapore makes it compulsory for students to be effectively bilingual in two languages, English as first language and one's Mother Tongue. This sometimes affects a child's learning as both languages may take a toll on them, unable to learn a language to the art of perfection. This in turns, enables us to develop a "new language" on what we term as 'Singlish'.
Singlish is a mixture of Hokkien, Mandarin, English and some Malay words and is ever-changing that sometimes, even I find it tough to keep up. Almost every Singaporean speaks 'brillant Singlish' that even foreigners find it hard to communicate to us. It is almost imperative to end each sentence with a slang of 'la', 'leh', 'lor', 'meh' that makes the style and delivery of the speech different and difficult to understand.
I was reading an article from the September 2008 issue of Reader's Digest: Mark Lee on his Trashy Comedy Beginnings. It is indeed mind-boggling as to how a man with no good looks and speaks in improper sentences with plenty of grammatical errors be raised to fame and becomes a household name in Singapore. The article speaks of his beginnings as an extra and how acting as a trash can role on the Mandarin Variety show Comedy Night made him a big hit with Singaporeans. To him, 'English is such a confusing language'.
With inference to this article, it shows that Singaporeans identifies with him, especially on the language he uses. The approach appeals strongly to the audience and the widely-use of Singlish brings in a closer feel from the audience to the actor himself, Mark Lee and which the television is the medium of channel involved. It represents a sense of belonging that makes Singlish part of the Singapore culture. Indeed, Singlish has become part of our everyday's lives and homegrown culture that even foreigners tease us about it. To us locals, it is perceived as a language that makes us different and unique as inidividuals as it embodies our surroundings, our experiences especially as a multi-racial society, the way we communicate with one another, with different races and religions. Yet in the eyes of the world, we could just be perceived as Singaporeans who can't string proper English sentences together.
In the end, it all boils down to perceptions and stereotyping. Would you, as a Singaporean be proud to declare that you can speak Singlish or rather not? The author herself would rather be proud of both, be able to speak in Singlish and yet be proficient in the English language.
8 comments:
Personally, I am not very proud to be speaking singlish. But it does makes Singaporean easier to identify. Whenever I am overseas, I can identify one of my own from the way they speak. So in a sense, I suppose it makes us unique. But this has definately makes me suffer at times as I sometimes find it hard to speak in proper English when I go overseas. And when I do lapse into singlish, people will look at me and wonder what I have just said. So, while I think that we have something special here, I am definately not proud of myself for not being able to converse without adding in some singlish.
I would agree with the author and say that yes, I would like to be proficient in both English and Singlish. (This is called the best of both worlds.) No matter how crude or un-understandable Singlish could be, it's a language that most Singaporeans can relate to, especially while overseas. It's nothing embarrassing; in fact, people from other countries such as Australians or the Americans have their own slang too.
Singlish is a type of English that is created due to cultural and social factors...it should be something that we can call our own, in this country when even silver medals can't exactly be called our own, if you know what I mean.
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In today's world, English has become such a universal language that it has adopted local slangs and accents in every different locality on the planet where it is spoken. Germans, Australians, French, Africans, Indians, all speak English differently. On a practical level, if we are talking about general day to day social communication, there is no issue so long as one is understood no matter what accent or slang one speaks English with.
The problem about Singlish is not about Singlish per se. We are not from LA so of course we do not speak with an LA Slang or New York slang. Personally I find China people who worship US slang and consider American english slang as THE English to be spoken as superficially retarded and intellectually shallow. Yes, China people who look down on anyone speaking English without an American accent or slang are the worst kind. Even Chinese from different provinces in China speak Chinese differently.
Anyway, back to Singlish, one must first draw a difference between speaking proper English with a local accent and those who
like Mark Lee, intentionally speak broken English coupled with a Hokkien accent, break all grammar rules and purposely mispronounce words to draw attention to themselves. It is this inferiority complex and attention deficit syndrome that is nurturing and cultivating the new form of popular Singlish today. So what is there to be proud of? Will you be so proud if Mark Lee becomes Singapore's ambassador or even our president and then starts speaking his brand of Singlish complete with crass arrogance and self-absorbed gestures and overtones on international forums representing Singapore? How proud will you be?
Being North American, sadly the only language I speak fluently IS English. The US is behind the times in its emphasis, or lack thereof, on learning other languages. I envy you Singaporeans and your multi-lingual upbringings.
Celine: When I go overseas I, also, can identify one of my own from the way they speak. Perhaps as you feel more comfortable with English you will not need to lapse into Singlish as often? If you get confused with your English ask the person you are speaking with, odds are they will be happy to help you. Maybe you can even teach them some Singlish :)
Kyun, you said "No matter how crude or un-understandable Singlish could be, it's a language that most Singaporeans can relate to, especially while overseas." Does this mean that Singaporeans have trouble understanding Singlish? If this is true, then can you ever be fluent in it?
Chinhao says "Even Chinese from different provinces in China speak Chinese differently." Yes, that is the same in America. Each region has their own slang and unique accent which gives the listener an idea of which region the person is from. Some people have accents and local dialects so unusual that even a native will not understand what they are saying.
Chinhao says further "I find China people who worship US slang and consider American English slang as THE English to be spoken as superficially retarded and intellectually shallow." WE DO TOO!!! Sure some slang is a part of normal conversation (ie dude, sweet, like), but the glorified "street-slang" is only used by a small group of Americans (and kids) and mocked by the majority of adult Americans. If you use this slang (I am thinking of the language you will see in gansta movies) we will look at you like you're crazy!
English is a hard enough language to learn. It makes no sense on so many levels. It has rules that apply except when they don't apply. "Singaporeans identifies with" makes sense right? Plural - plural. But not in English! In English it would be "Singaporeans identify with". Tenses make NO sense!
Anyway, after all that rambling, what I want to say is that YES I think you should be proud of yet another language you are proficient in.
Language is part of culture and is constantly evolving. Communication comes in many forms: verbal, written, visual, sensory and so on. All it matters is being able to communicate one's message across effectively and efficiently.
Hey Christina! Wow. This topic is usually a big one in Singapore. Singlish is something that we Singaporeans should certainly not be proud of. Our Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew once said that we should all "Speak Good English" and "Speak Good Mandarin". We should choose either one and not 'rojak' them all together.
But ironically, tourists who have visited Singapore seem amazed by Singlish and some said that it's sexy and unique. That's according to a New Paper article I read on a few months back when some website rated Singapore as the "Top 10 Places with the most sexy woman". And tourists actually commented that Singlish played a role in making Sinagporean girls sexy. And recently I heard that Singlish is even a language that is being studied by some individuals or something. Interesting but TRUE. Personally, I don't understand why we should be proud of this. But at the same time, it gives us some kind of uniqueness of being a Singaporean right?
Kyun, you said "No matter how crude or un-understandable Singlish could be, it's a language that most Singaporeans can relate to, especially while overseas." Does this mean that Singaporeans have trouble understanding Singlish? If this is true, then can you ever be fluent in it?
Felion: Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I phrased that really badly. What I meant was that Singlish could be crude and un-understandable to people who are not Singaporeans. However, Singaporeans could feel comfortable with, as one could easily recognise another Singaporean from the Singlish we use. :)
By the way, you don't have to envy our multi-lingual abilities...it just proves that we are masters of neither language. For example, my command of the chinese language is really horrible. Haha.
As we grow older, and come into contact with different types of Singaporeans, it is inadvertent that we will begin to pick up singlish! I can safely say that my use of singlish has jumped leaps and bounds in the past... 4-5 years? Now,ending a sentence of with lah, or lor just feels... REALLY right.
We shouldn't feel ashamed because we have our own version of english. we shouldn't feel ashamed because of our rather monotonous accent. If we should feel ashamed, it should be because we are not comfortable with ourselves, the way we act, or for this matter, the way we speak.
And just to end this off, think about the United kingdom. Think about the place where the Queen's english comes from. Then now, think of the different states. Compare Beckham's english, to say, Hugh Grant's english and even to the english spoken by someone from Glasgow. You'll hear different accents, hear their different slangs. But are they not proud of who they are? how they speak?
I don't know actually... i wouldn't dare to ask.
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