Can Singlish show to the rest of world?

[angry_one]

I actually think that singlish is a very clever invention - one of sinkapore's most original exports! If sinkapore is as strong as the USA, the world will be trying to imitate us too! The problem is, sinkees must learn to master english or their mother tongue to get ahead in the world. Singlish is only for informal talk among fellow sinkees.

 

[char_jig_kar]

I actually think that singlish is a very clever invention - one of sinkapore's most original exports! If sinkapore is as strong as the USA, the world will be trying to imitate us too! The problem is, sinkees must learn to master english or their mother tongue to get ahead in the world. Singlish is only for informal talk among fellow sinkees.

Pardon me. Translating Mandarin or dialect into English and speak it, thats not 'clever invention'. Some senior, old shanghainese has that too. They deal with the British colonist before. And Chinese in the Chinatown all over the world has that too, their version of 'Singlish': Speaking Mandarin or dialect in English. There's no originality in it.

 

[banova888]

Singlish is used when losers communicate with losers or when one needs to talk down to a loser

Makes us wonder. What happened to the Mandarin Campaign Lost between losers!!

 

[banova888]

I have poor language skill, doesn't matter English, Chinese language or others. Anyway, here's my take on Singlish.

Singlish is speaking Mandarin, Chinese dialect, or other Asian languages in English. Which means it is an inefficient language: adding a layer between the speaker and Asian language.

If wanna speak Asian language, such as Mandarin or Chinese dialect, just go to the source, use the Asian language directly. Whats the point of adding one layer of English language?

You are trying to imply that SingGlish = ChinkGlish.

SingGlish is Singaporeans from different races speaking English. Beauty of Singlish is that Chinese, Indian and Malay Grandmothers can communicate with each other in Singapore and Malaysia.

ChinkGlish is when Chinese in China start to learn English after years of trying to promote Mandarin.

 

[troubledtimes]

Hi Kunta (just trying out the QUOTE reply)

Having to deal with workers at the site when I was a project guy, and then having to switch when I need to make a presentation to a bunch of snoots who just can't wait for the presenter to make a mistake, technical, commercial, or grammatical.

Tell me about it. Language snoots can NEVER be pleased! They will pick on things like split infinity and double conjunctions. Having said that, if they start over picking, its usually a form of cat skinning. I once got an angmo collegue to write the presentation, and the language was still criticsed! This time on preposistions and its positioning?!!! WTF!!! It turns out the project was given away 1 week ago! That SOB was just chancing!!!!

 

[Agoraphobic]

....... its usually a form of cat skinning.

Hey, I like that term, "a form of cat-skinning!"

Now, how do we sat that in Singlish?

Cheers!

 

[char_jig_kar]

You are trying to imply that SingGlish = ChinkGlish.

SingGlish is Singaporeans from different races speaking English. Beauty of Singlish is that Chinese, Indian and Malay Grandmothers can communicate with each other in Singapore and Malaysia.

ChinkGlish is when Chinese in China start to learn English after years of trying to promote Mandarin.

Singapore is comprise of 3 major asian races, the chinese about 75.2%, the malay 13.6 over percent, the indian 8.8 over percent.

Which of course reflected in Singlish. A language which is a translation of asian languages into english. And a huge portion of Singlish is translation from Mandarin and Chinese dialect into english, which is not surprising, because of the population ratio of this country: 75 percent are chinese here.

 

[char_jig_kar]

Tell me about it. Language snoots can NEVER be pleased! They will pick on things like split infinity and double conjunctions. Having said that, if they start over picking, its usually a form of cat skinning. I once got an angmo collegue to write the presentation, and the language was still criticsed! This time on preposistions and its positioning?!!! WTF!!! It turns out the project was given away 1 week ago! That SOB was just chancing!!!!

no. its not about language snoots.

the reality is we are using a language which is inefficient. its translation from asian languages into english.

recently, some demonstration happened in thailand. and the news channel from the western media interview some of the demonstrators. some of them thais demonstrators speak english with thai accent. we could call it thalish.

but my friend, they have something to fall back on! i bet they have good grasp in thai! i bet when after the interview, they will speak thais or thai dialect fluently among their families and friends.

but how about us Singaporeans?? what do we fall back on?? we are gambling on a inefficient language this society! this nation! with no safety net! with no back up plan! all of the chips pretty much push towards Singlish here in our country. we are betting most of our chips on a inefficient language!

 

[peter ng]

What happen when one day singlish become more and more to our society?

 

[Agoraphobic]

What happen when one day singlish become more and more to our society?

Two things:

1. No need to worry about that bcos society is become more and more singlish.

OR

2. No need to worry about that bcos society is become more and more singdarin.

3. No need to worry about that bcos society is UNLIKELY to become more and more singdi or singlay.

Cheers!

ps. "Kena fuck" - malay and english words, chinese grammar. Singapore is truly a cultural melting pot. Is Singlish Fusion, or Hybrid?

 

[phouse3]

Singlish is not about ungrammatical English. In fact, it is quite rude to correct another person's "imperfect" Engish. Many times before, we have seen the person doing the correction turning good English into bad English due to his poor command of the language.

The English-speaking world probably understands a Thai or an Indonesian speaking imperfect English. But the world will never understand Singlish because it is unintelligible. And in order for a foreigner to master Singlish, he/she first has to master non-standard Hokkein, Malay, etc. It's an impossible task.

The harsh fact is Singaporeans speak non-standard dialects and languages. It may have something to do with the genes.

Our Mandarin is equally atrocious, it is peppered with English words. The end results is that both the native Mandarin and English speaker cannot understand a Singaporean, at least not fully.

 

[peter ng]

I can't understand why a lot of people can speak and write proper english
also like to use singlish?

 

[troubledtimes]

ps. "kena fuck" - malay and english words, chinese grammar. Singapore is truly a cultural melting pot. Is singlish fusion, or hybrid?

haha!! " bei diao" !

 

[kulgai]

Their problem. Not mine too.

However, I do speak Singlish too. Just for the convenience of communication. Imagine if you go to a hawker centre and speak proper English? You'd most likely have to repeat yourself a few times in order to get your message or order across. Language is a medium for communication. Black cat or white cat, if it can catch a rat it's a good cat. Singlish or English, if it can get the message across it's a useful language.

For example:

Customer A: Wei, char kuay teow mai hum one plate, want chilli.
Hawker Assistant: OK.
Customer B: Excuse me, I'd like to have a plate of pan fried noodles without cockles but with chili.
Hawker Assistant: Huh? What cocker? Talk what cock?

Bottomline - singlish is for use at the hawker centres. I'm pretty sure all of us know when to adapt when the situation arises.
The debate here is about whether we should be proud of Singlish and we are talking about the educated man in the street.
Now, how is it that Singlish means different things to different peolple? The simple answer is that there's no such thing as Singlish. Singlish is merely an excuse for not being able to speak proper English. It is perfectly ok to introduce hokkien or malay into our everyday conversations or even twist the language to suit our local culture. However, it is no longer ok if you're not able to switch mode into proper English when the situation demands it. A large majority of Singaporeans are already grappling with the language without realising it. When faced with a cosmopolitan audience, reality hits home. It does not help that Singlish reinforces their incompetence. After a time, Singlish becomes a habit and finally a culture. Once it becomes a culture, the society within becomes defensive and proudly proclaims that it is their right to speak whichever way they want. The sad truth is we are now in self denial, refusing to admit our inadequacies.