Singlish, lah!

why so like that we go first what you say ah huh i dont know lah why she so one kind one

uncle, i want one kopi-kosong he damn fierce

ah wah piang eh say say only

this one pow-ka-leow don’t play play okay jia lat man so cheena pok

one ah wah he very low class lehdon’t come and ji seow me mata come i ga-

bra already ser-ka-li shiok shiok

why he so kpo one i come and hoot you

choy dont anyhow say okay wah she so garang one

the quest to speak good

EnglishIt’s been ten years since the then Prime Minister Mr.

Goh Chok Tong made a National Day Rally speech and mentioned the word ‘Singlish’ eleven times. How far

have we come?By Elizabeth Lee

2 Singlish, lah!

Singlish, lah! 3

There are books every-where in this room. Some are lined up neatly on shelves, some

stacked on the study table and some are even piled precari-ously on a sturdy wooden chair. Ten years ago, this room was the study room of a 40-something year old man. Today, it has been converted into a child’s bedroom and is home to ten-year-old Isaac Lee.

But out of all the books that are in his room, he excitedly picks up a 163-page book entitled, “An Essential Guide to Speak-ing Singlish” and says that this is his favourite book amongst all the other books. On the cover, a cartoon version of Sir Stamford

Raffles ensures what could only be the then Sultan of Johor, Teng-ku Hussein when he arrives on Singapore (or Temasek as it was known then) soil that not only does he speak English, “Singlish also can”[sic].

As he pages though the book, Isaac occasionally stops to show off his favourite parts of the book. “I like this page the most! The comic is really funny and it always makes me laugh. When I showed it to my friends in school, we decided to act it out. It was so hilarious all of us couldn’t stop laughing,” he says with a cheeky grin on his face.

“I don’t know why his father had to buy him that book. His English

Isaac does some exercises in an English assessment book.

4 Singlish, lah!

is bad enough as it is; now he goes around peppering ‘lahs’ and ‘lors’ in almost all his sen-tences,” laments his mother, 49-year-old housewife, Joan Tan. “It was amus-ing at first, but now I think it’s frustrat-ing! How will he be able to learn proper English?”

Madam Tan’s concerns are not one in a million. In fact, the Singa-pore government has been avidly encouraging Singaporeans to stop speaking Singlish and start speaking good English in the past ten years.

Cultivate the need to speak good English from young

In 1999, our then Prime Minister, Mr. Goh Chok Tong men-tioned the word ‘Singlish’ eleven times in his National Day Rally speech. He urged Singaporeans to curb their use of Singlish and focus on speaking “good English” instead. He reasoned that “if [students] get into the habit of speaking Singlish, then later they will either have to unlearn these habits, or learn proper English on top of Singlish. Many pupils will find this too difficult. They may end up unable to speak any language properly, which would be a tragedy.”

In the following months after that speech, Singapore’s favou-rite (Singlish-spouting) TV show contractor, Phua Chu Kang, went

for BEST English classes, 8,000 Primary School English teachers were made to go through compul-sory grammar classes and the Speak Good Eng-lish Movement (SGEM) was offi-cially launched on 29 April 2000.

Today, all primary school teachers have to go through grammar classes, says primary school teacher, Amelia Ng. “We go through two types of classes – the Curriculum Studies class where we learn how to teach English and the Subject Knowl-edge class where it gets techni-cal and we are the students,” the 22-year-old says.

“There is a huge debate about the use of colloquial English because whilst it is a reality in real life, we are the models for our students and should not be speaking Singlish in class. Ulti-mately, we want our students to speak good English so that it will be a asset to them when they go out into the working world”.

“Singlish is used by the young more so than the older genera-tion”, says Dr. Tan Ying Ying, a Linguistics Professor from Nan-yang Technological University. “So, for me it’s quite clear that the Speak Good English Move-ment is targetted at the young”

Speak a language the whole world under-

Exams are round the corner: Final Year Students hard at work at a Starbucks Cafe.

English Conversation classes are offered at Community Centres for people who are interested in brushing up their English speaking skills.

“Singlish makes people laugh”

I don’t see the need to forbid Singlish, it’s a natural thing! Out of class, who actually speaks proper English?”

Singlish, lah! 5stands

Another rationale the govern-ment gives for learning to speak good English is the need to be understood by English-speakers all over the world. During the 2008 launch of a SGEM tailored for service sector, Minister Lim Boon Heng from the Prime Min-ister’s Office reiterated what was highlighted in PM Goh’s speech in 1999.

“English is the most widely spo-ken language. Thus it is impor-tant that we speak good English. As Singapore hosts more and more international events, like the Youth Olympics and the F1, and as we develop more tourist attractions like the IRs, it be-comes even more important that Singaporeans are able to con-verse in good English”, Minister Lim said.

“There are times when I am con-versing with my Singaporean col-leagues and I would have to stop them and ask them to explain certain words and phrases to me because I didn’t understand them”, 26-year-old Indonesian Dimitri Tjandera says.

The graphic designer also remembers some of the prob-lems he had with Singlish when he arrived in Singapore in December 2007. “There were times when I didn’t know what some people were saying, so I thought they were scolding or swearing at me!”, recalled Mr.

Tjandera.

On top of speaking good English, Singaporeans should learn to speak in a neutral accent too, said PM Goh.

“Most of us speak with a Singa-porean accent. We are so used to hearing it that we probably don’t notice it. But we should speak a form of English that is under-stood by the British, Americans, Australians, and people around the world”.

But there are questions as to what exactly is a ‘neutral accent’.

“There are linguists that say we are moving into an era where there is an International standard of English – where English that is spoken is internationally under-stood by everyone. I can use the same words, construct the same sentences, and I will be speaking International English, but there will be inflections in my speech that will still have colourings of where I come from”, says Dr. Tan

How far have we come?

So has SGEM actually improved the standards of English in Singa-pore?

A survey carried out by students from Singapore Polytech-nic School of Busi-ness in November 2007 found that 66% of the adults aged between 15-39 that they inter-viewed claimed that

Exams are round the corner: Final Year Students hard at work at a Starbucks Cafe.

English Conversation classes are offered at Community Centres for people who are interested in brushing up their English speaking skills.

“Singaporeans have a way of shortening long sentences into nice com-pact phrases. It’s wonderfully time-saving!”

“Singlish makes people laugh”

6 Singlish, lah!

they felt their English had im-proved over the past two years.

According to their findings, the survey found that Singaporeans made the effort to speak proper English when they were convers-ing with their superiors, clients, customers or business associates.

27-year-old Procurement officer Tan Enzheng agrees. “Back in school, language was an infor-mal thing. Now at the workplace, there are clients and bosses to impress. I need to speak good English because I do not want to be misunderstood. I love Singlish, but speaking it at the workplace may make you come across as unprofessional”, the NTU gradu-ate shares.

But Dr. Tan says, “How do we gauge whether someone has improved or not? What are the criteria or tests that one car-ries one? To me, one’s language proficiency or the judgement of whether one has improved or not cannot be simply ‘said’ like that.

Primary school teacher Miss Ng too says she does not see the how speaking more or less Singlish may result in her students speak-ing better or worst English.

“I do correct my students when they make any grammatical er-rors when they are answering a question that I have asked in class”, she says. “But if I hear my students speaking to one another in Singlish, I try not to interfere. I don’t see the need to forbid Singlish, it’s a natural thing! Out of class, who actually speaks the Queen’s English?”

It’s a Singaporean thing

Miss Ng admits that while she may come across as blasé, she says she takes her role as an educator very seriously. The main reason why she does not try to correct every single Sin-glish word or phrase she hears is because she herself converses in Singlish with her friends and family.

“It’s a much more relaxed and informal way of communication. If all of us were to interact with each other in proper Queen’s English, it would just be too odd and stilted!”, she exclaims.

“When I order food at a hawker centre, I speak in Singlish. When I first arrived in Singapore, I or-dered my food in ‘proper’ English and was greeted by a puzzled look from the aunty. It’s the cul-ture here and though it got some getting use to, I use Singlish very often now and I love it”, Mr. Tjan-dera says. “Singaporeans have a way of shortening long sentences into nice compact phrases. It’s wonderfully time-saving!”

Isaac sums it up by saying, “There are so many funny Singlish jokes. They always make people laugh; I don’t see anything wrong with it. I think Singlish is special, it makes me happy to know that all Singaporeans speak this lan-guage.”

Which begs the question, Singlish really cannot meh?

Street Poll

Q: I am aware of the Speak Good Eng-lish Movement.

A: Yes, 69% No, 13%

I don’t know, 18%

Q: Is the government right in mak-ing Singaporeans speak only good

English?A: Yes, 42% No, 26%

I don’t know, 32%

No13%

I don't know18%

Yes69%

No17%

I don't know11%

Yes72%

Q: Is Singlish important to Singapor-ean identity?

A: Yes, 72% No, 17%

I don’t know, 11%

We took to the streets and sur-veyed 100 people on their thoughts

about SGEM and Singlish.

“Who actually speaks the Queen’s English?”

Singlish, lah! 7

cannot meh?

why so like that we go first what you say ah huh i dont know lah why she so one kind one

uncle, i want one kopi-kosong he damn fierce

ah wah piang eh say say only

this one pow-ka-leow don’t play play okay jia lat man so cheena pok

one ah wah he very low class lehdon’t come and ji seow me mata come i ga-

bra already ser-ka-li shiok shiok

why he so kpo one i come and hoot you

choy dont anyhow say okay wah she so garang one