Singaporean's singlish

[Strong Eagle]

Many S'poreans speak good English but code switch to Singlish when people who speak rudely are around.

Well, personally, I'm tempted to do that to the rude foreigners. Don't see why I need to give in to the demands of rude foreigners coming to my country, earning SG $ and still demanding that I speak English in a way that they understand so that they can fit in. (I wonder how foreigners would feel if I went to their country to work and demanded that they speak the language which I feel is pleasant to my ears?) Can't eat your cake and have it too!

You'd make a fine South Texas xenophobic redneck. Did it ever occur to you that those "SG $" wouldn't be in Singapore at all if not for the person earning them?

[anneteoh]

Many S'poreans speak good English but code switch to Singlish when people who speak rudely are around.

Well, personally, I'm tempted to do that to the rude foreigners. Don't see why I need to give in to the demands of rude foreigners coming to my country, earning SG $ and still demanding that I speak English in a way that they understand so that they can fit in. (I wonder how foreigners would feel if I went to their country to work and demanded that they speak the language which I feel is pleasant to my ears?) Can't eat your cake and have it too!

You'd make a fine South Texas xenophobic redneck. Did it ever occur to you that those "SG $" wouldn't be in Singapore at all if not for the person earning them?

Friend of friends was a Seattle red neck and he's quite international thank you. BTW, I hate your foul mouth at me esp as you're a moderator. I was forgiving and attempted to think the better of you but no more.
If you're such a great economist, help Obama get things right.

[Strong Eagle]

BTW, I hate your foul mouth at me esp as you're a moderator.

??? Foul mouth?

[aargon]

..... are tearing anything SG holds sacred - such as decent manners to pieces?

"decent manners" LOL! that comment made my mornings

read my threads on getting short changed, ripped off, locals jumping the queue, the weather (ok that isnt your fault, but it feels like it).... lovely.

you are the ONE SINGAPORE O YEAH O YEAH O YEAH.... I miss that song

Personally I think singlish is like a dialect of english.

[AngelJoy]

Singlish - its one of those languages you dont want your kids picking up unless you plan on living here the rest of your life.

it's gonna be the worst nightmare i've ever had.

[x9200]

By the way, how do you actually manage with your kids? The question especially to non-native speakers where you do not have a strong, solid language base at home.

[anneteoh]

[quote="Strong Eagle

What the hell does this have to do with speaking Singlish? I see the same crap here in this thread justifying the speaking of Singlish as I do Ebonics.

Face it. Some people speak (and write) good English. Others do not. Many Singaporeans, in spite of an English based educational system do not. No need to be an apologist. It is what it is.[/quote]

Yes, using unnecessarily bad language 'hell, 'crap'.
The way people speak English can be traced to the original sources of socio-cultural and linguistic influences. The word 'good' or 'bad' English is subjective and in the final analysis, has no factual grounds. It all depends on the criteria used, otherwise, it falls apart as an opinion.

A discussion is not about overpowering your opponents,( if you find them to be competitive by your standard ) with using bad language to put them down. We know too well about the ugly American. I didn't think you were really one of them as you can make reasonable arguments. I am aversed to answering demanding questions couched in disrespectful language.

After all this show of negativities regarding Singlish, I 'll be sorry but relieved when they have a different language policy even if I'm not that proficient in it. I'm ashamed we have English speakers behaving so badly in this forum.

PS
THis is not meant to criticise you but it might require your moderator's discretion to take action.

The thread on Augmented brain sounds clever but it's semantic trash. It might be useful for the writer to have a 'lobotomy' check as different from the 'anatomical differences' phrase he'd picked up from my humourous sociolinguistic explanation for Singlish. What a difference . Apart from that, it's odd to find that low down fun-poking hilarity in a SG Discussions section. Does it even fit in the jokes and rubbish section of this Expat SG Forum?

I thought this is one of the better forums.

[anneteoh]

..... are tearing anything SG holds sacred - such as decent manners to pieces?

"decent manners" LOL! that comment made my mornings

read my threads on getting short changed, ripped off, locals jumping the queue, the weather (ok that isnt your fault, but it feels like it).... lovely.

you are the ONE SINGAPORE O YEAH O YEAH O YEAH.... I miss that song

Personally I think singlish is like a dialect of english.

I don't have the time to read all the threads, but I can agree to some of the rudeness and jumping queues in the metro. They need to follow that up in schools.
I'm sorry to hear about the short change and getting ripped off - that's not on. BTW, I get that over here too - esp with the refunds and insurances.
You need to learn some Singlish and bargain with the traders. Regarding getting short changed, you should return and explain - some shops have cameras. If they don't admit it, you can say you'll report that dishonesty to the police.
I've never been short changed in SG , but I had to bargain and drive some prices down, esp in Chinatown, Little India and such ethnic places where shoppers should know they have to bargain. They respect you more as it involves interactions with them.
English is spoken differently within the UK itself. I find native speakers with foreign accents most exotic. Singlish is a dialect of English within the colonial contexts, but it stands as Singlish when the country became an independent nation.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Yes, using unnecessarily bad language 'hell, 'crap'.
The way people speak English can be traced to the original sources of socio-cultural and linguistic influences. The word 'good' or 'bad' English is subjective and in the final analysis, has no factual grounds. It all depends on the criteria used, otherwise, it falls apart as an opinion.

According to whose standards? Yours? Your first sentence says one thing and the last says the opposite.

I thought this is one of the better forums.

It is. In spite of some of us.

[EADG]

Not at all, no need to apologize. A few posts later it appears that your points were summarily substantiated.

I'll see you your digression and raise you a few days of not bothering to read a thread gone catty and having lost the plot, despite verbose and unconvincing attempts of masking defensiveness while resorting to tired generalizations. Which is unfortunate but unfortunately predictable .


Meanwhile, since no one correctly translated what I wrote in the other language I speak, it was to say to the person who presumptuously and arrogantly claimed without prior knowledge that they knew the language capabilities of someone they never met, that they were arrogant and presumptuous.

But with the pejorative form of addressing said person, whom to which was lost the subtlety of that language.

For that, SMS, need your award gif here, you know the one.

Lame excuses

If you're going to charge me, at least get your accusations right.

I will no longer debate with you.

You don't stand a chance against me.

You never did.



For other followers of this thread, I apologize for the digression.

[JR8]

Often SGns bad-mouth foreigners behind their backs, you know in the street, shops, on the MRT. My wife delights in translating for me what is being said about me/us. Such inclusive and tolerant people the Singaporeans. Absolutely no racism, it's all jolly harmony. Thank God Asian countries are all owned, I mean led by 'Strong men'. The weak people certainly need it.

Something's very wrong somewhere. If you don't understand Singlish at all, how do you know what they're saying about you? I lived in SG for 2.4 years and I'd never heard anyone making any comments on westerners. From what I'd understood of S'poreans, they're indifferent to other people's lives.

Shall I type it again more slowly? I didn't say I translate, I said my wife does. Do pay attention. Translate, i.e. as in from another language. You think SGns indifferent to others, on the contrary I find them possessed with a burning need to crush all others that come before them. Maybe that's just me lol?
p.s. If you only lived there for 2.4 years you probably do not know the place particularly well do you?


What's your issue with people coming to SG and earning money Leona? Reverting to the usual, expected, sour grapes. That said I suppose someone popping up here asking what to do with a monthly rent allowance that equals your annual salary has got to sting. Anyway, it's your government policy. Why do you think the government is wrong?

You're perverting the course of Leona's defence , as usual. You resort to cutting deep personal insults and I really haven't met any character , however bad in real life, who'd say things as horrid as some of the stuff you'd said here to Leona. I'm surprised, why with all your hatred, you bothered to go there in the first place. No wonder you've turned paranoid.It's certainly untrue that all foreigners earn more than S'poreans. I have no grudge against anyone's earnings; neither would I ever put others' down that way. I've come across expats who love SG and even defend it against unfair criticisms and I'm glad theyshould be well paid. Is this petty, trite grudging moaner really you?

Au contraire. There will be no answers given to the question. Well there haven't been so far have there, so why might one expect a change?
You seem to revel in personally criticising me, for, you say, personally criticising somebody else.
Leona gets treated the way she treats others. You can be upset on your little friends behalf if you want to, but I'm SURE it ALL seems PERFECTLY normal DISCUSSION to HER.
I did not not suggest that all foreigners earn more than Singaporeans, I wrote ' I suppose someone popping up here asking what to do with a monthly rent allowance that equals your annual salary has got to sting'. Did you not read it properly, or do you do this intentionally. As it starting to grate that you constantly seem to get completely the wrong end of the stick, and yet run with it.


Most Singaporeans are incomphrehensibe. And yet it is the government policy that you speak English. Which bit of that policy do you think is wrong?

Another perversion when you know some of their English is better than yours. Don't worry either - they'll get so tired with you, they'll have a Mandarin, Malay, Indonesian, Tamil or Panjabi language policy all lined up.

Another perversion and personal attack on your part [can't help yourself eh]. Read what I wrote! I wrote 'most', not all, but most. That allows for 'some'.... yes. Got that?
Besides the attacking me and the things I have not said, would you like to have a go at answering the points made?

[x9200]

I thought this is one of the better forums.

It is. In spite of some of us.

Ein Meisterstück.

[JR8]

Mont Blanc!

[leona123]

I guess hardly anybody demands it from Singaporeans. Frankly, myself as a non-native speaker have less troubles to understand Singaporeans than for example British.

x9200, if you look through this thread, you could actually see that they do. Anyway, I used the word, 'tempted'. Most foreigners I know are truly nice people and tolerant. So, many of my friends and myself will try to make them feel welcome in Singapore.

Still, the missed point is not to call something an apple if this is a plum.

Not sure if this is appropriate here but I think you would get the point if I say, "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder"

[leona123]

Leona, you haven't missed much except in the defence of Singlish. Would you consider a one liner, or a one word slang of substance in any discussion?

LOL. I think everyone knows the answer to that!