How Singlish Went From 'Cannot Make It' To National Hero | Singlish: Why We Talk Like That? - Part 1

The year is 1974. A song was banned by Radio Television Singapore - the state broadcaster at the time. The reason? Improper use of English.
Over the next few years, educational reforms swept through our young nation to fix what then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew called “distortions in Singapore English”. But a spontaneous series of events would stir the imaginations of Singaporeans and push Singlish into once forbidden waters.
Musician and host Shabir Tabare Alam discovers how our common tongue came to be and traces its journey from nationhood to the cusp of the new millennium.
Credit: Song at 24:27 performed by @thegohmedian
WATCH MORE Singlish: Why We Talk Like That?
Part 2: • From Phua Chu Kang To ...
Web extra: The Wah Lau Gang: • The Wah Lau Gang and S...
0:00 Singlish: An introduction
2:58 How well do you know Singlish?
5:45 What is 'lah'?
10:12 Origins of Singlish
14:17 Banning of a Singlish song, Fried Rice Paradise
17:40 Why the rejection of Singlish?
21:36 Why I chose to document Singlish
24:30 How the army became Singlish incubator
28:56 Singlish phrases explained, with Annette Lee
31:35 'Why U So Like Dat' by Siva Choy
34:44 When Singlish was finally acknowledged
38:24 Singlish quiz with Gwee Li Sui
41:12 How Singlish connects us
43:13 Are we more giving to Singlish speakers?
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About the show: Award-winning singer-songwriter Shabir traces the genesis of Singlish and its journey from pariah to cultural phenomenon.
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#CNAInsider #SinglishCNA #Singlish #Singapore
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[@nitemoonz]

Speaking Singlish helps ease the pressure of being taken too seriously. I feel Singlish has the power to make ppl feel more relaxed and appear more amiable.

[@JohnFekoloid]

In Nigeria, we have similar Nigerian English and close related pidgin English. You guys say, "lah" we say "Na". Come Na, go Na,... Etc.

[@albertpang102]

Oh really 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@openfly4u]

It has a feel of Queens English being formal and Singlish being informal. Many languages have that.

[@Thekidisalright]

Imagine being a loser who doesn’t want to be taken seriously. No wonder LKY said if you speak Singlish you are a loser.

[@JoanKSX]

Yup, it's the same as Manglish (Malaysian English). We might sounded quite similar to other countries, but among Malaysians and Singaporeans we will clearly identify each other whether you are a Malaysian or Singaporean with just one self-local daily speaking 'English' sentence LOL Singlish and Manglish are so different, wow. So many classic Singlish phrases I don't really understand since I'm a Malaysian LMAO

[@hermesz_]

Honestly, SInglish bonds us. Went to Europe and was conversing in SInglish and another group of people came over and spoke singlish too. We chatted with each other and realised what we all lived roughly around the same neighborhood

[@simk2243]

talkcocksingsongplaymahjong

[@ona2779]

I was in a London museum and started talking to my friend in Singlish. Bcuz it's a museum, got to speak softly. Surprisingly, got one ang moh came to interrupt to ask if we are from Singapore. The ang moh then started sharing he has been to Singapore several time blah blah.....it's a good feeling to be recognise immediately hahaha

[@vinegarman4205]

@Kian Hong Chua you speakin some garbage english my guy

[@user-fe1br9on4t]

Language does bring people together. China brought their large diverse dialects together by introducing Mandarin as a standard language.

[@jiarui1312]

Singlish is probably the only identity we recognise one another, no matter where we go I remember when i was studying overseas, it just bring me home when i hear singlish, close the gap of us and know your fellow man, cause singlish is so unique pple don’t understand you, so that’s why some just can’t understand us! Time for gossip!! 🥳😂

[@bruenor82]

not even the words, the unique tonality too. when the little kid shouts "MAMEEEE!" across the street you already know before you turn your head.

[@rubyjeantan]

Kudos to CNA for pulling this documentary about our national language together. As a Singaporean, I have to say this is power la - brings back such nostalgia yet still so educational at the same time. The sad thing is our current generation has been wired to reject this authentic part of us as citizens, and this will stay until we wake up our idea lor. I just hope Singaporeans from our 100th birthday and beyond would have fully embraced who we are as a culture and identity, and learn never to be ashamed of Singlish.

[@yangtung]

You can speak Singlish at home or in your marketplace but not in the office. Like dialect and Pasar Malay.

[@SK-lt1so]

It's one of the best things about Singapore. Love listening to people drift between English, Hokkien, Teochew, Malay...

[@musenw8834]

And Cantonese.

[@subbiahboopalan3144]

And Tamil

[@liongkienfai104]

Being a Teochew, Cantonese, Betawi Malay, Baba Malay, and English speaker from Indonesia, Singlish came naturally to me. The explanation of it as originating from Bazaar Malay was unexpected (but makes sense), and perhaps would explain why I as a Betawi Malay speaker (a kind of Bazaar Malay spoken in and around Jakarta) picked up on Singlish without effort. But it would have been nice to go deeper into the relationship between Bazaar Malay and Singlish to better explain the transition from one creole to another. Also correction, 11:54 Bazaar Malay is not merely Malay with smatterings of Chinese vernacular. That is more like Baba Malay (plus grammar and other aspects also being Chinese influenced). Bazaar Malay is Malay spoken by or between non-Malays, often in a market setting. This means that Bazaar Malay is not a single entity, but can refer to any regional Malay creoles, such as Betawi (Jakarta) Malay, Manado Malay, Dili Malay, etc. Bazaar Malay in Jakarta and Singapore happen to have a lot of Chinese influence, but not in Manado or Dili, which have more Dutch, Minahasan, Portuguese, and Tetum influences. Reflecting the different groups of people in those regions that used (Bazaar) Malay as a lingua franca.

[@empressoftheskies]

I'm not Singaporean but I think Singlish is so rich and full of culture, a melting pot of all the languages spoken in the peninsula. Literally is the United Nations of languages!!! And for that, it's beautiful!

[@gumballdarwin2330]

Well, Singlish is not our official language but it's part of our national culture.

[@TheTraveler2222]

Then you are thinking wrong

[@hoonirene7534]

Agree! It’s like Singaporeans’ own identity!😃

[@thomaschan6970]

When my family and I were holidaying in Adelaide a few years ago, a cashier at a supermarket was asking if we are Singaporeans upon hearing us talking in Singlish. He had fond memories when he was here for a period of time. SINGLISH POWER SIA!

[@chua2237]

Why not speak soul tongue why speak fake colonizer tongue.

[@yamagucci2966]

Umm there seems to be a misunderstanding about the origin of "Abuden" at 30:29 Abuden does not come from "Ah but then" It is a mix of hokkien and english ( Abo ) means "If not?" from Hokkien ( den ) means "Then" from English . But when saying it fast, it sometimes sounds like ( Abuden ) instead of ( Aboden ) . So when someone ask a blindly obvious statement, you reply them ( abuden/aboden ), meaning " If not? Then? " . Example : Person A : " I go shopping for fish at fish market this morning " Person B : " What you buy? " Person A : " Fish lah!! Abuden? Buy House is it? " . Person A is implying : " If not fish, then? Buy house?"

[@judee2578]

Everything has its background and history, that’s why language is so important. No matter what culture, region, or ethnicity, we need to respect. Great documentary

[@chua2237]

English is colonizer tongue singish is fake colonizer tongue.

[@shermannatrix]

I absolutely love this documentary! CNA Insider steady la! As a Singaporean, I am so proud of our Singlish! It's literally who we are as a nation, and culture. I love how it's a way to cut across class so that everybody can feel included and be able to easily understand each other.

[@glngstr]

Well, as Indonesian (Javanese man), I can easily understand the usage of "lah" as a Singlish particle since it's soooo similar with our usage of "lah". Bahasa Indonesia uses "lah" almost in every sentence. And I strongly believe that the the function is 99% similar.

[@areitu]

It’s also very similar to how it’s used in Taiwanese Hokkien although it tends to sound more like “ah”

[@Weeping-Angel]

It’s basically Cantonese

[@atengku9660]

There’s no such thing as ‘bahasa Indonesia’. It’s Malay. Singlish, despite not being understood by others, is still called Singaporean English. No such thing as bahasa Indonesia. The name is Malay but the Indons stole the language and call it bahasa Indonesia.

[@glngstr]

@@atengku9660 I'm so sorry for you and your miserable life 😂

[@Janovial]

The Lahs and Bahs used in Sabah originate from Chinese

[@lijmes]

I once was seated at a table in Perth, having a meal with my Canadian, aussia and Kenyan housemates. Speaking neutral English and all, evryone could understand everyone perfectly well... then in walked a fellow Singaporean friend who joined us and I unknowingly lapsed into a convo with her all in Singlish (aye where u come back from ah? Got buy the maggi mee? Bo leh no sale etc etc...). 1min later, my 3 foreign friends told us they've got no idea what language we were speaking and they caught 0% of what we said. We replied 'English'... and their jaws dropped. So did ours of course. Whao! Mind blown...

[@saermaanggun4543]

That funny😂😂

[@leslieho8377]

Exactly, when we are overly absorbed into this self righteousness due to our current wealth status. We have completely forgotten the core reason why we chose English for trade and commerce with the rest of the world. Deviating too much is silly towards our own pocket. Not forgetting we are a mere 7 million dots out of the billions. We dun control the weather.

[@lijmes]

@@leslieho8377 huh? Le gong simi? Ppl tok apple orange, u tok featherduster harpic toilet cleaner. Ppl trying to tell u we Singaporeans (and malaysians) are able to code switch unconsciously (and pretty flawlessly may I add), and are proud of it, and there u are going on about being self absorbed & overlooking our touchstone of success. Btw u can possess a good command of English language and speak singlish fluently. Your English can be rotten AF and also speak singlish perfectly. You can possess accented English and still speak singlish like any local can.

[@Fakeslimshady]

Correct answer is "oh, slang"

[@eliseww13]

This is by far one of, if not, the best and most enjoyable and intellectual episode from CNA Insider! Let's preserve our unique identity! Everything was so tastefully put together. Context, humor, theory, music, interactive mode, etc. :D

[@tkyap2524]

Amazingly, many of us can switch back to proper English. Let Singlish remain a fun thing.

[@yanling60]

Really enjoyed this series, CNA!!! Very educational and entertaining (: one of my favourite series~

[@edlwk]

Great episode! Really enjoyed this - it’s truly the language which bonds Singaporeans and something which we should all be proud of! Something which adds to our cultural identity!

[@zl8003]

As a kid born in 1995, I still remember how the government was actively dissuading the public to use Singlish and that is “not accepted” in Singapore as it will “have significant impact on how the younger generation learn and speak standard English, along with the detrimental effect on how the global world view Singaporeans”. It then sparked a nationwide debate and discussion on how Singaporeans truly felt about Singlish and Singlish eventually became part of a Singaporean Identity.

[@M_SC]

You need both.

[@kumakuma5769]

Phua Chu Kang got cancelled because of Singlish. Don't pray pray.

[@julesgoh]

Funny and educational! Love this, CNA! Thanks ah!

[@neoweemin872]

i think it was great that english was learnt as a nation and learnt it well so that singapore can leap from third to first world....now we can relax and enjoy singlish...so that is just the fruits of success...

[@brunojm7282]

Because you are all Ah Beng lah !

[@topsoraphak1061]

Really like Singlish. It is a Singapore's identity. If I could master, it should be a convenient language. It seem like a causal form of speaking, in which the English lacks. What a beautiful language. It makes people feel closer together.

[@sakurachristineito6428]

On the day I arrived in Singapore from Japan, the first sentence I heard on the street was "cannot lah bro" hahahahha like it took me years to learn English & it was a such difficult language for Japanese tongues..but that all pales in comparison to Singlish hahaha

[@eddiehun4255]

Singlish has the majority similar to Malaysian style of language as well. All those word are either direct or mixture from Chinese, Malay, Indian and some dialect in form of Cantonese, Mandarin and Hokkien.

[@kradfreedom9624]

English evolved and blended with every other language since its like the universal language so its not surprising theres a variety of how it is used by countries. In Philippines theres Tag-Lish, In US theres English US and a lot so no wonder SingLish is unique on its own.

[@andyc9902]

English is the top G of Language

[@lucyhoneychurch1079]

In the 90s, there's a song by Siva Choy "Why you so Like Dat ah?". That's Singlish!

[@84jordie]

That song was soo popular in Malaysia!

[@lkm1545]

Speaking singlish to someone who understands makes us feel closer especially overseas.

[@NazriB]

Lies again? Sing English Bear Yeti

[@chungwk7203]

I remembered when I was studying in the US, one of my foreign classmates asked me what is the meaning of "Walao"

[@MelonLemon007]

Singlish will always be a part of me. I grew up with them. I can express myself better with Singlish.

[@Fledermausmann]

Long post warning!! First of all, I'd like to commend CNA for making this documentary and bringing to the forefront other topics such as race and class etc. I think they're doing an admirable job in allowing the nation to have the debates that are needed, some of which they might not even know about. On to the topic at hand, Singlish. Frankly, I remember as a child, that my parents and grandparents always separated English and Singlish. Something which I think is very good for modern day people as it allows us to recognise that Singlish in itself is a unique language - in this case a creole - that has its own value, its own structure, grammar and phrases and allows us to appreciate it. English is, in many ways, besides the vocabulary completely different. Even something as simple as how it's spoken. Singlish is syllable-timed meaning that each syllable takes approximately the same amount of time to be pronounced whereas English is stress-timed meaning that unstressed syllables are shortened to maintain the rhythm of the language. It's why English speakers speaking Singlish sound very strange to the native Singlish speaker. Thus it brings me to the issue at hand. Since we in Singapore have never been taught the difference between the two languages, we tend to think of them as a single language i.e. English. As such, this leads native Singlish speakers use their native grammar i.e. a more Chinese type grammar without the use of plurals (which are not needed in Singlish) as they have never been taught differently. The solution is simple. To teach the languages separately or at least acknowledge them as such, therefore leading to the situation known as diglossia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diglossia). Therefore, if need be, the average Singaporean would be quite at home in the courts of London or New York and equally at home in the hawker centres of Toa Payoh or Ang Mo Kio. Some people may ask, well why even have two forms of the language or why do we need it? Frankly, because it's absolutely appalling how many people make the simplest grammatical errors in official documents. Errors that make the document borderline unreadable or muddle up the language such that the intent of the document is pretty much lost. If you don't believe me, go look at almost any document written in the army for its people. Or listen to any of the songs. If you tell me that's English, well then you and I have fairly different concepts of the language. Anyway, I'm about halfway through the video and I'll probably have more to add. Eventually. The point, if it is not clear, is that Singaporeans should embrace both languages and be proud of Singlish as a separate unique language and, if need be, learn English as a separate language for communication purposes and be proud to learn that language too. Just don't muddle the two up.

[@zachxav]

Wow I’m fascinated to learn that Singlish is syllable-timed while English is stress-timed. I’m totally behind keeping the languages separate - in fact it was pointed out in this video that they ARE different languages entirely. The more people recognise this the better. Then we can move on from defending one or the other, to declaring that most Singaporeans speak 3 languages - English, their mother tongue, and Singlish - and work on improving our fluency in all 3 languages. And yes, ungrammatical writing is a pain to read!

[@Thelocalavenue]

TLDR

[@dingus42]

yes! And I feel more Singaporeans should recognise how Singlish is its own separate (equally legitimate) language which is distinct from Standard SG English, so we are often much more bi/tri+ -lingual than we realise!

[@ahdebusmeh4495]

Love this episode

[@samwrought5650]

As Cambodian American in the USN in Singapore in 2005, hearing this for the first time was pretty cool

[@sususegar]

Missed opportunity to explain to non-natives and maybe even locals. Kancheong/Gancheong is Cantonese for 'nervous' or 'anxious'. The word itself is enough to convey meaning, adding 'spider' give it an idiomatic flavour. I tend to associate spider or bugs in general as being jumpy and sensitive to movements near them, didn't know it has to do with firearm's nozzle.

[@kens79]

Singlish to me = home. Just like we are all grown up now and can afford to eat good food at restaurants, but it still can't beat a simple dish prepared by my mom. I went to china to work for a few months and I was home sick even though I can speak mandarin very well and have no issue with communications. I felt horrible staying there until a neighbour moved in who is also a Singaporean. We started speaking Singlish and suddenly my home sick is gone and i felt so much better until I came back to Singapore - our home, our kampong.

[@tanbrenda6435]

Thank you very much CNA for having this program of how our every Singlish came about. It was very interesting to know so much about the origin of it. I find our Singlish very very unique and as we have conversation with friends, it sound very friendly too. I have a foreign friend once asked how to speak in Singlish😀 she liked it very much. I told my friend, if you stay here long, you will naturally pick up😊 Singlish

[@amk4579]

Good show. Now I understand and take pride in my own language. N indeed, it brings ppl closer together 🎉❤

[@ChirpyChat]

Great timing to release this two-parter on the eve of National Day! The etymology, the songs, the books were all new to me and I'm local!! Singlish is used differently by different Singaporeans. I use it with Standard English (SE) while others use it to replace SE.

[@space4495]

Singlish is so effective. Save time and saliva. Don't have to long-winded question. Just, Hah?

[@sktoh4469]

Except when they write, they can't write grammatically. Not a good situation when the audience is potentially international. I see grammar errors even on Sinkapore government websites.

[@dingus42]

@@sktoh4469 Ungrammatical in English or Singlish? They are two different languages with very different grammatical rules.

[@sktoh4469]

@@dingus42 Ding dong. Writing in Singlish for a potentially international audience is foolhardy and naive. Nothing to be proud of.

[@Kianglekable]

Singlish is just fine It has the same value as Indian, Nigerian, Papua New Guinea, Ghana, Pakistani, Iraqi English Each has its unique local flavour

[@andywangwatthana]

I’m a Hokkien speaker Taiwanese and stayed in Malaysia for 7 years , it isn’t takes long time for me to speak Singlish ( very rojak ) so happy I could speak like a local wor ❤

[@janc3830]

This is very interesting. It used to be looked down upon.

[@lng1285]

Such a cool message, loved the expressions! Totally gonna use "wake up your Idea"! 😁

[@Utube1024]

and the "don't talk cock" hahaha

[@shastasilverchairsg]

I think Singlish is becoming more acceptable, because the younger generations are now fully proficient in English (more or less) and hence we are more secure in our linguistic identity. With Mandarin, on the other hand... we're getting eaten alive by Ah Tiongs.

[@happydays123]

Who is Ah Tiong ah?

[@dragon8887]

@@happydays123 deh lidat also donno? 🤣 (in all seriousness, it refers to PRC Chinese)

[@TheSofeain]

I was living in Riau Indonesia,Singlish is easy to understand english .... especially on phua chu kang tv show...it is so funny n hilarious 😊

[@zixianchen9901]

I've liked Shabir since he took on the role of Major Habibullah in This Land Is Mine and it's awesome seeing him host this haha

[@share_accidental]

i'm pursing an english degree right now & i had a recent assignment about whether singlish & standard english can "harmoniously coexistent". this made me think about it 😂

[@aloysiuslee773]

14:14 does anyone know who wrote this version, or sang/produced it? I want to find the youtube uploaded ver. of it

[@cheti8720]

I think its not dont pray pray, but rather dont play play which translate to 'jangan main-main' in malay

[@addicted2me]

Singapore is full of mix cultures and singlish is exactly that. No other race is above the other. we are all equal.

[@miaouscleaumonocle]

When I lived in Singapore, I found it very strange that there is this ubiquitous particle lah, considering that in colloquial French we have a particle là which is used to add emphasis, or to insist (or as a mere speaking habit, or to buy time)... "mais oui, ce livre, là !" "souviens toi, le type là..." and so on All the stranger considering that French had (to the best of my knowledge) zero influence on Singapore's languages... Seems like 'lah/là' had parallel lives! I think it's great to let develop one's own colloquial version of the language, as long as the 'standard' (international) version is taught in school. Same here in France, as long as proper French is taught in school, no big deal to use colloquial French in our daily lives. But important to be able to revert to a more standard French if we meet people from abroad or non native speakers.

[@alertscpi7898]

Singlish is an evolution of our Singapore identity that arises naturally from our multiculturalism, culture and a reflection of our way of life, lah. It gives a sense of belonging.

[@akhbarkhanmohamad6705]

Even Jamaican like bob Marley has their own version.We are not English. English is a colonial language.Singlish became our indentity where everybody understand each other regardless of status and age.Hope we all continue to communicate in singlish socially.

[@Yuliasoebeno4929]

It was fun when I was working in an office in Orchard Road. The conversations in the office made me laughs so much 😂 Each time I asked:"Can I do this document this way?" (For example). And the answer is always:"Can...can...lah!" 😂 I used to tease my coleagues, by dancing " Can Can", you know the show in Moulan Rouge - Paris. Raised my skirt a little bit, and danced the Can-Can....I was sad that no one laughed at all 😢😮.

[@jun_suzuki42]

To survive in a society, language is definitely the very first tool, even while ordering food from a hawker. So yes definitely Singlish is important but also normal English for official business.

[@Truthseeker371]

Singlish is fun. Mixture of Malay, Chinese dialects and English. Pigeon English in Papua Nu Guini, Creol French in Carribbean and Indian Islands, Afrikaans in South Africa are also very unique and mind boggling.

[@kap849]

Sheng in Kenya 😀.

[@suannasabrinapereira8091]

Pidgin English

[@Wong-Jack-Man]

Colorful documentary 😊 enjoyable.

[@zal_models]

wah lau spent so much time watching this lei! but not bad hor can manage to finish lah

[@kennySg101]

Singlish is a form of english mixed with local terms, malay, cantonese, hokkien etc. It is actually no different from people in new york and london who speak differently from other parts of the country. They also has local terms or mixed with other languages depending on population mix. Singaporeans must have self confident. Our command of language is pretty good. Don't be confused with the aunties and uncles who speak broken english as some of them have not even received education in the language. We are already 57 years old. Be confident, hold up your head and speak like new Yorkers and londoners.

[@eugenec7130]

Truely agreed. (When I type truely, the editor flags it as a mistake. But shouldn't it be truely, not truly?) If the native English speakers are allowed to change their language, why aren't other users of English? When the whole world modifies English, the natives will one day accept variants of English.

[@kennySg101]

@@eugenec7130 To me, it is also an identity issue, we are, in the way, afraid of other people dont understand us, our language is not measured up, we feel inferior etc. I heard SG people apologize to westerners for his/her spoken english even though they didnt quite use Singlish. New yorkers and Londoners dont do it. You have to learn to understand them not the other way round. Dont know U ask, I will explain.

[@krappola1]

I recalled in the 1970s there is a junior college debate on TV. National Junior College vs Raffles Institution. I think the topic was whether, we should speak Queen's English. I remembered one of the judges even complimented a debater from National Junior College for his "Queen's English". People can recognize Queen's English because of a couple of shows like Crown's Court drama series and also The New Avengers starring the infamous Joanna Lumley. Incidentally, RI won that debate. RJC had not started yet. Since you are a media corp, you can check from archives from SBC for the debate series. If you can dig it out of archive worth watching again.

[@albertranara3996]

My favourite documentary from CNA. Well done 👏👏👏

[@simonlow0210]

The linguist made a small mistake, those languages like Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka are Chinese or Sinitic dialects/languages, but are definitely not Mandarin dialects.

[@kimmie5861]

Cantonese is older than mandarin. Mandarin are spoken by Qing people whereas cantonese are spoken by Han chinese. Mandarin is not original language of chinese han.

[@CVYR490]

@@kimmie5861 it's Hakka, not Cantonese. Hakka is the national language during the Song dynasty

[@liongkienfai104]

That wasn't a small mistake. It was an egregious error.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

Cool.

[@KaidoOkami04]

13:44 where can I listen to the full? sounds like bossa nova

[@jlee8181]

Lah, and lor, basically emphasize the intonation that define the whole meaning of a sentence. So how (?/Lah)

[@foonlam7134]

Although I can speak near perfect English. I like to speak Singlish especially with people from my home country coz I feel more connected with them. It's like you're home.

[@ken2633]

Lan Pa Pa Lan - can explain meaning of LPPL or not?

[@jubl2986]

Singlish is Singaporeans' DIALECT since Singapore's first language is the Queen's English and 2nd languages being Tamil, Malay or Mandarin.

[@InHonourOfChester]

Hope it clear some doubts @Sniper Pro

[@ginger55555]

Mantabbbzzzzz lah... Google translate should have it lor...

[@thihal123]

I can definitely hear the canto influence in Singlish 😊

[@playplay7330]

feels like abuden came from hokkien mix english. In Hokkien we say 'ya bo', meaning something like 'if not'. So 'ya bo' and 'then' becomes, 'if not then', like questioning 'if not then what it is?'

[@aadilansari5997]

Singlish seems more logical to the native speakers of Asia from India to China. I was in Singapore for 6 months in 1998 when Phua Chu Kang was very popular / notorious. It took me about just 3 minutes to understand Singlish and speaking passable Singlish with in 3 days..

[@munster1404]

Most of the purists that feel “ashamed” of Singlish are politicians.

[@1oT3To1]

we also say "la" in Cantonese, LOL 嚟啦~ 好啦~

[@storiasia]

Indonesian also speak "LAH" in their daily conversation, to emphasize the wordings~ but it spoken very subtle unlike Singaporean who makes it very stand out n fun to hear

[@thegohmedian]

24:28 Hey, that's my video. And the credit is there!

[@heesheungwong6227]

As a Hongkonger, Cantonese is our mother tongue. We also translate Cantonese word by word in English like 'go die you'(go to hell)' or 'laugh die me (i'm laughing to death)' or 'add oil'. We feel closer and have more fun while talking with friends in that way.

[@anuradhaedirisuriya]

We also have Singlish in Sri Lanka, Sinhalese and English

[@nokiaforever1363]

I agree

[@bryanteoh9308]

Being a Chinese Hokkien born in Klang, I basically speak the same way towards local Malaysians, so I don’t understand what so Singlish about it. Though I don’t use some words like ‘Sia’..

[@awfully.average]

I'm very proud of our singlish ,but sidenote I've been watching a lot or video clips of Singapore from 80s to recent years , and I notice our accents changed a lot . For the young adults in the 80s they spoke with a distinguished British laced accent . Then I noticed that the 90s kids and teenagers our accents became what we deem as singlish (think pck) this generation ( my generation 30-45 year olds) we don't speak either English or mother tongue well. We speak fast and don't pay attention to pronunciation , you can understand me can liao , like we don't make a spoken distinction between close and closed The younger gen z and the currently kindergarten to pri school kids speak better English with a American accent (these gen they curl their Rs and end the words properly ).

[@keizee107]

I think they might have to abandon those nuances soon enough. Singapore is quite a noisy country. Singlish is specifically developed to be heard and understood even in a noisy canteen or hawker centre.

[@share_accidental]

purely an assumption here: for young adults in the 80s, they were taught english the british way. not quite sure about 90s & 00s kids because i'm gen z HAHA. for the current youngsters and kids, although english is still taught british-style (pronunciation + spelling), we consume more american media. i feel like it created this confusion for us, i learnt from a cartoon that "color" is spelt like this. i use the word in an essay & get marked for misspelling. i pronounced "literally" the american way in secondary school & my teacher corrected me. these are just some anecdotes of mine...

[@awfully.average]

@@share_accidental you mean like "liderilly" ?

[@simoneammon9874]

I love it, it sounds really cool! I'm from New Zealand. The "lah" at the end of sentences reminds me of "aye" that we often use at the end of ours. "Aye" for us means something like "isn't it?

[@finacahya7476]

We are Indonesian also using Lah it can be as ending words, or starting (but only in Indonesian words or sentence. Like “jangan gitu lah”... “Lah koi gitu” and it can be expressed of angry, happy and questioned 😆😁

[@joy1ess]

bener juga

[@liongkienfai104]

another one. gak bisa begitu la bro = cannot lai dat lah bro

[@atengku9660]

There’s no such things as bahasa Indonesia/Indonesian language.

[@TheFaisalikhwan]

I have to say -lah is definitely, linguistic-wise, used in Malay. As a a particle, it has two main/simple functions. We don't have to look too hard. Just look at the title of the national anthem. It's grammatical.

[@jameshuggett]

@09;43 fax drooped

[@MaySim]

Well, in support of LKY's original policy, the fact that we now can switch seamlessly from proper English to Singlish also stems from the fact that a good foundation in proper English was established. Had he not done so, it IS true that internationally it would have been pretty hard to do business in the early years, especially when you're a kampong country with no natural resources or money. Without that intervention, I doubt we'd be able to do that amazing switcheroo nowadays.

[@P-rincess]

It is just our thing . If we wanna speak properly , we surely can .

[@Vachalen]

Received pronunciation was what we aimed for. Rojak was what we got. Singlish boleh!!! Oh wait sorli that one Malaysia:D

[@howie5655]

What does toh mean?

[@tankeangee]

I thought u missed out PCK...cant wait for part 2...kancheong

[@josephhuo7138]

I'm glad Singlish is staying where it is, please don't let it out.

[@zleipnirgoh5972]

I remembered the singlish album in the '90s"Wah Lau! Cannot like that one meh?" in cassette tape that my cousin bought and he let me listened to it when I was young. Super funny songs manz... haha. hmm... I always thought, the "abuden?" was derived from "ah boh? then?".

[@iiiviiiyoung6753]

I remembered using the word 'blur' in my O level oral exam and the teacher was so angry and she told me there's no such word. Oh well~

[@gnanammoorthy707]

Question: Where did the Library footage come from? At 13.18 there is a woman next to a blackboard, she's my aunt, it looks like she was in her twenties. is there any more film of her?

[@johnnyians]

I always thought abuthen literally means "ah, boh(no in hokkien), then?" like if not then what?

[@schrodingerbracat2927]

Abeden is from Hokkien A-be 若无 + English then. So it means "if not, then ..." i.e. duh, of course, it's a no brainer

[@elliotcheung682]

Actually, there is a Cantonese Comprehensive grammatical breakdown of end of phrase utterance/expressions using words "lah", "lor", etc. Lah comes with a begging tone and a more persuasive undertone. Where as Lor is more negative and often comes after a phrase you didn't want to say such as an insincere apology. It would "Sorry Lor". All of this was mainly influenced by Cantonese as that was the language mainly spoken by Guangzhou which is where ports were. Majority of immigrants that went to other countries like Malaysia, Singapore, etc were Cantonese. Mandarin speaking immigrants weren't as common prior to 1980/90. Those that were mandarin speaking immigrants most likely were refugees escaoing famine and poverty back in the day. The Mandarin speaking immigrants now are generally far wealthier.

[@christinayamamura136]

Same in Indonesia with the lah lho sih kek etc …

[@mikethm1974]

Obviously you are not Singaporean. Coz if you are, you'd know the majority of us are hokkien. Malaysian Chinese may be more cantonese. But this is about Singapore. And that is why we don't identify with the Jiahu kias.

[@alhkcblack9617]

@@mikethm1974 Singlish has spill over from Malaysian Manglish to begin with. It's silly to think all aspects of Singlish only began with Singapore. "La" is very Cantonese but common in several southern dialects.

[@mariaannainditahernawati7132]

@@christinayamamura136 betul bu kalau di bahasa indonesia akhiran lah berfungsi menegaskan misalnya, buatlah, ayolah, majulah dsb juga berfungsi memperhalus, misalnya sudilah, tolonglah, dsb selain lah, akhiran lainnya adalah kah, tah, pun jika melihat karya pujangga jaman dahulu sih akhiran tersebut sudah digunakan cmiiw

[@mikethm1974]

@@alhkcblack9617 Malaysian Chinese are so delusional. :) PS. Watch some taiwanese language shows and then come back tell me whether hokkien or cantonese has more "la" at the end of sentences. We hokkien folks can't help it that the cantonese love to copy from us. :)

[@silverchairsg]

Probably because we've become more secure in our English proficiency and our own national identity.

[@romliahmadabdulnadzir1607]

经认可的标准机构，如英语、马来语或普通话，没有“新加坡语”的官方语言。如果他们这样做了，新加坡将会有所不同。新加坡式英语不会出现，但会出现某种蹩脚的英语或集市口语，没有语法和其他限制，人们会感到轻松自在。

[@Faye5077]

Is 'Lah' similar like the Canadian 'Ah'?