In the Lah Lah Land: Singlish in Singaporean Youths’ Eyes

林奕嫻 Lin Yi Shian

SINGAPORE — “I once lost Singlish, but I found it back,” said Umar Bin Moiz, 22, a computer engineering student in NUS.

Uma Bin Moiz, sitting beside his three friends, telling his story of finding self-identity through Singlish. (Source: National University of Singapore)

Due to his parents’ work, Umar went to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to study when he was in primary school. He struggled a lot when he first arrived in the UAE.

“People didn’t understand me, they mocked me and asked ‘what are you saying?’”

Feeling being looked down on, Umar started to avoid speaking Singlish and spoke standard English instead.

He had mixed feelings at that time. He felt that he should actually take pride in speaking Singlish to share his culture and background, but the fact that Singlish was stigmatized as broken English made him unwilling to speak Singlish.

After several years of study in the UAE, Umar decided to go back to Singapore for college. He did the national service before college, and speaking standard English in the army gave him a hard time.

“I was judged by people again. My peers teased me for speaking ‘bad’ Singlish.”

Umar had to start all over again to ‘acquire Singlish’ in order to be like everyone else.

“Singaporeans sometimes feel more distanced to people who speak standard English. They considered people more well-educated or having experience of living abroad less approachable. It’s not true, but I try to speak Singlish to get closer with others,” he said.

“Fortunately, my peers stopped teasing me after I picked up Singlish again.”

Umar’s study experience in UAE and military experience in Singapore made him understand that he shouldn’t be ashamed of using Singlish.

“The point is to integrate with local culture and be able to do ‘code-switching’, which means to switch the language using habit in different situations.”

“Now I think Singlish is an important source of cultural identity that makes us feel truly part of Singapore society,’ said Umar.

“At the same time, it’s also important for future generations to know how to code-switch between Singlish and standard English for communication with foreigners.”

Survey (59 response):

① What do you think of Singlish?

70% of Singaporean youths believe Singlish represents the diverse culture of Singapore, and it is also an identity marker. Less than 30% of Singaporean youths think Singlish is either broken or bad English.

② Would you want the future generations to remain speaking Singlish or to speak standard English?

Almost half of the Singaporean youth would like the future generation to remain speaking Singlish, 30% of people hope the future generation to speak both standard English and Singlish, and 22% wish the future generation to speak English.