my Engrish good, lah!
When the trishaw uncle was being abused by the 3 caucasian men on youtube I had to side a bit with the Uncle on how idiot those visitors were. Though, I had to place some wondering about a country that makes their elders work so late into their golden years with no real welfare or social net and yet the politicians make $2 million dollar salaries with a country bank account in the billions; but that is another ranting.
However, when I read how a former boyband member Arroy Shen made fun of how horribly the Singaporean people speak English, I really can not say anything except "DAMN RIGHT THEY DO!" I mean, not ALL Singaporeans speak horrible English, but I would say that a fair percentage of them do. Though perhaps it is a simple case of if they sit back and think to themselves "I must speak proper English" then, with much mental dexterity, they can string together a "yes, I can come to your place on Tuesday to clean" but if they just relax it comes out in a more "can can clean Tuesday" and that is it. So many times I have gone to a Subway outlet to order a sandwich and had to play around with "dosted?" in my head before finally coming to the conclusion that he was asking if I wanted it "toasted", or how I hear about someones 'brudda' that is older than them and realize that they are talking about their 'brother'.
I think the good thing about the English language that the Singaporean (as well as all other people on the planet) enjoy is how malible and understandable it is. I have been trying to learn Mandarin and when I pronounce a word and I don't hit the exact pronunciation just right (even though it sounds in my head exactly like they are saying it) they freak out and make me repeat it again and again. It is almost like they have no word that is close to what I am saying and if it is not perfect then I have to keep practicing. However, when they say "pregran" or "dosted" or "brudda" and I correct them with "PREGnant" or "TOASTed" or "broTHER" they wave their hand and go "my English good, lah! Stop being so Ang Moh!", at which point I calmly have to remind myself that I am the visitor and they are the people living here and how many times I have heard people tell immigrants to Canada that "you are in Canada now, speak English!" and this is their way of saying "You are in Singapore now, speak SINGLISH!"
What gets me is that the two people bowed down to the public pressure and actually apologized for their comments. Ok, obviously they are trying to live off the popularity of the people, and if the people hate you, then you make no money. Just wish that they would have stuck to their words and did not apologize. Come on people, when it comes to sticking to your words, can can?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYuIg7Tnc7g (for those that speak the language, no translations sorry)
Sorry, my English isn't good either
By Liew Hanqing
February 09, 2008
TWO of the Taiwanese who made fun of Singaporean English on a TV programme have apologised.
Tne New Paper, 5 Feb
In an entry on his blog on Tuesday, former boyband member Arroy Shen apologised for remarks he made on the 28 Jan episode of the variety programme Mr Con and Ms Csi, about the way Singaporeans speak English.
Addressing Singaporeans in general, Arroy wrote in Mandarin: 'I may have gone overboard with my comments and offended many people.
'My English isn't good, and I will continue working hard to improve.
'I have been blunt and rude - I'm really sorry.'
He ended the entry by wishing everybody a happy Chinese New Year.
Xu Wei, an English teacher who was featured on the same episode, apologised on her blog the next day.
She wrote: 'I do apologise... if that unconsciously-spoken bad joke really irritated you.
'I meant to make fun of my own bad hearing... But I think on account of the length of the programme, they did some editing of what I said and the context was lost. Please forgive my well-meant slip of tongue.'
The apologies came in the wake of an onslaught of angry messages left by Singapore netizens on video-sharing site YouTube and on both the blogs.
Arroy had demonstrated how he thought Singaporeans pronounced words like 'sorry' and 'tissue paper'.
Xu Wei described an encounter with a Singapore immigration officer who asked her if she was pregnant.
She claimed she did not understand the officer because he had kept asking 'pegnan? pegnan?'
Their comments were met with roaring laughter from the show's hosts and other guests.
After a segment of the variety programme was uploaded on YouTube last week, it got more than 25,000 views and 900 comments.
Many netizens called for a formal apology from CTi TV, the Taiwanese cable network which produces the show, as well as the individuals.
Some seem to have graciously accepted the online apologies.
Wrote netizen yuanyuan on Arroy's blog: 'I respect your courage for apologising, and I accept your apology - Happy Chinese New Year.'
Added Pearlc: 'You are a good man who is trying to make up for something which I think is honestly not your fault.
'But it is really awful of the other presenters, especially that so-called English teacher, to comment on Singaporean English when their pronunciation is not as perfect as they think it is.'
And some netizens are still upset.
Wrote Sam: 'These comments affect a country's image. We probably won't be satisfied until we get a public apology from the show, and all who participated in the mockery.'
However, when I read how a former boyband member Arroy Shen made fun of how horribly the Singaporean people speak English, I really can not say anything except "DAMN RIGHT THEY DO!" I mean, not ALL Singaporeans speak horrible English, but I would say that a fair percentage of them do. Though perhaps it is a simple case of if they sit back and think to themselves "I must speak proper English" then, with much mental dexterity, they can string together a "yes, I can come to your place on Tuesday to clean" but if they just relax it comes out in a more "can can clean Tuesday" and that is it. So many times I have gone to a Subway outlet to order a sandwich and had to play around with "dosted?" in my head before finally coming to the conclusion that he was asking if I wanted it "toasted", or how I hear about someones 'brudda' that is older than them and realize that they are talking about their 'brother'.
I think the good thing about the English language that the Singaporean (as well as all other people on the planet) enjoy is how malible and understandable it is. I have been trying to learn Mandarin and when I pronounce a word and I don't hit the exact pronunciation just right (even though it sounds in my head exactly like they are saying it) they freak out and make me repeat it again and again. It is almost like they have no word that is close to what I am saying and if it is not perfect then I have to keep practicing. However, when they say "pregran" or "dosted" or "brudda" and I correct them with "PREGnant" or "TOASTed" or "broTHER" they wave their hand and go "my English good, lah! Stop being so Ang Moh!", at which point I calmly have to remind myself that I am the visitor and they are the people living here and how many times I have heard people tell immigrants to Canada that "you are in Canada now, speak English!" and this is their way of saying "You are in Singapore now, speak SINGLISH!"
What gets me is that the two people bowed down to the public pressure and actually apologized for their comments. Ok, obviously they are trying to live off the popularity of the people, and if the people hate you, then you make no money. Just wish that they would have stuck to their words and did not apologize. Come on people, when it comes to sticking to your words, can can?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYuIg7Tnc7g (for those that speak the language, no translations sorry)
Sorry, my English isn't good either
By Liew Hanqing
February 09, 2008
TWO of the Taiwanese who made fun of Singaporean English on a TV programme have apologised.
Tne New Paper, 5 Feb
In an entry on his blog on Tuesday, former boyband member Arroy Shen apologised for remarks he made on the 28 Jan episode of the variety programme Mr Con and Ms Csi, about the way Singaporeans speak English.
Addressing Singaporeans in general, Arroy wrote in Mandarin: 'I may have gone overboard with my comments and offended many people.
'My English isn't good, and I will continue working hard to improve.
'I have been blunt and rude - I'm really sorry.'
He ended the entry by wishing everybody a happy Chinese New Year.
Xu Wei, an English teacher who was featured on the same episode, apologised on her blog the next day.
She wrote: 'I do apologise... if that unconsciously-spoken bad joke really irritated you.
'I meant to make fun of my own bad hearing... But I think on account of the length of the programme, they did some editing of what I said and the context was lost. Please forgive my well-meant slip of tongue.'
The apologies came in the wake of an onslaught of angry messages left by Singapore netizens on video-sharing site YouTube and on both the blogs.
Arroy had demonstrated how he thought Singaporeans pronounced words like 'sorry' and 'tissue paper'.
Xu Wei described an encounter with a Singapore immigration officer who asked her if she was pregnant.
She claimed she did not understand the officer because he had kept asking 'pegnan? pegnan?'
Their comments were met with roaring laughter from the show's hosts and other guests.
After a segment of the variety programme was uploaded on YouTube last week, it got more than 25,000 views and 900 comments.
Many netizens called for a formal apology from CTi TV, the Taiwanese cable network which produces the show, as well as the individuals.
Some seem to have graciously accepted the online apologies.
Wrote netizen yuanyuan on Arroy's blog: 'I respect your courage for apologising, and I accept your apology - Happy Chinese New Year.'
Added Pearlc: 'You are a good man who is trying to make up for something which I think is honestly not your fault.
'But it is really awful of the other presenters, especially that so-called English teacher, to comment on Singaporean English when their pronunciation is not as perfect as they think it is.'
And some netizens are still upset.
Wrote Sam: 'These comments affect a country's image. We probably won't be satisfied until we get a public apology from the show, and all who participated in the mockery.'
posted by Capt_Canuck at 3:28 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home