http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/singaporean-english-is-almost-impossible-to-pick-up?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=atlas-page

I stumbled upon this article on the background of my home country’s ‘dialect’, Singlish. And I use the word dialect very loosely as it’s not even an official dialect of the English Language, but it is still a language that we use to communicate back home, not intentional but evolved organically derived form the different ethnic groups and diverse cultures that Singapore has to offer.

It was posted in a timely fashion, as the subject matter of my Project Brief 3 was how we used the dialect back home and how it differs from the standard English that we use when we’re in a foreign land that has English as the main language like Australia. So for those who are really interested into knowing how the dialect was formed and how to use it in future when you do head down the the little red dot, this article is for you as a head start on how the whole Singlish took its form and became the working language the locals use.

On the plus side, there is a comical side of the article with a re-make of a scene from Beauty and The Beast dubbed with Singlish over the original dialogue. Some Singaporeans might find it rather offensive or like we’ve been made fun of, but at the end of the day, it’s just all for laughs. Hope you guys enjoy reading it and watching the video.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/letter-quitter-043035308.html

The above article shares one’s thoughts and views of immigrating overseas from a busy “no work-life balance” country of Singapore to a cosmopolitan city like Melbourne. I find myself in a similar pair of shoes while reading the article, not because of moving from the same country and integrating to the same city, but the same set of questions I ask myself every now then since I moved over from Singapore.

The segment that really struck a chord in me was “Born in Singapore or born Singaporean?”. I found myself relating to that situation a lot, however, in a slightly different situation. I was born in Singapore, but my parents are both Malaysian citizens, thus making me a Malaysian by birth. I carry a Malaysian passport and hold a Singapore PR status. It is mandatory for second generation PRs to serve National Service for 2 years. Me being no exception, served with the Singapore Armed Forces, and it was only a matter of time before I take up the Singapore citizenship after my service. I thought it would be a simple signing of papers since I was actually born in Singapore and just renounce my Malaysian citizenship. WRONG! Apparently it wasn’t so simple, I had to be employed in a full time job and contributing to the economy and stuff like that which I found pretty off putting.

Having done my time in National Service and protecting the nation in the military, I would assume that would have been my ticket to earning a Singapore citizenship, together with the fact that I was actually born in Singapore. However, that was not sufficient enough. The only route for me would be completing my studies in Melbourne then moving back to work before I can even come close to getting my citizenship. But then again, what if I actually decide to stay in Melbourne to work instead? Does that mean Singapore would run the risk of losing a potential citizen?

The Straits Times, a daily newspaper in Singapore, reported that the government aims to hit a 6.9 million population by 2030. Which makes me wonder, in such a dense and cramped society, when is it ever enough? I am in no place to make that judgement or critic on the decisions made by my country’s leader, but solely based on my own observation, the Singapore that I knew and grew up in 10 years ago, compared to the Singapore that it has become is totally different. We have more people from all over the world immigrating over and local Singaporeans moving abroad. It might have just come to a point where it seems somewhere along the line, Singapore is just a stepping stone to gaining citizenship to other first world countries in the region.

It’s never easy taking the leap of faith leaving the comforts of home. My forefathers moved from China during the Chinese Communist revolution to escape starvation and the whole crisis that was taking place during that period. My grandfather made the decision to move to Malaya, now known as Malaysia, and planted his humble roots from there. My dad too made the choice to move away from Malaysia to across the border into Singapore to start a new career and life with his family where my brother and I spent most of our early stages of life growing up. And now I have taken the step to leave Singapore and embark on a new life in Melbourne. Although it may not be a lifelong decision, it is still quite a major one considering having to spend 2 and a half years of my life here on a university degree. Over a conversation I had with my dad during my last few days in Singapore, I shared how I was starting to feel homesick even before I have even boarded the plane to Melbourne. And his advice was, “Just don’t look back.”. It was quite abstract yet innocent at first, but can’t say I didn’t look back, as I had to at certain point to see how far I’ve come. However, it is still an advice that I hold strongly, and would not let go of it anytime soon.

“However, the influx of new PRs and citizens in the early to late 2000s has increasingly put the idea of being Singaporean to the test. Issues like NS only for citizens and second-generation PRs, a lack of assimilation among newcomers, and stories of PRs who moved on to greener pastures after using our country as a springboard – all these have left some Singaporeans asking: What am I defending?” A very strong statement from the writer of the article that rings a bell in me. Am I going to stay in Melbourne to take on a new life, or return home? An internal conflict is always ongoing, but for now, I’ll generally focus my attention on just earning that bachelor’s degree with my name on it.

Ever since moving to Melbourne, I haven’t been listening to my own music much while I commute around the city, which is very unlike me. Back home in Singapore, usually I’ll have my earphones on with my iPod playing rock tunes while I’m travelling on the public transport. But here, I would go through a day without even playing a single song while I’m moving from one place to another. First of all, I would tend to feel uneasy having my sense of hearing of my surrounding being blocked out with loud rock music in a foreign land. Secondly, it is always intriguing to hear the different languages, accents and conversations that take place all around. Being in a cosmopolitan city, you are bound to be exposed to many different languages, some familiar, some not so, but you will always tend to lookout for the more familiar ones, especially those that might remind you of home. That’s how I identify someone that’s from Singapore or Malaysia even before we speak or shake hands.

Another group of sounds would be what makes the city, a city. One thing I found really iconic to Melbourne was the tram sounds. The bell just before the tram moves off from a station or warning pedestrians to keep clear of the track while the tram is approaching. It is just so unique to Melbourne to hear that sound, to the extend where I think it could be one of the main “instrument” that makes the voice of Melbourne. You won’t hear that iconic sound in Sydney or Brisbane or even in Singapore. On the other end of the spectrum, while I’m on tram sounds, I really really loathe the sound it makes while it attempts to come to a halt. Majority of the time, it is silent when the tram operator puts on the breaks to stop the tram or slow down, but on some particular old ones, you can really hear the metal with metal grinding and screeching and it is just a nasty sound that makes the hair at the back of your neck stand. I know there is nothing much the tram operator can do, and all the more he would need to stop the tram in order to avoid accidents and to pick up as well as to alight passengers, I can’t really blame them for causing the loud piercing noise, but I should do hope they service their trams.

Living in the city exposes myself to the traffic noises of the vehicles that travels in and out, and around the city. I can never go through a day without hearing the waling of sirens, be it ambulance, police, or the fire engine. Particularly on Friday nights, the sirens are more prominent, which I think is made unique to the city as well. Coming from an island city state, and my home back in Singapore is just right beside a fire station, I have been trained well to disregard the loud sirens easily. Lucky me.

So just by not having my earphones on, blasting rock music into my ear canals, it has opened up another form of soundtrack to me that I never knew existed until after I sat down to think about the soundtrack that runs behind my daily commute around the city. Those that I have mentioned are just a few of the many “instruments” that are responsible in making the soundtrack a city soundtrack. There are more components to it like car honks, people talking, crowd noise from the pub, more people talking, loud car exhaust from a straight pipe, and more… The list just goes on and on…