I have to say I'm a fan of Singlish despite the government's frequent reminders to fellow Singaporeans to speak good English. I don't see Singlish the way the propaganda is leading us, but I appreciate Singlish ma chiam it's art. To me, Singlish is what we are and what makes us unique (we are already not very unique).
Was on the car with my boss this afternoon after a meeting. We were heading to millenia tower, where his wife works. There were some exchanges of sms-es along the way so I presume he's asking his wife out. After a few correspondences, he laughed. I was like WTH.
Then he told me the whole conversation with his wife. This is how it went:
Boss: Coffee?
Wife: Now?
Boss: Yup
Wife: Really? Now?
Boss: Y?
Wife: Cannot. How?
Ok, now this is the story behind...
Some time ago he was teasing another colleague about his Singlish when this other colleague wrote an email to him which ended with "so how?" FYI this colleague is a Swiss guy stationed in Singapore. He was verifying the meaning of "so how?" with me back then and now he is using it freely.
Then a couple of days ago, I caught him speaking in Singlish. As in he told a waitress "Don't want" as a complete sentence, where usually he'll say something like "no, thanks", " I don't think i want this" etc.. It's common for us to use "don't want" as a sentence but hearing it from an ang moh with some adapted accent is super hilarious. The best thing is, he didn't even realise it.
That was why when he looked at the whole conversation he and his wife had, he couldn't help but laugh at the influence of Singlish. I must say he came a long way from his perfect English to the rojak he speaks now. Haha. As this rate he's going, I can foresee him using "wah lau" or "cui" in time to come.
Singlish is so contagious! I like!
