AAE 101 Assignment 2 - Singlish is A Necessary Evil

(Taken from youtube)


Introduction

Our commentary focuses on the use of spoken Singapore Colloquial English (Singlish). We are using Phua Chu Kang’s music video on SARS prevention titled PCK Sar-vivor Rap which was released after the height of the pandemic in 2003. This video was targeted at the everyday Singaporean, regardless of age, gender and occupation. The intended message was put across in a light-hearted manner as part of a public awareness effort.

Singlish as a necessary variation

According to William Labov, the nature of language is such that it is neither stagnant nor homogeneous. When speakers from two different language groups interact, it is natural for them to accommodate to each other and form a language that has features from both languages. In Singapore, where there are four main language groups, it is thus inevitable that a common language such as Singlish arise.
As much as the government disapproves of Singlish, they recognize its influence and effectiveness as a communication resource for the masses. In an effort to educate the public on the SARS virus, Phua Chu Kang (PCK), a known ‘ambassador’ of Singlish, had been chosen amongst other artistes to star in a music video.

Some language features of Singlish

Let us examine the language features present in said text to understand why the PCK Sar-vivor Rap has such an appeal to the masses. Some of these features include lexical borrowing, the use of discourse particles, the absence of copular verbs, reduplication, as well as direct translation from other languages.
1. Borrowing: Words such as “kena” (Malay) and “kiasu” (Hokkien) are interlaced within a single sentence where English is still retained as the base language.
2. Use of discourse particles: Terms like “leh” and “lah” are used to emphasize a point, as a replacement for word stress.
3. Absence of copular verbs: “Why (are) you rush(ing) to catch that plane?”
4. Reduplication: “Don’t play play!”
5. Direct translation from Mandarin: “Wait the whole company ‘kena’ quarantine” and “Think no one see so you don’t stop?”
Though Singaporeans are able to understand the message in the video even without explicit explanation, foreigners however may find it difficult to decipher the inferences of these features as they are exclusive to Singlish and can only be understood by its speakers.

Singlish as an evil to society

Although Singlish is deemed as an effective communication tool on many social situations, it is also seen as a prevailing evil that has the potential to perpetuate the loss of language competency amongst us. What this suggests is that, the prolongation of Singlish as a lingua franca rather than the presumably Standard English would cause our speakers to be unintelligible and incomprehensible by English speakers in other parts of the world; this is as the language features and implications are unique to only local speakers. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had once stressed on the need to develop ourselves into an attractive global hub via the mastery of Standard English.
There is another rising concern: the lack of awareness in our young of the importance in speaking Standard English. Youngsters nowadays are vulnerably exposed to informative and communicative media which allow for Singlish to be widespread, suggesting the acceptance of the language, and resulting in the lack of ability to speak Standard English even when the situation warrants it. Therefore, there is a need to educate our young on the importance of being able to call for the appropriate variety of English in relation to social settings.

Conclusion

In conclusion, despite the negative remarks surrounding it, Singlish still plays an important role in the society. Teachers should realise that no matter how much the use of Singlish is discouraged, the language is still being acquired by our students as a result of media and societal influences. The key here is for teachers to educate students to understand the roles of Singlish and Standard English in our daily lives. In our opinion, while the use of Singlish is acceptable in non-formal situations, Standard English is crucial in education as it creates a competitive edge in communicating with the global community.

Word Count: 691

Done by: Ho Shi Yin

Khairiani Bte Yahya

Nurul Ain Bte Mohamad Ibrahim

Pang Xiao Ting