Made in Singapore

The Made in Singapore Drawer is an archive of posts on Singapore. My home, my country, warts and all.

I am a true-blue Singaporean, born and bred here. Some people do not believe me and think I hail from China because I can speak Chinese fairly well. It is true that many Singaporeans do not read, speak and understand Chinese, but there are still those who do. We grew up listening to Chinese music, reading Chinese books and newspapers, and watching Chinese drama.

Born and bred Singaporeans may or may not speak Chinese properly, but most understand Chinese perfectly.

Most important of all, all of us can speak perfect Singlish.

Do you know that…

Can + lah = Yes
Can + leh = Yes. Of course.
Can + lor = Yes. I think so.
Can + hah? = Are you sure?
Can + hor = Are you sure then?
Can + meh? = Are you certain?
Can + bo? = Can or not?
Can + can = Confirm
Can + gua = Should be okay
Can + liao = Already done
Can + wor = Yea
Can + liao lah! = Ok, enough!

Singapore is truly kiasu (afraid to lose), uniquely rojak (mix up), always efficient