When I first arrived in Singapore I was often confused.
A lady on the Singapore airlines plane to Singapore told me, "I live in a house with a garden which is good because of have tree children."
I wondered how many children she had, and if they were all tomboys who liked climbing trees.
I asked, "Boys or girls?"
She replied, "Two boys, one girl."
I exclaimed, "Three children."
She agreed, "Yes. Tree children."
Then I understood. Three.
She told me, "My brother is in Australia. He has tree houses. He lives in one, rents out the other two."
For an instant I had visions of her brother building a tree house, very big, like Robinson Crusoe. Must be in construction. Building a tree house as a home or guest house. Then renting out two more. Interesting business developing. Then I realized he was the owner of three houses. He was probably well-to-do, but not the eccentric millionaire, the ecologically minded man I had imagined.
I phoned my other friend in Singapore and asked, "When can we meet?"
He replied, "I'm having an off day."
I said, "I'm a bit jet lagged, not feeling too good either, so we would only make each other miserable. Why don't we meet when you are feeling better. Tomorrow?"
I was really worried when he said, "I want to meet you to die."
He meant today.
I eventually heard, "I am not working to die. To die is my off die. I am working tomorrow."
Another friend met me at a shopping mall and called a taxi to take us elsewhere. She said to him, "Thank you, uncle."
Afterwards I said to her, "I didn't know your uncle was a taxi driver. Did you call him specially, or was it just luck that your uncle picked us up?"
She looked puzzled, "I don't have an uncle who is a taxi driver."
I said, "But you were chatting away to him and when we out, you said,'Thank you, uncle!"
She told me, "We say auntie or uncle to strangers of an older generation who are friendly."
"Ah," I answered, "In England we do that when we are children. But not from one adult to another."
Here are some phrases you may think you hear, and what the speaker means
Phrases and Pronunciation
Singlish - English
cannot = I can't / you can't / it can't be done / it's not possible/ no/ nope
drop off = drop out (of an online event)
even = even if
kampong = (Singapore) village (primitive - cleared by government upgrading, but friendly, remembered nostalgically by residents now living in modern skyscrapers)
Kiasu - competitive, getting ahead, pushy, fear of being left behind eg getting first into lift, overtaking and pulling ahead into your lane on the near empty motorway, determined to be first
la = (exclamation) yeah/ yup / really/ is that so/ definitely/aren't you/ isn't it/don't you think so/amazing/hilarious
loyal = royal
off day = day off
off the light = turn off the light
team = theme
tree = three
uncle = friendly person of an older generation, not related
English - Singlish
bad hair day = bad day
day off = off day
drop out = drop off
even if = even
I can't = cannot
off day = bad day
one-upmanship = kiasu
royal = loyal
team = theme
turn off the light = off the light
three = tree
uncle = brother of your mother or father
village = kampong
Useful Websites
https://singlishbible.fandom.com/wiki/Genesis_1
About the Author
Angela Lansbury is British and a Singapore Permanent Resident.
About the Author
Angela Lansbury is Vice President Public Relations of Braddell Heights Advanced, and Tampines Changkat Advanced, speakers training club which are part of Toastmasters International. The USA has several Spanish speaking as well as the English speaking clubs. You can pick up Spanish from buying or reading online their Spanish clubs welcome pages and manuals.
In The USA, UK, Singapore and worldwide, there are many clubs which are English speaking, as well as Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, French, Tamil, Malay.
The inauguration of Tampines Changkat Advanced was Tuesday 29 2021, online on zoom. Their meetings are on the fourth Tuesday evening of the month. They hope to hold meetings with a few people meeting physically, the others online, as soon as the Covid-19 conditions allow.
You can find the club through their facebook page as well as through Toastmasters International find a club.
https://www.facebook.com/tampineschangkatadvTMC
The meetings are free for visitors. Visitors can watch, and join in speaking by introducing themselves and volunteering to do a 2 minutes impromptu speech in table topics.
If you wish to join for a year, it costs about 190 US dollars, to have monthly meetings online, a mentor, a magazine, and one of the 11 Pathways, consisting of 14 projects. Each project starts with 3 speeches of your choice of subject, lasting 4 to 6 minutes, then 5 to 7 minutes. The Pathways include the most popular Presentation Mastery. I chose humorous speaking as my second Pathway, costing 20 dollars. Then my third was a leadership course. Come and see for free.
The club also has meetings in person in Singapore
You can also contact my other club, smaller Braddell Heights Advanced, which is a cosy little club with more chances to speak.
Login through bha.learncool.sg/meet/bha
That will link you through to Zoom or googlemeet. 2 pm to 5 pm.
BHA meets the first Wednesday evening each month, starting at 7 pm Singapore time.
Then an extra meeting on the 3rd Saturday afternoon, starting at 2 pm Singapore time.
To check your time zone,
https://24timezones.com/difference/singapore/
Meetings will be on Wed July 7th and Saturday July 17th.
Contact either of these or other clubs through Toastmasters International Find a Club.
