The Banana
-
I like your last statement a lot.
-
Originally posted by LazerLordz:I like your last statement a lot.
you only read the last sentence.... -
as I've said before ... the average Singaporean is in linguistic limbo ....
A trait unique to some Singaporeans; they have this unusual tendency to develop a foreign accent without leaving Singapore at all ! ... ... or should I say, a comical, pseudo accent ... I wonder if it's a steady diet of sitcoms and MTVs, or it hints at a deeper malaise, a rejection of one's roots ? ...
now don't get me wrong, some of us have interesting and colorful roots and family histories and we should all be proud of that, I remember meeting this indonesian chinese chap who speaks with a wonderful scottish burr cos he was homeschooled by a scottish lady ... and one meets people who've grown up in another country and speaks different languages or with a different accent eh ...
but I think it speaks of some inner insecurity when people tries to take on a different accent foreign to the society that they live in, eh ? ... it never fails to amaze me when someone who grew up and live in Ang Mo Kio can mysteriously develop an American accent ... ( perhaps some chaps from NUS will know which group of people I'm talking about ... :lol
... maybe it's the power of stealth cultural imperialism, or maybe it's a mistaken belief that an accent = good language (I don't see how going "I'm like, I'm like in a high pitch, whinny voice can be speaking good english though ... ) ... but my money says that these people are just frightened, insecure people trying to seek self affirmation in a way .... like those silly indian and PRC clones scratching their own balls over at chitchat eh ... -
Actually the Op touches a very present & important issue among all Singaporeans. Who are we really?
Sometime ago Iwrote this:
Emancipation
All are born equal
All are destined to die
Each and everyone is given a name
Each and everbody has the right to choose
All are accountable to one another
That is basics to all human constitution
But Some may claim
All are born free, but some more freer than others
All are born equal, but some more equal than others
Each and everyone is given an ID plus a name or nickname name too @alias then U choose Ur a.k.a.
Each and everyone has the right, some more right than others
All are destined to die, but some are destined to live as if forever!
All are accountable, but they want other to be given accounts
This is basically what we do to our own constitution
goto: who am I really?
Retrieved from "http://www.sgwiki.com/wiki/Identity"
Perhaps some of you will add-to=it some flesh and ...made it look more human with some dignity and respect.. other than a bannans, a gook or a doggie or donkey?
-
One of my pet peeves are the people who ber-slang until maybe the native person of the country's accent they try so hard to imitate don't even recognise it as English, much less understand them.Originally posted by Fatum:as I've said before ... the average Singaporean is in linguistic limbo ....
A trait unique to some Singaporeans; they have this unusual tendency to develop a foreign accent without leaving Singapore at all ! ... ... or should I say, a comical, pseudo accent ... I wonder if it's a steady diet of sitcoms and MTVs, or it hints at a deeper malaise, a rejection of one's roots ? ...
Don't all these people realise that it makes them look silly? If your tongue is used to a certain style, rolling it and making "don't" sound like "downt" just makes them look and sound like typical wannabes.
And then suddenly in the middle of the sentence they forget - and it comes out as "donch". What then?
I hate it... in fact I absolutely abhor it (any stronger words?) Seriously, I'd rather you speak normally - so what if you have an Indian / Chinese / Malay accent? I'm sure people would know just by looking at an Asian that English is not their native language. What is there to be embarrassed about? Imagine this SYT that's been giving you looks from across the bar. You move in...only to wonder if she's really overseas born, educated or just had a wisdom tooth op. A fake accent is distinguishable from a million soundwaves away.
I just wish that more Singaporeans would be proud to be an individual by their own right - have the confidence to show others that every part of their personality makes them who they are... accent and all. -
It's a sign of confidence in yourself and your society/culture when you go abroad to work and play, and you bring your flavour along.There is no shame in speaking with out own unique accent of Standard English, if at work, and certainly less in using Singlish amongst our own kind even abroad.
This is who we are, the mixture of pidgin Malay, Mandarin, Hokkien, English and for some, even Tamil into our local rojak of languages.And this rojak is something I am proud of.
Same goes for Malaysians and their Manglish, it's highly unique and even social psychologists have admitted that Singapore is a challenging place to chart a person's socio-linguistical progress and degree of influence on his eventual speech. -
(*THinks of the tone...*) I was trying to say that the Bananas i met so far are rotten ... Hmm, I do agree that there are better so called bananas just like the threadstarter, maybe i just haven't met them ...Originally posted by the Bear:gd4u, what are you trying to say?
Trust me, i have nth much against so-called bananas. Language preference is an personal choice, but pls remember that other languages are important too ... -
i've met chauvanists of ALL sides...
those chinese ones who deride any chinese person who can speak another language other than mandarin... even those who speak dialects are seen as "inferior"
i know.. most of them were my chinese teachers... pissed off a WHOLE SCHOOL so much that we became "effectively monolingual"
we ask them anything, we were insulted, sarcastic remarks were passed...
all we had to do to get really high marks for anything was place a truckload on incoherent chinese proverbs and idioms everywhere and you were guaranteed an A.. no matter how crap the content..
such were my chinese teachers that everyone was so disgusted with them, we just gave up on classes...
then, you have met the bananas...
have you seen the Indian Hindu Nationalists who would curse every other race, creed, caste, and everything else? they came to power in India...
you see the House of Saud and their Wahadi supporters.. you see Hamas, the maniacs in Palestine...
they're everywhere..
but then, NEVER EVER tar the whole lot with the same brush... those who do their best deserve better.. -
Extremists = people who lose pissing contests because they were afraid to even take it out, thus soiling themselves and ruining everyone's day.
-
Disagree. So far most of the Bananas i have meet and came across isn't so, they are pretty nice gentleman then others. I like the way they carry themselves with confident and straight forward. I find them pretty more gentleman then others. Opppsss.... sorry if i have offend any..Originally posted by gd4u:(*THinks of the tone...*) I was trying to say that the Bananas i met so far are rotten ... Hmm, I do agree that there are better so called bananas just like the threadstarter, maybe i just haven't met them ...
Trust me, i have nth much against so-called bananas. Language preference is an personal choice, but pls remember that other languages are important too ...
That's my thoughts and meeting ....
For me i am on the opp of the majority in here.
I am like most of the people, consider bi-lingual. But in the recent years, notice that my english conversations is getting from bad to worst. Coz i am surrounded by Chinese converse enivornment. Now in the office, i try to speak english then chinese in order to brush up. There are times, when i get nervous or workup all my english vocabulary just gone missing.
Help i am lost... haaa... -
Heck, I think I am in a worse situation.
Could speak English well, or at least better than some of my friends, so I was labelled a banana
Could speak Mandarin well, or at least better than some of the other friends, or even peeps in Club 30, so was labelled jiak liao bee
Life aint easy
Btw, i even attended schools that are extremely far apart in many ways, ACJC on one side, SCSS on the other -
SCSS ? .... swiss cottage secondary school ? ....Originally posted by laurence82:Heck, I think I am in a worse situation.
Could speak English well, or at least better than some of my friends, so I was labelled a banana
Could speak Mandarin well, or at least better than some of the other friends, or even peeps in Club 30, so was labelled jiak liao bee
Life aint easy
Btw, i even attended schools that are extremely far apart in many ways, ACJC on one side, SCSS on the other
and where the heck have you been lau ? ...
-
ayeOriginally posted by Fatum:SCSS ? .... swiss cottage secondary school ? ....
and where the heck have you been lau ? ...
Dont tell me you were there when they've been singing Twin Stream?
and i have been busy pegging away at my books, exam time!
grrr -
*burns all the books*Originally posted by laurence82:aye
Dont tell me you were there when they've been singing Twin Stream?
and i have been busy pegging away at my books, exam time!
grrr
-
i heard NUS exams started alredi?Originally posted by LazerLordz:*burns all the books*
Good luck dude -
*makes note to be nicer to banana in the future ........Originally posted by laurence82:aye
Dont tell me you were there when they've been singing Twin Stream?
and i have been busy pegging away at my books, exam time!
grrr
yes my dear ... me SCSS also ... right after they moved away from SCGS ... -
omigoshOriginally posted by Fatum:*makes note to be nicer to banana in the future ........
yes my dear ... me SCSS also ... right after they moved away from SCGS ...
that means u are my senior
but when they moved away from Bukit Timah? me in SCSS in 1995 -
yea..Originally posted by laurence82:i heard NUS exams started alredi?
Good luck dude -
1992 I think ....Originally posted by laurence82:omigosh
that means u are my senior
but when they moved away from Bukit Timah? me in SCSS in 1995
I entered 1993 and grad 1996 .....
omigosh ... perhaps you know Fatum's hot younger sister then ! ....
edited for memory laspe ... description of younger sis still stands ... (same gene pool mah ... ) -
muahahaOriginally posted by Fatum:1991 I think ....
I entered 1992 and grad 1996 .....
omigosh ... perhaps you know Fatum's hot younger sister then ! ....
that means i got ur grubby school pic in 1995 and 1996 yearbook
ur sis is who? i prolly know her if she is in my year
and heck, i know some gals from the juniors too
-
tell you when I'm back in Singapore ...Originally posted by laurence82:muahaha
that means i got ur grubby school pic in 1995 and 1996 yearbook
ur sis is who? i prolly know her if she is in my year
and heck, i know some gals from the juniors too
good luck with the mugging ... I still have two papers left also ... -
orhOriginally posted by Fatum:tell you when I'm back in Singapore ...
good luck with the mugging ... I still have two papers left also ...
my paper starts on monday
okies, i go sleep ler
nitez to everyone and everyone and the hao xiong di sitting in the front row seats of opera houses -
Okie ... being anal here ... but lau ... SCSS moved to bukit batok in 1992 ... Fatum entered in 1993 .... 92 I was still taking PSLE ...
so yah .... 93 - 96 .... so did you enter in 95 or what ? ... -
Dang!!! I was from SCSS too, except my time was in Bukit Timah, right next door to ACS Barker.Originally posted by Fatum:Okie ... being anal here ... but lau ... SCSS moved to bukit batok in 1992 ... Fatum entered in 1993 .... 92 I was still taking PSLE ...
so yah .... 93 - 96 .... so did you enter in 95 or what ? ... -
*gives AV a huggy too ....Originally posted by av98m:Dang!!! I was from SCSS too, except my time was in Bukit Timah, right next door to ACS Barker.
*makes note to scrap plan to seperate AV from D200 .....
ah ... our senior ....
I wonder who else is from SCSS out there ... what year AV ? ...