爱华网话说Singlish
周蕴仪刚刚有网友私下写信问我什么是 Singlish，这个问题似乎引起不少人的兴趣，也有不少人对Singlish 有所误解。所以这里简单介绍，顺便举几个例子说明。
Singlish 是一种混合语言，以英语为主，掺入马来语和以闽南语为主的华族方言。Singlish 有其历史渊源。新加坡原来是马来渔村，十六世纪已经有中国移民（这批人后来成为“新加坡土著华人”，叫Peranakan。由于异族通婚，产生了独特的文化，以及从马来语和闽南语衍生出来的土著华人语言，这里不展开说）。1819年，新加坡成为英国殖民地，官方语言是英语。十九世纪中叶，中国境内天灾人祸，动荡不安，而当时南洋（东南亚）正需要大量劳力拓荒开矿，为了谋生，成千上万的中国人远赴南洋找生活，有些还被“卖猪仔”卖到南洋当“苦力”。这时，英国人也从当时也是英殖民地的印度，运来一批批的印度囚犯，在建筑工地工作。这样，新加坡便成为一个多种语言和文化的社会。来自不同语言和文化背景的人，在当时不到400公顷的小岛国一起生活、奋斗。为了沟通方便，为了更加亲近，久而久之，大家交谈的语言中，逐渐你中有我、我中有你，形成了今天的Singlish.
Singlish 本质上更像方言，也就是说，能说纯正英语和其它语言或方言的人，也说Singlish。老外刚到新加坡，开始会不习惯。后来习惯了，也入乡随俗，跟着我们一会儿lah，一会儿makan 的，不亦乐乎地说 Singlish。我们经常看见路上一群群年轻人，其中有华人、马来人、印度人，大伙儿笑着说着Singlish，也算是种族和谐的体现吧。
以下是朋友给我写的邮件，写的就是Singlish。然而，流畅的英语仍旧流露于字里行间。其实此人有新加坡国立大学英国文学荣誉学位，英语很好，目前在西班牙教英语。由于我们都各自流落异乡，说Singlish，写Singlish，倍觉亲切、温馨。
例一：
…your sister can conquer France or anycountry cos she's so garang 【大胆、天不怕、地不怕。马来语】and can just trundle through anything. she'sthe sort who can volunteer but won't be taken advantage of. trustme, if i do the same, the next thing is people will be asking me towash their underwear for them. i'll probably resort to doingit...but will first sprinkle pepper or itching powder in theirunderwear before giving it back to them neatly pressed! but it'squite funny how in the world can she get interrupted cos she spoketoo slowly????? She speaks so fast sometimes i can't follow herthoughts!! Sekali 【万一。马来语】I ask herwhat she means and she says “you don’t understandmeh 【感叹。粤语、闽南语。】?”Then how? 【汉语句式。“怎么办？”】Even if in French am sure she can speak veryfast!!! I don't feel so much the young people as the ones who areracist in any way, but i felt the older folks were a nastier batch.Which isn't great cos they are old so you cannot be bitchy to themeven if inspired to ha! I suppose as long as we are in a foreigncountry there's always the tendency to get marginalised. Still, howunfair of history to let the white people get preferentialtreatment everywhere they go. but oh well. if life were truly fairand just, tua peh kong 【“大伯公”神。闽南语】and god and allah and E.T. would be out of ajob. So!
例二：
…warrao 【“我的老X”=哎哟。闽南语】teachers not good damnxian 【“烦”。闽南语】man.....should write in and complain....notthat i know who you can complain to when a teacher suck in auniversity.... are they simply....lazy and irresponsiblenaturally?!?!?! ……see beh sian 【“死爸烦”=很烦。闽南语】ah likethat. Should just sack the dean and say 'eh you,siam【“闪”= 闪开。闽南语】, itake over your place i can teach better'!! it's horrible when thepeople in power are royal idiots. Like bush.
例三：
…yeah you don't have to keep me company wheni am in BJ, i'll run around on my own and just meet forerm....makan 【吃、食物。可作动词或名词。马来语】sessions haha! when you are done withwhatever you are doing. and yes it'll be nice to try the danceclasses there. anyway, you will still be there for some time so ihave a longer window of time to figure out flight plans. i probablyhave to book my BA flight to Singapore soon cos it is cheap flightso seats are choped 【占、占有。来源不详】 very fast. or at least, that's what the agenttold me. anyway, assuming i die die【“死死”= 一定、无论如何。例子：“死死都喺要去” = 无论如何都要去。粤语】want to stay out of singapore, then when inext fly out of the country i can always find some airline thatwill stop by BJ before going to wherever i plan to go. timbuctooperhaps.
下面这篇文章是一位新加坡学生去年在英国一个写作比赛的得奖作品。由于描述的是新加坡的社会状况，为体现当地文化，也用了Singlish。我十五岁的时候，英语水平不及她的十分之一。现在说是做翻译，还是不如她。惭愧。
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A15-YEAR-OLD Singaporean, competing against 16- to 18-year-olds, haswon the top prize in a writing contest that drew 5,300 entries from52 countries.Amanda gets (S$1,590).
ASingaporean last won the top prize in 2000, said Britain's RoyalCommonwealth Society, which has been organising the competitionsince 1883. Singaporeans also came in second in the 14- to15-year-old category, and fourth in the under-12s. Other winnersincluded students from Australia, Canada and SouthAfrica.
Chief examiner Charles Kemp called her piecea 'powerfully moving and ironical critique of modern restlessnessand its potentially cruelconsequences'. The writing is fluentand assured, with excellent use of dialogue.
==================================================================
What the Modern Woman Wants
By Amanda Chong Wei-Zhen
The old woman sat in the backseat of themagenta convertible as it careened down the highway, clutchingtightly to the plastic bag on her lap, afraid it may be kidnappedby the wind. She was not used to such speed, with trembling handsshe pulled the seatbelt tighter but was careful not to touch thepatent leather seats with her callused fingers, her daughter hadwarned her not to dirty it, 'Fingerprints show very clearly onwhite, Ma.'
Her daughter, Bee Choo【“美珠”。闽南语名字】, was driving and talking on her sleek silvermobile phone using big words the old woman could barely understand.'Finance' 'Liquidation' 'Assets' 'Investments'... Her voice wascrisp and important and had an unfamiliar lilt to it. Her Bee Choosounded like one of those foreign girls on television. She wasspeaking in an American accent.
The old lady clucked her tongue indisapproval. 'I absolutely cannot have this. We have to sell!' Herdaughter exclaimed agitatedly as she stepped on the accelerator;her perfectly manicured fingernails gripping onto the steeringwheel in irritation.
'I can't DEAL with this anymore!' she yelledas she clicked the phone shut and hurled it angrily toward thebackseat.
The mobile phone hit the old woman on theforehead and nestled soundlessly into her lap. She calmly picked itup and handed it to her daughter.
'Sorry, Ma,' she said, losing the Americanpretence and switching to Mandarin. 'I have a big client inAmerica. There have been a lot of problems.'
The old lady nodded knowingly. Her daughterwas big and important. Bee Choo stared at her mother from the rearview window, wondering what she was thinking. Her mother's wrinkledcountenance always carried the same cryptic look.
The phone began to ring again, anartificially cheerful digital tune, which broke the awkwardsilence. 'Hello, Beatrice! Yes, this is Elaine.'
The old woman cringed. I didn't name herElaine. She remembered her daughter telling her, how an Englishname was very important for 'networking', Chinese ones being easilyforgotten.
'Oh no, I can't see you for lunch today. Ihave to take the ancient relic to the temple for her weird dailyprayer ritual.'
Ancient Relic. The old woman understoodperfectly it was referring to her. Her daughter always assumed thather mother's silence meant she did not comprehend.
'Yes, I know! My car seats will be reeking ofjoss sticks!' The old woman pursed her lips tightly, her handsgripping her plastic bag in defence.
The car curved smoothly into the templecourtyard. It looked almost garish next to the dull sheen of theageing temple's roof. The old woman got out of the back seat, andmade her unhurried way to the main hall.
Her daughter stepped out of the car in herbusiness suit and stilettos and reapplied her lipstick as she madeher brisk way to her mother's side.
'Ma, I'll wait outside. I have an importantphone call to make,' she said, not bothering to hide her disgust atthe pungent fumes of incense.
The old lady hobbled into the temple hall andlit a joss stick, she knelt down solemnly and whispered her nowfamiliar daily prayer to the Gods.
Thank you God of the Sky, you have given mydaughter luck all these years. Everything I prayed for, you havegiven her. She has everything a young woman in this world couldpossibly want. She has a big house with a swimming pool, a maid tohelp her, as she is too clumsy to sew or cook.
Her love life has been blessed; she isengaged to a rich and handsome angmoh man【“红毛人” 闽南语。指洋人】. Hercompany is now the top financial firm and even men listen to whatshe says. She lives the perfect life. You have given her everythingexcept happiness. I ask that the gods be merciful to her even ifshe has lost her roots while reaping the harvest ofsuccess.
What you see is not true, she is a filialdaughter to me. She gives me a room in her big house and provideswell for me. She is rude to me only because I affect her happiness.A young woman does not want to be hindered by her old mother. It ismy fault.
The old lady prayed so hard that tears welledup in her eyes. Finally, with her head bowed in reverence sheplanted the half-burnt joss stick into an urn of smoulderingashes.
She bowed once more.
The old woman had been praying for herdaughter for thirty-two years. When her stomach was round like amelon, she came to the temple and prayed that it was ason.
Then the time was ripe and the baby slippedout of her womb, bawling and adorable with fat thighs and pinkcheeks, but unmistakably, a girl. Her husband had kicked andpunched her for producing a useless baby who could not work orcarry the family name.
Still, the woman returned to the temple withher new-born girl tied to her waist in a sarong and prayed that herdaughter would grow up and have everything she ever wanted. Herhusband left her and she prayed that her daughter would never haveto depend on a man.
She prayed every day that her daughter wouldbe a great woman, the woman that she, meek and uneducated, couldnever become. A woman with nengkan; the ability to doanything she set her mind to. A woman who commanded respect in thehearts of men. When she opened her mouth to speak, precious pearlswould fall out and men would listen.
She will not be like me, the woman prayed asshe watched her daughter grow up and drift away from her, speakinga language she scarcely understood. She watched her daughtertransform from a quiet girl, to one who openly defied her, callingher laotu 【老土】;old-fashioned. She wanted her mother to be 'modern', a word so newthere was no Chinese word for it.
Now her daughter was too clever for her andthe old woman wondered why she had prayed like that. The gods hadbeen faithful to her persistent prayer, but the wealth and successthat poured forth so richly had buried the girl's roots and now shestood, faceless, with no identity, bound to the soil of herancestors by only a string of origami banknotes.
Her daughter had forgotten her mother'svalues. Her wants were so ephemeral; that of a modern woman. Power,Wealth, access to the best fashion boutiques, and yet her daughterhad not found true happiness. The old woman knew that you couldfind happiness with much less. When her daughter left the eartheverything she had would count for nothing. People would look toher legacy and say that she was a great woman, but she would beforgotten once the wind blows over, like the ashes of burnt paperconvertibles and mansions.
The old woman wished she could go back anderase all her big hopes and prayers for her daughter; now she hadonly one want: That her daughter be happy. She looked out of thetemple gate. She saw her daughter speaking on the phone, her browfurrowed with anger and worry. Being at the top is not good, thewoman thought, there is only one way to go from there -down.
The old woman carefully unfolded the plasticbag and spread out a packet of beehoon【米粉。闽南语。新加坡不叫ricenoodles】in front ofthe altar. Her daughter often mocked her for worshipping porcelainGods. How could she pray to them so faithfully and expect pieces ofceramic to fly to her aid? But her daughter had her own gods too,idols of wealth, success and power that she was enslaved to andworshipped every day of her life.
Every day was a quest for the idols, and theidols she worshipped counted for nothing in eternity. All the wantsher daughter had would slowly suck the life out of her and leaveher, an empty soulless shell at the altar.
The old lady watched her joss tick. The dullheat had left a teetering grey stem that was on the danger ofcollapsing. Modern woman nowadays, the old lady sighed inresignation, as she bowed to the east one final time to end herritual. Modern woman nowadays want so much that they lose theirsouls and wonder why they cannot find it.
Her joss stick disintegrated into a soft greypowder. She met her daughter outside the temple, the same look ofworry and frustration was etched on her daughter's face. An emptyexpression, as if she was ploughing through the soil of her wantslooking for the one thing that would sow the seeds ofhappiness.
They climbed into the convertible in silenceand her daughter drove along the highway, this time not as fast asshe had done before.
'Ma,' Bee Choo finally said. 'I don't knowhow to put this. Mark and I have been talking about it and we planto move out of the big house. The property market is good now, andwe managed to get a buyer willing to pay seven million for it. Wedecided we'd prefer a cosier penthouse apartment instead. We founda perfect one in Orchard Road. Once we move in to our apartment weplan to get rid of the maid, so we can have more space toourselves...'
The old woman nodded knowingly. Bee Chooswallowed hard. 'We'd get someone to come in to do the houseworkand we can eat out-but once the maid is gone, there won't be anyoneto look after you. You will be awfully lonely at home and, besidesthat, the apartment is rather small. There won't be space. Wethought about it for a long time, and we decided the best thing foryou is if you moved to a Home.There's one near Hougang – it's a Christian home, a very niceone.'
The old woman did not raise an eyebrow. 'I'vebeen there, the matron is willing to take you in. It's beautifulwith gardens and lots of old people to keep you company! I hardlyhave time for you, you'd be happier there.'
'You'd be happier there, really.' Herdaughter repeated as if to affirm herself.
This time the old woman had no plastic bag offood offerings to cling tightly to; she bit her lip and fastenedher seat belt, as if it would protect her from a daughter who didnot want her anymore. She sunk deep into the leather seat, lettingher shoulders sag, and her fingers trace the white seat.
'Ma?' her daughter asked, searching the rearview window for her mother. 'Is everything okay?' What had to bedone, had to be done. 'Yes,' she said firmly, louder than sheintended, 'if it will make you happy,' she added morequietly.
'It's for you, Ma! You'll be happier there.You can move there tomorrow, I already got the maid to pack yourthings.' Elaine said triumphantly, mentally ticking yet anotheritem off her agenda.
'I knew everything would be fine.'
Elaine smiled widely; she felt liberated.Perhaps getting rid of her mother would make her happier. She hadthought about it. It seemed the only hindrance in her pursuit ofhappiness. She was happy now. She had everything a modern womanever wanted; Money, Status, Career, Love, Power and now, Freedom,without her mother and her old-fashioned ways to weigh herdown...
Yes, she was free. Her phone buzzed urgently,she picked it up and read the message, still beaming from ear toear. 'Stocks 10% increase!'
Yes, things were definitely beginning to lookup for her...
And while searching for the meaning of lifein the luminance of her hand phone screen, the old woman in thebackseat became invisible, and she did not see thetears.
