20180531-Michael Chugani 褚簡寧：Singlish and Chinglish
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧：Singlish and Chinglish
2018-05-31
In my previous column I wrote about the excellent speech Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong gave in Parliament recently. I watched the speech again on the internet. As I said in my previous column, our senior officials should watch it too. They can learn a lot about how to give a speech that helps to unite society. Lee Hsien Loong did not shy away from sensitive topics such as race, class, religion, and language. To “shy away from” something means to avoid something you fear, dislike or are uncomfortable with. Rather than shy away, he urged Singaporeans to build bridges between different ethnic groups and classes. He said Singaporeans should not think of themselves as belonging to a higher or lower class of people.
Lee Hsien Loong stressed the importance of good English because people would treat those who spoke Singlish as belonging to a lower class. Singlish is a form of English that includes Chinese and Malay words. Many Hong Kong people speak Chinglish, a form of English that includes Chinese words. He praised members of Parliament for dressing casually instead of in their Sunday best to boast to others they belong to a higher class. The expression “Sunday best” means a person’s best clothes, worn on special occasions or Sundays. He said people who wore chunky (big, thick) gold watches to show they are rich might instead be mistaken by others as loan sharks. A loan shark is a dishonest money lender who charges very high rates of interest.
His audience laughed when he made this joke about people who try to show others they belong to a higher class by wearing expensive watches. Have you ever heard our senior officials talk honestly about sensitive issues such as race and class and make jokes during speeches? I have not. Singapore and Hong Kong are very similar, both tiny but wealthy Asian cities. The two compete with each other in high-tech, low taxes, and being livable cities that attract expatriates. Singapore often wins. Maybe it’s because it has leaders like Lee Hsien Loong and his late father Lee Kuan Yew who talk honestly about sensitive issues.
***
在上一篇專欄中，我寫到新加坡總理李顯龍最近在國會發表的一流演說。我在網上重溫演說的片段。正如我在上一篇文章中所說，我們的政府高官們也應找來看一看，他們可以從中學習到許多，該怎樣去發表一個團結社會的演說。李顯龍並沒有迴避（shy away from）敏感議題，例如種族、階級、宗教和語言。To 「shy away from」 something意思即是去迴避或躲開那些你恐懼、厭惡或不安的事情。他沒有去迴避（shy away），反倒力勸新加坡人去在不同的族群和階級之間建立橋樑。他說，新加坡人不應認為自己是屬於高一等或低一等的人。
李顯龍強調上乘英語的重要，因為人們會將那些說「星式英語」（Singlish）的人視為屬於低下階層的人。 Singlish是新加坡式英語，包含了中文和馬來語的字詞。許多香港人也說 Chinglish，就是包含了中文字詞的中式英語。他讚揚國會的議員穿著休閒，而非穿最好的盛裝（Sunday best）去向別人炫耀他們是上等人。習語 Sunday best意即人們出席特別活動或周日時穿的最好的衣服。他說，那些戴上厚重（chunky）金錶去炫富的人，或許反會被他人以為是loan sharks——就是放高利貸、不老實的「大耳窿」。
他談及那些人戴名貴手錶、試圖告訴別人自己是上等人，他開這個玩笑時觀眾都笑了。你又可有聽過我們的高官們會真誠地談論種族和階級等敏感議題，並在演說期間開玩笑？我就沒有聽過了。新加坡和香港很相似，都是細小而富裕的亞洲城市。兩地在高科技、低稅收，以至成為吸引外籍僑民的宜居城市等方面互相競爭，新加坡則常常勝出。或許這是因為他們有像李顯龍或其已故父親李光耀般，可以真誠地談論敏感議題的領袖。
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
2018-05-31
In my previous column I wrote about the excellent speech Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong gave in Parliament recently. I watched the speech again on the internet. As I said in my previous column, our senior officials should watch it too. They can learn a lot about how to give a speech that helps to unite society. Lee Hsien Loong did not shy away from sensitive topics such as race, class, religion, and language. To “shy away from” something means to avoid something you fear, dislike or are uncomfortable with. Rather than shy away, he urged Singaporeans to build bridges between different ethnic groups and classes. He said Singaporeans should not think of themselves as belonging to a higher or lower class of people.
Lee Hsien Loong stressed the importance of good English because people would treat those who spoke Singlish as belonging to a lower class. Singlish is a form of English that includes Chinese and Malay words. Many Hong Kong people speak Chinglish, a form of English that includes Chinese words. He praised members of Parliament for dressing casually instead of in their Sunday best to boast to others they belong to a higher class. The expression “Sunday best” means a person’s best clothes, worn on special occasions or Sundays. He said people who wore chunky (big, thick) gold watches to show they are rich might instead be mistaken by others as loan sharks. A loan shark is a dishonest money lender who charges very high rates of interest.
His audience laughed when he made this joke about people who try to show others they belong to a higher class by wearing expensive watches. Have you ever heard our senior officials talk honestly about sensitive issues such as race and class and make jokes during speeches? I have not. Singapore and Hong Kong are very similar, both tiny but wealthy Asian cities. The two compete with each other in high-tech, low taxes, and being livable cities that attract expatriates. Singapore often wins. Maybe it’s because it has leaders like Lee Hsien Loong and his late father Lee Kuan Yew who talk honestly about sensitive issues.
***
在上一篇專欄中，我寫到新加坡總理李顯龍最近在國會發表的一流演說。我在網上重溫演說的片段。正如我在上一篇文章中所說，我們的政府高官們也應找來看一看，他們可以從中學習到許多，該怎樣去發表一個團結社會的演說。李顯龍並沒有迴避（shy away from）敏感議題，例如種族、階級、宗教和語言。To 「shy away from」 something意思即是去迴避或躲開那些你恐懼、厭惡或不安的事情。他沒有去迴避（shy away），反倒力勸新加坡人去在不同的族群和階級之間建立橋樑。他說，新加坡人不應認為自己是屬於高一等或低一等的人。
李顯龍強調上乘英語的重要，因為人們會將那些說「星式英語」（Singlish）的人視為屬於低下階層的人。 Singlish是新加坡式英語，包含了中文和馬來語的字詞。許多香港人也說 Chinglish，就是包含了中文字詞的中式英語。他讚揚國會的議員穿著休閒，而非穿最好的盛裝（Sunday best）去向別人炫耀他們是上等人。習語 Sunday best意即人們出席特別活動或周日時穿的最好的衣服。他說，那些戴上厚重（chunky）金錶去炫富的人，或許反會被他人以為是loan sharks——就是放高利貸、不老實的「大耳窿」。
他談及那些人戴名貴手錶、試圖告訴別人自己是上等人，他開這個玩笑時觀眾都笑了。你又可有聽過我們的高官們會真誠地談論種族和階級等敏感議題，並在演說期間開玩笑？我就沒有聽過了。新加坡和香港很相似，都是細小而富裕的亞洲城市。兩地在高科技、低稅收，以至成為吸引外籍僑民的宜居城市等方面互相競爭，新加坡則常常勝出。或許這是因為他們有像李顯龍或其已故父親李光耀般，可以真誠地談論敏感議題的領袖。
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
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