“Can say lah in English compo or not ah?”
“Can,lah!”
“Some say cannot leh!”
Many a proudly Singaporean student has been swiftly chastised for using Singlish in ‘formal’ writing such as compositions. Those who take a dim view of Singlish might say Singlish is not grammatical, Singlish is bad English or Singlish is not English at all. Since much has already been said about the merits or lack thereof of Singapore Colloquial English (SCE) often used interchangeably with the term ‘Singlish’, we will focus instead on the narrow question of Singlish use in school compositions.
The authority on this question must be the Ministry of Education and not some grammarian who lived in the 18th century such as Robert Lowth:The Original Sins of Grammarians Still Plague the Rulebooks (paywall). The Ministry has confirmed that Singlish is acceptable in English compositions in direct speech: MOE Response on Singlish
To appreciate the power of Singlish in English compositions, we need awareness of the purpose, audience, culture and context (PACC) of English compositions. Composition writing allows for “creative self-expression” (Primary English Syllabus, MOE, 2020), an opportunity to engage in semiosis or the process of making meaning by deliberately selecting “different semiotic features for effective and impactful text creation” (Primary English Syllabus, MOE, 2020).
The PACC of English compositions may be understood as follows: Students compose works of fiction for the enjoyment of their peers and teachers. Their peers and teachers are mostly, Singaporeans who understand, relate to and appreciate the Singapore context and culture which comprise unique concepts such as “Kiasu” and “Paiseh”.
Also, unless the composition is set in some foreign land, the story world created by the student would be in Singapore. It will be perfectly natural for characters in the story to speak and act like most Singaporeans and quite contrived for them to speak like they were British or American. Therefore, for the creation of authentic and impactful stories, Singlish should be encouraged (not discouraged) in direct speech.
For example, consider the following excerpt taken from the Quarterly Literary Review Singapore (QLRS): Laksa
Lost in her reverie, Aishah did not realise that her mother had moved from her position from the floor and was frying the paste in a large pot.
“So kuat the smell,” said Aishah with her nose scrunched up. If she thought the smell of the rempah was strong before, it was certainly much more pronounced when fried.
The above is a scene of a conversation between a Malay mother and her daughter in a kitchen. If instead of ‘kuat’, the word ‘strong’ was used – “so strong the smell”, the reader would have lost the opportunity to appreciate the distinct Malayness of this interaction and the scene would have been less flavourful. The word “kuat” helps the reader immerse in the scene more deeply as though she was watching a television drama. In this way, deliberately selecting the word “kuat” helps to convey some facet of Malay culture to the reader, making the sentence more effective and impactful.
To appreciate just how effective and impactful Singlish is in Singapore, let us enjoy this video of our very own Phua Chu Kang and his friendly advice to Singaporeans during the SARS period:
SARS was a serious matter and information had to be delivered quickly in an effective and impactful way. Singlish and not Standard English was the semiotic mode deemed fit to spread the message faster than the virus.
The next time you read a character saying “Can or not?” in an English composition, don’t be too quick to say “Aiyoh!”. Boleh?
The Brain Dojo
