SINGAPORE: All cultures have differences and quirks, and trying to explain them to outsiders can be challenging. Singapore, it seems, has its fair share of unique Singaporeanisms, based on a recent lively discussion on Reddit.
U/hard2resist got the ball rolling when they asked on the r/askSingapore sub, “What’s the most uniquely Singaporean thing you’ve had to explain to a foreigner?”
The post author further wrote that they had just spent 20 minutes explaining to a colleague visiting from overseas the concept of “chope-ing” tables with tissue packets.
“They were completely baffled by the concept and kept asking, ‘but what if someone just takes it?’” the post author wrote.
That particular conversation led them to ask users on the platform for “the most Singaporean thing you’ve struggled to explain to someone who’s never been here? Queuing culture? Our obsession with air conditioning? The art of perfectly timing your MRT exit? Bonus points if they still didn’t understand after your explanation.”
The most upvoted comment came from someone who replied that they had to explain the difference between “No lah. No meh? No wor. No leh. No sia!”
This impressed the post author so much that they wrote: “They all mean ‘no’ but somehow Singaporeans created five emotional stages of denial with particles.”
This led another to write that they’re having “a lot of difficulty explaining ‘lah’ to my friends from overseas. How sia?”
“It’s difficult to explain to a foreigner friend how to order coffee in a coffee shop. I ended up asking what he prefers and ordered it for him. And I ask him to memorise just one order that he prefers so that he won’t be confused or take too much time at the ordering counter,” chimed in another commenter.
Some said they’ve had a hard time getting non-Singaporeans to understand car ownership.
“Toyota Corolla is more expensive than Porsche Cayenne in the US,” wrote one.
“I once tried explaining COE to a French girl and she went whattttttttt and i replied to her, yeah I whattttttt at the price of COE all the time lmao,” answered another.
Another popular answer involved wild chickens.
“Tbh, for me it’s the wild chickens they see on the road. They don’t understand why no one captures the chickens to make chicken rice,” one wrote.
“I love those chickens so much, man. Should be the other national animal,” a commenter answered.
“Same here, but apparentl,y there is also a strong hate of the chickens. Everyone who visits Singapore apparently is shocked that we just have chickens running around,” another mused.
But the chicken commenter wrote, “Yes, because they see the chickens as food. But for us Singaporeans, the chickens are no different than the otters. They are wildlife and should be left alone.” /TISG
Read also: Frenchwoman asks why so many roosters are ‘living rent-free in the streets of SG’
