'Do S'poreans know how lovely it sounds?': Foreign Redditor gushes over Singapore accent
A foreign businessman who made a Reddit post about his love of the Singapore accent and Singlish has sparked a lively discussion among netizens.
Redditor lordtekken_2, who does not reveal his nationality, admits to being partial because he has done business in Singapore for the past 20 years. He finds Singlish and the Singapore accent comforting, loves the choice of vocabulary and intonation, and thinks it sounds professional and adorable.
The post with the heading "Do Singaporeans know how lovely the Singapore-accent sounds?", was made on Oct 9. At press time, it had received 436 upvotes and 183 comments.
He ends off with: “Curious if others agree!”
'Cute, adorable, somewhat innocent'
"I find some of the singaporeans really cute with singlish but sometimes i really just cannot understand what they’re saying with the accent and some really talks very fast," said a netizen.
“Singlish with the Singaporean accent is my fav but I can't understand why Singaporeans love to use that ‘fake angmoh’ accent when speaking to non-asians," said another.
The post resonated with non-locals, too: "Foreigner here as well. Can’t agree with you more. The Singaporean accent gives me one of the most difficult feeling to describe. It sounds cute, adorable, somewhat innocent but professional at the same time.
However, not everyone felt the same way about the Singapore accent or Singlish. "It sounds damn low SES. Stop romanticising already,” said a commenter.
"Ugliest accent in Asia," said another.
Some were just happy that the accent was liked: ”I’m Singaporean and I always thought our accent was irritating. Glad that some people like it lol.”
'Is no one going to take the paiseh piece?'
Some Redditors even shared anecdotes of foreigners trying to pick up the Singapore accent and Singlish.
"I used to have angmoh boss from UK that spoke perfect english with her majesty accent, and i thought it’s a good chance for me to improve my english by talking to him everyday.. 2 years later, my english still the same.. his english 'polluted' with my singlish and he still misplaced the lah leh loh ah sia etc," said one.
“Was having a team lunch one day with pizza, and there was one box with one slice left, and my French manager was like "Is no one going to take the paiseh piece?" in a french accent,” said another.
Finally, one Redditor felt there was a time and place for the Singapore accent: "That's the thing with Singlish, we use it for convenience and out of habit for growing up in a racially diverse country. I don't mind it in casual conversations, but it sounds grating when used in professional environments or in media because you know it's forced."
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