Rachel Toh: An Auntie's Warning
Rachel Toh reading ‘An Auntie’s Warning’
An Auntie's warning
to the Singaporean Chinese girl who can’t speak her mother tongue:
你吃马铃薯长大的啊? ／you jiak kantang growing up ah?
You don’t know this saying? You jialat la.
Because only Angmohs eat potatoes, Asians eat rice.
ஐயோ/ 哎哟/ aiyo, cannot tahan you leh, you always ponteng class isit?
Or you think English more atas? Next time go work, you confirm kena.
I think you better just popi to God that you marry a sibei rich guy and be a taitai.
Glossary and notes
‘你吃马铃薯长大的啊? ／you jiak kantang growing up ah?:
Did you grow up eating potatoes?
(Some people say this phrase in Chinese, some mix other language as in the second variation.
Jiak is Hokkien for eat
Kantang is both a Hokkien and Malay word for potatoes.)
You jialat la: You’re going to be in for it.
(Jialat is both a Hokkien and Teochew word for ‘draining strength’, which translates to 'you’re going to be in trouble or you’re in a terrible situation.'
La is a Singlish word that’s used a lot at the end of sentences.)
Angmohs: a Hokkien word for Caucasians
ஐயோ/ 哎哟/ aiyo, cannot tahan you leh, you always ponteng class isit?: Aiyo, I can’t stand you, did you skip class all the time?
(Aiyo is a Tamil word which has been absorbed into the Singlish vernacular, where it is used interchangeably with the Chinese aiya,both of which translate to 'Oh no' or 'Oh dear.'
Tahan is a Malay word that means you can’t stand or bear something/someone.
Ponteng is a Malay word used for skipping (class or work).)
Atas: A Malay word that literally means 'above'. It’s commonly used for describing sophisticated or upper-class people.
Kena: a Malay word that means 'suffer'.
Popi: a Hokkien word for 'pray'.
Sibei: a Teochew word for 'very'.
Taitai: a Chinese colloquial term for a wealthy married woman who does not work.
Rachel Toh is a Creative Writing and English Literature undergraduate from the University of Melbourne who has learned to revel in her identity as female and Singaporean-Chinese since moving to Melbourne.