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.