"Jia Lat" (JL)

When we say "Jia Lat" in Singapore, we really make something's (or someone) "the sh*t" or it could refer to the situation and that the scenario or facts surrounding the issue could be quite terrible and insurmountable.

It's not a good situation to be in, most definitely not one that everyone enjoys to be in. When someone says "Oh, sh*t, jia lat!" It is usually used in tandem with a corresponding forgetfulness, and in saying so, the problem requires immediate attention to rectify it.

It usually comes with an appropriate sinking feeling as well. Like when you know that you know you have not done something that you should have done. Kind of like leaving the house with the gas stove still on. It's a real "Jia Lat" feeling. :)

"Global Talent" (GT)

There seems to be a new terminology for foreigners in Singapore. It's a much better and nicer sounding term. "Global Talent" to reflect the smallness of the world as a global village, and at the same time, to further define the term foreign talent and in a sense to differentiate it from its diluted form.

Global Talent now refers to any kind of talent, and not just the blue collar types that come into Singapore as manual laborers or low-skilled to unskilled workers. It could refer to white-collar executive types that are highly mobile, and have transferrable skills that can value-add to any organization that hires them. The key word here is the intangible perceived value-add.

Whether that indeed becomes a successful differentiation or not will depend on the myriad headhunting professionals here trying to re-carve the niche for foreign talent. Singapore needs foreign talent in order to maintain its global competitiveness. It just needs a little more heart in redefining itself. Oh well. I like the new term anyway. ;)

"Hao Lian" (HL)

The term "Hao Lian" refers to someone who is typically arrogant or generally aloof in personality and character. This person is also not well liked by friends or peers, and people who may know them would avoid any kind of interaction with them simply because it could potentially be quite stifling.

"Hao Lian" is a Hokkien term used by the locals in relation to someone with an attitude problem. That attitude problem is usually real and the person that has the problem usually think they are not being "hao lian".

In recent years the term "Hao Lian" has been used in a mild sarcastic manner as if to insinuate that a certain person is arrogant but most of the time in a joking manner. This in a sense has somewhat diluted the implications and the usage of the term.

"Chin Jia Cham" (CJC)

When I was younger, the neighborhood gossipy auntie would go around all the non-working mothers and gather them together for their regular chit-chat sessions. Unfortunately, there will always be one or two non-working mothers that would be left out of the picture, and for good reason too. At least according to the gossipy auntie.

She would make special effort to ensure that the person that she is gossiping about was never present, and the way she went about it was prove of her tenacity as the neighborhood gossip. So in this one occasion I wandered into one of their secret sessions and there they were, all crowded around the stone table by the void deck, yakking away at the juicy details.

Of course I could not understand what the adults were saying then, and the only words that I could hear was "Chin Jia Cham". Apparently, from the little I could decipher from her heavily accented Hokkien, she was referring to a so-and-so non-working mother who obviously was not invited to the gathering, that her husband was caught for some drug-related offenses, and as a result, the family finances became an issue as her estranged husband was incarcerated.

"Chin Jia Cham" is a local slang or expression to refer to someone or a family who are suffering as a result of a direct consequence of another person's action or some circumstances. There is typically a lot of human drama involved, and sometimes, the usage of the term may be overtly exaggerated for effect. "Chin Jia Cham" or in our Singaporean way of explaining it, means "very cham" the nearest English equivalent expression would be "terribly miserable".

"Foreign Talent" (FT)

The term Foreign Talent seems to be a generic term for any kind of foreigner working in Singapore, however, in light of the recent debate on the role of these foreign workers and their relevance to Singapore society, it has led to the coining of the acronym "FT". Previously foreigners that worked here were also known as "Expats" or expatriates. 

However, some have deputed that the term "Expats" only refer to foreigners of Caucasian origins. I find that interesting though, I always thought that "Expats" was a term referring to a resident living in a foreign country. So "Expats" were really in the quintessential sense of the word, people from another country living in a country other than their own.

Someone called my former company before and asked if we had expatriates working in my company then, and I answered saying "Yes, we have 5". The person went on to ask where they were from, and I replied, "2 from England, 1 American, 1 Australian and 1 Malaysian". The caller immediately said, "Oh, then that's 4 expatriates. We don't consider Malaysians expatriates."

I was mortified to say the least. How is a Malaysian working in Singapore not considered an expatriate? The definition of expatriate means resident residing in another country. Of course there was no answer to my question. 

Okay, so we now have a general term to classify everything. "FT" also known as Foreign Talent. I hope everyone is happy with that change. Although I think the term Foreign Talent now carries with it a negative connotation as well. :)

"Kena-PSY" (KPSY)

This is one acronym that has kind of "forced" itself into Singapore culture. It's none other than South Korean super-star slash hero, PSY, or Mr Gangnam style. The rapper turned YouTube phenomenon was seen here in Singapore last Saturday performing at the Marina Bay Sands for next to nothing.

Apparently the short concert was for free and it was snapped up before the duration of the popular Gangnam Style song was over. WOW. I wish I got his kind of success. Then again, I also treasure my personal privacy. So I guess the trade-off here is only to admire from afar and thank God that I don't have to keep up to appearances and performers or "horse" around for everyone to see. I guess in some ways, he enjoys it, but I can see how tiring it must be to be always meeting people.

I guess in some ways we all want to be as famous as PSY, but at the same time, we might not know how to manage the exposure. It seems he is an overall nice guy so far, but really behind that persona we know little else of the man.

"Tan Ku Ku" (TKK)

This phrase is something close to the hearts of most Singaporeans. We love to use the phrase "Tan Ku Ku" to typify almost every situation whereby a person expresses a hope or an aspiration. The phrase "Tan Ku Ku" means "wait long long" or in other words, you can literally wait indefinitely. 

It is the hope or aspiration that never will come, and in a sense, the phrase is telling the person to give up hoping for something that might or never happen or come to past. 

Some typical examples of a situation where the phrase might be used would be in the case of two employees chatting amongst themselves. 

Employee A: "Hey John, year end bonus coming soon, you think our boss will give us 3 months bonus?!"

Employee B: "3 months bonus?! Tan Ku Ku ah!"

"Ho Say Bo" (HSB)

I am sure by now you would have heard the phrase "Ho Say Bo", and more so made popular by the little boy on YouTube Dr Jia Jia and Big Brother. The phrase "Ho Say Bo" basically is another Hokkien phrase that is a greeting that is commonly used amongst the elder citizens in Singapore.

It's the most colloquial of greetings that is liken to the formal British's greeting of "How do you do?" A common excitable greeting most commonly used amongst friends.

These days the phrase "Ho Say Bo" is still being used, but may be somewhat watered down as the influx of foreigners into Singapore may have brought about other forms of localised greetings. Perhaps in another 20 years, we might eventually see a different derivative phrase to take over this age old saying.

Perhaps till then, that saying might be tested and proven and it will eventually be added into one of Singapore's most commonly used local greetings.

"Cannot Make It" (CMI)

I remember when I was younger I would say "sorry, I cannot make it." This was an apology said in relation to an appointment or some meeting with a friend that I was unable to attend to.

These days if someone were to refer to someone else as a person that "cannot make it", they are saying something pertaining to their lack of perseverance or character. It is now meant as a derogatory term. It's totally colloquial and almost like a localised version of a slur.

"Afternoon Sleepy Syndrome" (ASS)

Recently I heard on the radio that some folks suffer from this common syndrome that affects them typically in the afternoons especially after a very heavy lunch. These lunches are either full of rice as part of the staple of the meal, or as most nutrition-conscious folks would say in its more commonly known name, "carbohydrates".

It seems that where there is a presence of a lot of carbohydrates, the blood in the body literally gushes and gravitates towards the stomach where supposedly all these carbohydrates are presently stored, and it attempts in some wonderful way to digest and break these carbohydrates down into energy for the general functioning of the body.

The problem comes almost immediately because as a result of all the blood that has gushed down to the stomach, there is very little blood (supposedly) elsewhere for the normal functioning of the other vital organs, in this case the brain, and thus in some strange convoluted manner, everyone tends to start to become sleepy. Some experience a mild droopy-eyelid syndrome, while others, enter straight into screen-saver mode.

Some folks have coined the phenomenon, "Afternoon Sleepy Syndrome" or ASS for short. Nobody really knows how it happens really as these are just some theories conjured perhaps by those who suffer severely from ASS. There are no specific remedies for this as far as I know, although some have said that strong coffee might help to mitigate the effects, but as usual results are inconclusive.

"Sleepy Driver Syndrome" (SDS)

I am not sure if this is a phenomenon that only occurs in Singapore, maybe it is a worldwide phenomenon, who knows! But each time I take a public transport either taxi or a public bus, I would tend to see drivers on the road exhibiting signs of SDS or Sleepy Driver Syndrome.

It seems to afflict all classes of drivers, especially after lunch in the afternoons. And I typically see this along the expressways where the roads are long and straight, there seem to be a few cars/or larger vehicles that tend to suffer from SDS.

What happens to a driver experiencing Sleepy Driver Syndrome is that the driver of the vehicle tends to step on the brakes a lot, and this jerking back and forth motion actually helps them wake up and stay alert. However, that same jerking back and forth motion is also the cause for many to suffer from Motion Sickness as a result of that. This is further compounded by the fact that it is Singapore and the afternoon sun is always constantly blazing.

In other countries, Sleepy Driver Syndrome is probably also known as Fatigue Driving, which is extremely dangerous. I hope that none of us practice SDS while on our roads. Let's keep Singapore safe. So please drive safely.

And if you were to come across someone suffering from Sleepy Driver Syndrome, please do your part and wake them up. It could save lives. It could save your life.

"Been Chow Chow" (BCC)

"Been Chow Chow" or "BCC" (not your email's blind carbon copy where you can literally hide the recipient list) in Singapore is usually used in reference to someone who is most probably displeased with something that someone else said to him or her.

The abbreviation "BCC" is often used on a person who exhibits these undesirable moody traits on their faces. For example, we say someone is "been chow chow" when they pull a long face. "Been" here to refers to "face" and is in Hokkien language which is quite commonly used in Singapore. "Chow" here means "Smelly". So in this instance, it means "Smelly Smelly".

The person that shows their outright unhappiness or displeasure, is usually the one that is referred to as "Been Chow Chow". 

So typically when someone is unhappy with words spoken about them, usually in a gossipy manner or  if they weren't invited to a common occasion where everyone else is invited, they will exude the facial expression that leads others to conclude that they are showing their unhappiness. Compare this to "Been Orh Orh" (BOO) which refers to a person with an extremely unhappy face.

A typical scenario to describe this would be as follows:

Person A: "Hey Person B, we are going for lunch, wanna join us?"

Person B: "Yeah, sure!"

Person C: "Can I join in too?"

Person A: "Oh, it's a private gathering, I'm sure you understand that. Maybe next time."

In this scenario, Person C would suddenly exhibit the exact signs and symptoms of being BCC or "Been Chow Chow" (lit: Face Smelly Smelly).