Singapore celebrates its 50th birthday today. In conjunction of Singapore’s National Day on 9th of August, I thought I’d post something different and somewhat unique to my home:

Confused yet? I don’t blame you; it’s hard to make sense if you aren’t familiar with this, especially for those outside Singapore/Malaysia.

This is Singlish; Singapore English. A mismash of language I grew up with as we speak with a mixture of Malay, English and various words in the different Chinese dialect in a single sentence. Really, this is only the tip of the iceberg of how Singaporeans get creative with using the word “can”.  There’s intonation to the word after “can” too, and I’m telling you that intonation matters!  

It’s still funny for me and it reminds me of my motherland. Great memories.

Happy Birthday, Singapore!