As an international student at GW, I am used to long flights, layovers, and the TSA. However on the 7th of January, as the plane circled over the small city-state of Singapore, I could feel my heart racing. Instead of the familiar lights of Dulles that greet me every semester, I could see oil rigs, boats, and a turquoise blue sea. And then, there it was— Singapore, bathed in the soft light of a January dawn. As I peered out of the window, I could see tall skyscrapers, gentle hills and winding roads dotted with cars. ‘For a small city-state, Singapore does not look all that small,’ I thought as I looked out of the window.
While Singapore is much smaller than other sprawling metropolises like New York, and my hometown, New Delhi, it is more than 5 times the size of Washington D.C. Unfortunately for me, I had no previous knowledge about this and had assumed that one could easily walk from one end of Singapore to another in a matter of a single day. On my second day in the country, I told this to an elderly lady on the MRT (Singapore’s Metro), who laughed and said, “Can lah! But would take more than a day ah.” Tickled with my ignorance she went on to tease me, “Aiyyo! Don’t walk too much lah, you might reach Malaysia.”
Singapore’s proximity to Malaysia and other Southeast Asian nations, as well as its history as a trading port, has allowed Singaporeans to become a very diverse people. Malay, Indian, and Chinese are just a few of the broad ethnic identities that Singaporeans identify with. In my first few days in Singapore, I learned that these identifiers were more complex. A local friend described herself as a Hokkien Chinese Singaporean, while another described themselves as an Indian Muslim Singaporean!
This unique Singaporean diversity has in turn also manifested itself in Singaporean English - better known as Singlish. As a native speaker of Hindi, I’m used to adding a few words of Hindi with my English to speak “Hinglish”, but Singlish is a language in itself! For example, you could say “Excuse me, where is the metro station?” but as a friend helpfully pointed out, in Singlish, you could get away with saying, “MRT where ah?”
Peppered with 'lahs, lehs, and ahs' at the end of sentences, Singlish is an eclectic and colorful mix of words and phrases borrowed from Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and other languages. The dialect is widely spoken in Singapore and is used by my classmates, shopkeepers, and even some professors. In fact, in my first week in Singapore, I discovered that some local Singaporean TV soaps, such as the popular "Tanglin" are also filmed in Singlish.
So, in addition to making sure to keep on the left side of the escalator, I spent the first few weeks accustoming myself with the local dialects. However, standard English (if there is indeed one) remains one of the official languages of Singapore and is used in daily communication, government and official work, news etc. Also, the local Singaporeans are very helpful, so if you are lost and confused, don’t worry! You will probably find someone to help you, and chances are that you will be able to communicate with them in English easily.
My first few weeks in Singapore have been a delightful experience of tasting the local cuisine, understanding Singaporean diversity and getting used to Singapore's public transport. However, take note: don't forget your umbrellas at home. It's always raining lah!