User Comments - auntie68
auntie68
Posted on: Singapore
January 7, 2008 at 12:21 PMDear changye, your theory can still be valid, surely? My Tamil friends tell me (reliably) that Tamil is perhaps the only "classical" language that is still living today. Meaning, that the syntax, grammar, and even the vocabulary, are all still so close to the the classical language that Tamils today can still understand sophisticated texts that were written before Ashoka the Great could walk. Another claim sometimes made -- and which I'm still a bit sceptical about -- is that the Tamil language is cognate with the languages spoken by most of the Aboriginal tribes of Australia (supported by genetic markers), and also with the extinct language spoken by the blond, bue-eyed Dravidians -- los Guanches -- who were said to have lived in the Canary Islands and who were described by Roman and Greek explorers in antiquity. I can't vouch for any of this research, but I have shown Tamil friends the present-day names of some very old places in the Canaries, and my friends were able to suggest a Tamil root for nearly every place that was on the list. Of course I don't know if it's wishful thinking, or something substantial, but I have to say that this is how I like the world to be!
Posted on: Singapore
January 7, 2008 at 12:08 PMbazza, where are you now, if I may ask? If you need an Auntie in Singapore, you have one now. I am feeling a bit bad to post so much in one thread, but the bitter, "Chinese supremacy" tone that somehow entered the thread in John Pasden's personal website has done me the service of realizing that living in a sleepy, small, "mongrel" nation is not the worst thing in the world. Growing up, my family's business partners and close family friends were not only Peranakan like us, but also Parsees, Iraqi Jews, Singaporean Arabs mainly from the Hadhramawt region of Yemen, Marathis, "Eurasians", Tamils (my lawyer is a Tamil, and so are my next door neighbours!), Sri Lankans/Ceylonese, Japanese, Malays, Javanese, Germans who had lived in Southeast Asia for several decades, Shanghainese, and of course Hakkas like my "China" grandfather. All of these people had been living in Singapore since well before I was born, all of them who were old enough to have done so, weathered WWII and the Japanese Occupation together with my family. It's really hard to develop any kind of chauvinistic instincts or puffed-up ideas about race when you grow up in a country like this.
Posted on: Singapore
January 7, 2008 at 11:50 AMsorry for the awful typos... it's hard to type quickly in Mandarin!
Posted on: Singapore
January 7, 2008 at 11:48 AMExamples of some Tamil words that you might hear in a sentence of Mandarin here in Singapore: "哇！ 这里的 vade/thosai/paratha/iddly 好吃得不得了!!!" “这是从mamak店买来得." "我最喜欢唱 "Munneru Valiba" 这首歌。“ “这里的Uncle真棒，给这么多了，满碟都是sambar!" "Tangajee', 为什么你真么久没打电话给我?" "姐姐， illae!" und so weiter... ;-)
Posted on: Singapore
January 7, 2008 at 11:31 AMDear Changye, I am sorry to give you such a prosaic explanation for the Tamil community in Singapore, but the main factor behind the large and vibrant Tamil community here is merely -- the waves and waves of indentured Indian labourers that the British colonial authorities brought in from Tamil Nadu and Kerala to work the rubber and palm plantations in the area. I believe that significant numbers of such Dravidian labourers also ended up in Mauritius, Fiji, and some very lovely places in the Caribbean. These immigrants' contribution to the life of this island is incredible. Besides agriculture, they also specialised in construction; several old colonial buildings (including St Andrew's "Cathedral") are coated with a unique dazzling white layer of "chunam", which is egg white mixed with oyster shell powder (yes, gofun!) and icing sugar, that was applied by them a hundred years ago and today it is still hard, impervious, and very, very white. Curious thing is, the most popular "national" song ever promoted by the People's Action Party was "Munneru Vaaliba", which is a very rousing patriotic song written in Tamil. I remember attending National Day Parades and hearing the crowd go absolutely wild whenever this song came up. Since most of us were singing it phonetically (this Auntie can still remember the words!), I think the great Tamil rhythms must have been a factor. Changye, vannakkam!
Posted on: Singapore
January 7, 2008 at 11:19 AMHello goulniky, you are absolutely spot-on about the hot and humid weather. Apart from the brief "rainy season", we in Singapore are pretty much steamed like dim-sum for most of the year. The only "upside" to that which I can think of, is that the humidity is really kind to people who wear contact lenses! I don't blame anybody who cannot adjust; it's not a matter of trying. The question of how "Chinese" this tiny island is is debatable (and currently being bitterly debated at John Pasden's personal site, under the "Taiwan" thread). I am one of the lucky ones who lives virtually on Orchard Road but has a large garden with fruit trees, and the twice-yearly fruiting of the durians and the rambutans is just about the only clue we have to the passing of the "seasons". The pineapples, starfruit, bananas, coconuts, red chillis, kalamansi, and "belimbing" gourds just seem to sprout all year round. It's a whole different culture. I josh my American friends for watering their lawns (hah?!!!); the main gardening tool here is a machete. Everything gets really messy! It's curious that many romantic and traditional Malay songs -- "pantuns" -- are about the enduring strength other and eternal qualities of perennial hardwoods like the "meranti" tree (a.k.a. shorea), or about being fed by the jungle or the stream without any want. The naturally still and foetid seas surrounding this tiny Island are something else, altogether, though... guess that's why it's completely missed out as a theme in Malay poetry. All the best, Auntie
Posted on: Singapore
January 7, 2008 at 6:26 AMOops, sorry, I meant "tree shRine", but you knew that, of course. Just steer Miss Patty well clear of trees with a red-and-gold mini-altar decorated with oranges, joss sticks, and what we in my family call, "Chinese temple cupcakes"...
Posted on: Singapore
January 7, 2008 at 6:24 AMHello Changye. I think that if Miss Patty doesn't mind using a tree, and you can steer her away from anything that resembles a taoist "tree shine", she can basically pee anywhere. Thing is, most of Singapore is so built-up that I feel sorry for those little dogs I see trotting alongside their human "sponsors" on the hard concrete/ asphalt, just inches from the cars. I am not a great fan of Windows -- this is a Mac Auntie speaking --, so I dare to recommend that you don't pay attention to any "Singapore" option. Singapore Mandarin is basically Mandarin spoken -- very badly -- with a thick Fukien or Teochew or Cantonese accent, and lots of Tamil, Malay, and English words mixed in to it. And it's spoken by a "half-native" like me, a Peranakan, chances are that you won't understand a word that I am saying unless I switch to Bahasa Melayu or English...
Posted on: Singapore
January 7, 2008 at 1:45 AMDear Jenny and John, thank you SO MUCH for this lesson! Hee hee. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you especially for not using the dreaded "M"-word (--> "M" is for "Merlion"). Jenny, if it's not too personal a question, may I please ask whether you attended a local school when you lived in Singapore? And if so, which one? Maybe I know it! IMH(but biased)O Singapore's 活力 (huo2li4) seems to be 还可以 these days. In the span of a single day, if you wish, you can see grandparents (with cute grand-toddlers in tow) bringing their cages of songbirds to the birdsinging club, and yet you can also go wave at the friendly trannies who rule Claymore Hill, which is only a few steps from Orchard Road, in some of the most expensive real estate on the island. A young German friend of mine, who had been entrusted to me by his family when he was an exchange student at the National University of Singapore, was chased by a beautiful (and amorous) trannie from the ATM at Claymore, all the way to Scotts Road; about 500 meters. I love this totally mixed-up, but always non-threatening, feeling about this tiny country. Cheers (and thanks once again) -- Singapore Auntie
Posted on: Singapore
January 7, 2008 at 1:46 PMYes, maxiewawa, you are right! Seriously, in a population of only 4.5 million (of which under 3.5 million are "ethnic Chinese"), the idea of a "local dialect" sounds simply... daft. Hope this doesn't offend anybody out there. All the best, Auntie