The first question was this: "Name an electrical appliance starting with the letter 'L' ?"
Miss America, surprised at the easy question, replied confidently: "Lamp!"
Miss Australia replied:"Light bulb".
The crowd went wild and the judges were pleased.
Now it was Miss Singapore's turn, beaming with confidence, she gave her answer: ".....Ladio...."
The judges looked bewildered. After a minute of private discussion, they finally figured out what she meant through an interpreter.
"I'm sorry, but a radio doesn't start with the letter 'L'."
The second question. "Name an animal that begins with the letter L?"
Without a second thought, Miss America replied:" Lion!"
With great ease, Miss Australia shouted, "Leopard!" This caused much delight to her fans.
The judges say good. Now it was Miss Singapore's turn. With a great smile, she answered:
"Labbit."
Confusion arose in the judges seat again. After a few minutes meeting with the interpreter again, they announced, "I'm sorry, but a rabbit doesn't start with the letter L and if you get the next question wrong, I'm afraid you will be out of the contest. Good luck with the last question!"
Now, for the third and final question of the pageant: "Name a fruit starting with the letter L?"
Excitement filled the air as the cameras zoomed in on Miss America's perfect smile as she answered: "Lime."
The crowd in the theater cheered and gave a thunderous applause for the answer.
Miss Australia, not willing to be out-shined, replied: "Lemon." The crowd went wild! The judges nodded in approval. It would be a close fight between the two as millions of viewers across the world kept their eyes glued on Miss Singapore's answer.
Now Miss Singapore knew she had it. She was very confident she would be the toughest contender between Miss America and Miss Australia. After all, she grew up in cosmopolitan Singapore city. She had the best of oriental upbringing but Western logic that would give her a balanced view of life. The answer raced across her mind. She had rehearsed this a million times. She knew she had it!
Up towards the microphone she went. She cleared her throat and with great gusto and Singapore pride, she gave her final answer:" LIEW LIAN!"
Some of us may not find anything wrong with Singlish. After all, Singlish is a language most of us can identify with. Personally, I enjoy speaking it amongst natives as it gives me a certain kinship toward the person. The language is constantly evolving and as such, is surviving through the generations after us. This however, has caused great concerns among national leaders as it would indicate that our standard of English, is not of international standards.
If you spend enough time in America or Australia, you know they have their own slangs. Some Americans punctuate every statement with either a "cool", "man" or sometimes both words together ,"cool man!" I wonder if it was purposeful or coherent at all to use it even in a non-contextual statement such as. "So I'll meet you at 12 pm later? Cool man!" Please don't tell me that this is standard English unless you believe that I'm speaking with a chilly person. But we know what "Cool man" means. It just means "Ok!"
Then hor, we also got the typical Singapore English. I can ask my friends, "Eh, later I see you at 12 o' clock ok?" Even by ending the statement as a question, I can confirm my friend understand what I say one lah. Short and sweet.
As far as standards are concerned, I am neither an avid supporter of either Singlish nor standard English. I speak so that the other can understand me. I wouldn't want to exclude my Grandma who has limited command of the English language. But neither would I wish to see the funny look on my Aussie friend when speaking to him.
I do wish however, my kids be equally conversant with both because when I grow old, Singlish might be one of those things which reminds me of home.
SOURCE: http://dadsforlife.sg/forum/postlist/1/fun-things-and-places/709/speakring-good-engrish#ccbp1579
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