Jolly Singlish song asks Hong Kong to return Singapore’s military vehicles

Tensions are ramping up between China and Singapore about the nine Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicles currently detained by Hong Kong customs. This week alone saw the Singapore government demanding the immediate return of the nine armoured troop carriers, with Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen calling the seizure illegal. 

To recap the issue yet again, it’s been six weeks since Hong Kong authorities seized the Singapore Armed Forces vehicles while they were shipped back home from military exercises in Taiwan. Holding sovereignty over Hong Kong (and considering Taiwan a renegade island), China wasn’t too happy about it, and thus lodged a diplomatic protest about Singapore’s relationship with Taiwan. 

In recent days, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wrote to Chief Executive C.Y. Leung on the issue, and China quickly responded by basically telling Singapore to be “cautious in their remarks and actions”. Touchy. 

Amidst all these taciturn aggressions, what we all need is some light-hearted perspective on the ongoing issue. Thanks to Alvin Oon, now we do — here’s an old-timey song that will hopefully tickle China into letting the ICVs return home. Considering the colloquial lyrics (that any true blue Singaporean will be familiar with) used, they’ll need some translation first though. Glossary provided below. 

GLOSSARY

Chia: “Car” in Hokkien.

Ah Hia: “Big brother” in Teochew or Hokkien.

Abang: “Brother” in Malay. Can also be used as term of endearment similar to “Dear” or “Honey”. 

Macham: “Like” or “Similar to” in Malay. Actually spelled “Macam”. 

Kuaci: “Sunflower seeds” in Malay or Indonesian. From 瓜籽 guā zǐ.

A-Neh Kuan Buay Sai Mah: Roughly “like that cannot mah” in Hokkien. Essentially meaning “you can’t do this”.

Suka: “Like” in Malay. In this case, suka-suka refers to “doing as one likes, regardless of anyone’s approval”.

Brudder: Misspelling of “Brother”.

Dunno: “Don’t Know”

Aneh: “Brother” in Tamil.

Tolong: “Help” in Malay. In this usage, it means “Please”. 

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