THE SINGAPOREAN AH LIAN – DEFINING AN ASPECT OF SINGAPOREAN CULTURE
(NB: We will be talking in terms of stereotypes, and many of the claims made here are subjective and cannot be justified with sources.)
I. AH LIANS AS SINGAPORE’S CULTURAL ICON
In this paper I shall define the Singaporean Ah Lian and present her as an integral part of the city-state’s social identity. As the term “Ah Lian” shall be explained in elaborate detail for a great part of this paper, here I shall only briefly describe what “Ah Lian” is: a slightly derogatory term referring to Southeast Asian Chinese girls of often working-class origins who behave and dress in ways considered to be deviant.
Prior to defining the Ah Lian, I shall discuss how the Ah Lian identity is part of Singapore’s cultural character, how it is itself an artistic expression in a nation striving to develop its creative and cultural distinctiveness.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word “culture” refers to “the beliefs, customs, arts, et cetera, of a particular society, group, place, or time” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2013). Therefore, the umbrella term of “culture” encompasses conventional practices of a community, as well as artistic expressions of the people from that community. In the Singaporean context, our culture includes the way we speak, act, dress, and in numerous other ways we can creatively express ourselves. There are many Ah Lians in Singapore, but I am unable to justify this claim legitimately or statistically because fundamentally the term “Ah Lian” is a subjective stereotype that has no official or standard definition. However, the Ah Lian label is highly familiar with Singaporeans – the way they speak, act, dress, and express themselves is something most people can identify as being Singaporean. Our nation’s cultural identity can be associated with various typified characters, and the Ah Lian is one of them.
It may sound ridiculous, but being an Ah Lian is also a form of art. “Art is usually about self-expression because the artist feels strongly enough about what he is doing to try and put it into a form” (Rice, 2013). Self-expression can come in different forms: besides music and paintings, people can express themselves by behaving in particular manners, by adopting and portraying their individualities in specific ways. Hence, artistic expression can be in the form of a self-image. The portrayed self-image of an Ah Lian may or may not be a response to the various social forces exerted upon the individual (for instance, mainstream norms and expectations), but being an Ah Lian is nonetheless arguably a kind of artistic expression.
In my opinion, Singapore does not need to search for its cultural distinctiveness within conventional art forms like dances and the visual arts. As a fine arts student since young, I believe that art can be in the form of anything; and I also believe that if a nation seems to be unable to find its artistic character, it is perhaps because that character is expressed in ways which the nation overlooks. There are many ways of self-expression among Singaporeans, and these form our culture and probably what we can call our art. The Ah Lian identity is maybe one of them.
II. AH LIAN AS A VAGUELY DEFINED STEREOTYPE
The term Ah Lian is a loosely defined term. Although on the surface it may seem like a term so common among Singaporeans that most people are familiar with what it means, it may actually mean different things to different people. In a conversation, people may mention Ah Lian to each other and think that they are referring to the same thing, but if they really put into words what Ah Lian means to them, they may realize that their conceptualizations are vastly different. Almost all of the time, an Ah Lian is more of a stereotype than a subculture or a community or anything else. A stereotype is a belief that people have about all people with a particular characteristic (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2013). Hence a stereotype consists of two components: the belief regarding the stereotyped entity and the characteristic that makes people belong to the stereotype in the first place. What people believe about Ah Lians can differ greatly among individuals: person A may believe that Ah Lians can get violent, while person B may believe that Ah Lians can make good mothers, for instance. Furthermore and more importantly, the set of characteristics that make up everyone’s stereotype of an Ah Lian can vary across individuals. In other words, the characteristics that make me consider a girl an Ah Lian may not be the same characteristics that make you consider someone an Ah Lian.
We shall refer to the characteristics that qualify someone as an Ah Lian as “qualifying characteristics”. Some people’s qualifying characteristics may be as simple as peculiarities in a girl’s dress sense: hair color and fashion style, for instance. Other people’s qualifying characteristics may include an additional dimension of how the girl in question expresses herself: speaking loudly, for example. Some people may find that they cannot judge a girl to be an Ah Lian based solely on her dress sense and manner of speech; their qualifying characteristics go further to include the girl’s lifestyle, habits, behaviors, and even educational level. Hence, the problem here is: what is an Ah Lian to you may not be an Ah Lian to me.
If the Ah Lian is an important aspect of Singaporean culture and identity, then it deserves to be better defined. However, it has to be noted that an Ah Lian is not an official term, and the meanings it carries can only be derived from the meanings the majority of society assigns to it. Therefore, I have compiled and summarized a list of characteristics found across the internet.
Traits of an Ah Lian:
• Demographic - She is an ethnic Chinese female between 10 to 30 years of age; and is probably Southeast Asian, especially Singaporean and Malaysian (Wikipedia, 2013). She is not highly educated, and she belongs to the working class (Chua, 2003).
• Hair and make-up - She often has brightly-dyed and straightened long hair, as well as heavy make-up with cultured contact lenses (Chia & Loh, 2008).
• Fashion - She dresses in contrasting and conspicuous color combinations; she often wears revealing clothing and flashy accessories (Chia & Loh, 2008).
• Speech - She talks loudly, and often uses vulgarities and other expressions that may be considered rude; she applies a sharp tone in her speech which may be perceived to be adorable, and she speaks a hybrid language - that is derived from English, Mandarin, and other Southeast Asian languages and dialects (A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, 2004).
• Other characteristics - She uses loud mobile phone ringtones, and has a preference for taking self-portraits in a way similar to how Japanese girls take them (Wikipedia, 2013).
PS: I only include qualifying characteristics; beliefs (about girls with these characteristics) are excluded.
III. NEW CHARACTERISTICS FOR THE AH LIAN STEREOTYPE
The above stereotype is the original conceptualization of the Ah Lian, and it has some negative connotations. However, in recent decades there have been new meanings for the term Ah Lian; the Ah Lian is gradually seen as a carefree and fearless nonconformist, amongst other more positive things. These new qualities known about the Ah Lian becomes gradually widespread, to the point that the Ah Lian identity becomes increasingly popular. It has become a subcultural identity of choice for some, even for people who do not belong to the working class. These new meanings should be included in our list of traits, because they are so influential that they can help the Ah Lian stereotype gain popularity. (Wong, et al, 2004)
New meaning 1: Ah Lians as brave nonconformists
An Ah Lian challenges notions of “how we should behave” firstly by behaving in manners that run opposite to such notions, and secondly by being proud of doing that.
In globalized Singapore, we may face numerous sociocultural forces telling us how we should carry ourselves in order to be respected and to be successful in the working world. We may have relatives and family members telling us that we should wear suits in order to look smart. We may have teachers telling us that we should think about the economy and politics in order to be like successful adults. We may have friends telling us that we should learn Western habits of socializing – learn to appreciate champagne, learn to appreciate afternoon teas with cakes, even though we do not genuinely enjoy them – in order to be esteemed and classy. Sometimes, it may feel as though we should follow how other people behave and be someone else in order to succeed in society. Such notions send a mental message to the individual – that by acting in the manner that he likes, by being who he comfortably is, he is not ready and unlikely to succeed in the workplace. These notions may also negatively affect the self-esteem of ethnic communities as a whole – by believing in such notions, we are telling ourselves that globalized (often Western) cultural habits are superior to the cultural habits of our Asian ancestors (Yahoo! Answers, 2010).
An Ah Lian often challenges such notions by behaving in manners that are the opposites of “how we should be”. She is proud to speak in Mandarin, Hokkien, and a hybrid of many other languages in a time when Singaporeans are encouraged to converse in proper English. She is proud to swear and be verbally vulgar when girls are supposed to be demure and polite. She is proud to come from a working class background when people generally think that being rich is fashionable. She is proud to display her tattoos when there is a social stigma attached to having body art. Equally important is the way she does these things out loud, in order that others can see her doing it and feel provoked. Her actions are statements of opposition. Just when the majority of society thinks that observing Western etiquette and drinking champagne is classy and hence everyone likes and should work towards that, the Ah Lian asserts that she likes and stands for the opposing notion. She may not offer this opposition in hope that it is persuasive and the majority will actually change its beliefs and take after hers, but the rejection of the mainstream opinion is strong enough to tell the majority that: not everyone buys into your notion of “how we should be”. The Ah Lian may therefore become an epitome of fearless nonconformism. She bravely defies the norm, and isn’t afraid to be different.
New meaning 2: Ah Lians as guardians of Chinese culture
Going deeper into the view of Ah Lians as nonconformists to Western-influenced ideals of classiness, it can be argued that they are preservationists of things that are traditionally Singaporean Chinese. If one takes a look at lion dance troupes around Singapore, at the clan associations (often known as “hui guan”s) that represent groups of Chinese communities, and at Taoist temple events, he may find that it is often Ah Lians and Ah Bengs (the male counterpart of Ah Lians) who run the show. (Note here that we are arguing on the assumption that people displaying certain characteristics can be subjectively stereotyped as Ah Bengs and Ah Lians.) It may be logical here to rhetorically ask: if it were not for the Ah Lians and Ah Bengs, who else will be there to ensure that these Chinese customs live on? If our stereotypical Ah Lian speaks in Mandarin and Chinese dialects, sings Cantonese songs in karaoke pubs, supports “ge tais” and traditional Chinese ritual events, can we say that she is a guardian of traditional Chinese culture?
New meaning 3: Ah Lians as tough, non-sheltered girls
As an Ah Lian is often perceived to come from a working-class and financially less well-to-do background, she may be associated with having a tough origin. In other words, the Ah Lian can be contrasted against the sheltered middle-class girl, who was perhaps born with an almost silver spoon in her mouth.
An opposite of the sheltered girl, the Ah Lian can be perceived to be resilient and independent. A financially less well-to-do family will logically face a greater necessity to have the children enter the workforce early so as to support the family financially. Thus, the Ah Lian often has to work at a young age; she started working in Secondary school, perhaps as a waitress, and continued working part-time throughout her schooling days.
On top of having to work from a tender age, the conditions in which the Ah Lian grew up are often less luxurious than that of the sheltered girl. Material comforts are minimal; and since the parents are busy making ends meet, the Ah Lian has little choice but to be independent and take care of her own needs. In some cases, the family may be broken – single-parent, for instance – and such a deficiency only make the background tougher for the girl.
With all these images of toughness, independence, and resilience, the Ah Lian can be looked upon as a figure of strength in adversity. Being an Ah Lian is therefore probably a statement that one was not a pampered child, nor a “Daddy’s girl”, and that one was “hardened in the streets” since a young age. Being an Ah Lian thereby becomes admirable and desirable for many.
IV. CONCLUSION
In the first section, we have discussed how Ah Lians can arguably be integral elements in Singapore’s cultural identity, and how this self-image is a form of Singaporean expression. After establishing the importance of this
sociocultural phenomenon, we perhaps give ourselves a greater necessity of defining clearly what it means to be an Ah Lian. Consequently, we have compiled and summarized various web definitions of the Ah Lian and
generally-recognized characteristics associated with the stereotype. Following that, we described three new characteristics that made the Ah Lian image more favorable and popular in recent years. Being a fearless rebel
against mainstream expectations, a champion of things that are ethnically Chinese, and an individual hardened from childhood, is an Ah Lian a part of Singaporean culture that you will respect and treasure?
REFERENCES
Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2013). Full definition of culture. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture
Rice, B. (2013). What is art and the purpose of making it? Retrieved from http://painting.about.com/od/inspiration/a/what_is_art.htm
Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2013). Full definition of stereotype. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stereotype
Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia. (2013). Ah lian. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ah_Lian
Chua, B. H. (2003). Life is not complete without shopping: consumption culture in Singapore. Singapore: Singapore University Press.
Chia, C., & Loh, A. (2008). How to get that ah beng and ah lian look. Retrieved from
http://singapore.thinkexpats.com/places/67-uniquely-singapore/108-how-to-get-that-ah-beng-and-ah-lian-look.html
A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English. (2004). Ah lian, ah lian. Retrieved from http://www.singlishdictionary.com/
Wong, J., et al. (2004). Proud to be “Singapolian”: A scrutiny on the rise of “ah lian” culture in Singapore. Retrieved from http://gssq.entori.net/writings/academic/ah_lian.htm
Yahoo! Answers. (2010). Do any Southeast Asians or other ethnic minorities feel inferior to white people? Retrieved from http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100617075919AA1i2Z8
Yeo Ys
TRS Writer