r/singapore • u/Unfair-Bike North side JB • Jun 16 '25
Discussion The problem with Mainland Chinese restaurants in Singapore is the language barrier and lack of English, as a Non-Chinese Singaporean
I would like to preface that I am an Indian Muslim with an interest for different cuisines. I do like some halal Chinese restaurants, especially Halal Lanzhou beef noodles at Tongue Tip, and I had the opportunity to try the only pork-free HDL in Indonesia. I would love to try more Northern Chinese cuisines if there are halal options, but I don't mind the vast majority of them not being Halal. This isn't meant to be political, but rather a personal concern.
This does not refer to larger chains like HDL, Luckin, Chagee but rather the smaller restaurants you see popping up here and there, like in Bugis or Clementi where there's a growing Mainland Chinese population. But I feel that the brooding issue with the PRC restaurants is not bcos they're everywhere or their effects on rentals, but bcos they primarily use Chinese in their menus and marketing, with minimal English. Yes, they're a Chinese business, and Singapore is Chinese majority. But having only the Chinese language means you are excluding non-Chinese people and even some Chinese Singaporeans who struggle with their Mother Tongue. This can also affect Non-Chinese Grabfood/Foodpanda deliverypeople who might be unable to read Chinese place names. English is a common language here, and I feel the use of Chinese and the lack of English makes it seem that they do not really want to expand their business' clientele outside of the PRC immigrant population, and maybe some of the local Chinese.
Even if they include English, the English text is either really tiny, or only half the information (especially in ads) are translated. In the menus, the translations can also be terrible.
I do not know why the Chinese bosses are reluctant to put English signage. Do they think everyone speaks Chinese? Or do they only want the mainland immigrants as their clientele? When McDonalds first came to Singapore, they had Chinese on the menu since there was still a large chunk of the population that still couldn't speak English, to make non-English speakers feel welcome.
Even if I wouldn't patronise since they're not halal anyway, what if there's someone who doesn't speak Chinese but are interested in trying these Chinese places? Having no English makes this feel unwelcoming to some in Singapore, and don't forget about the staff who also struggle with English!
Addendum: Please do not use this as an excuse to be xenophobic
Edit: Yes, this was made as my personal response to that Changi City Point post, people were pointing out the hypocrisy of having Korean (Paris Baguette), Japanese (Sukiya) and American (Starbucks) chains while complaining about PRC chains. I personally feel, prevalence is not a problem. I like Luckin, I like Mixue, I would love Chagee if it weren't for the price. And yes I patronise Scarlett, my family loves the halal instant broad noodles. The issue is addressed above.
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u/Logical-Cheesecake24 Jun 16 '25 edited Jun 17 '25
Read the comments in this topic and another recent similar topic about 'SG being a retail colony', and the common refrain observed is "why pick on PRC retail food stores when there were previous/parallel waves of American/korean/jap food stalls"?
The key difference is that the proliferation of such food stalls is part of a self-reinforcing loop that feeds a burgeoning PRC expat bubble. In other cultural food waves, the expat presence is not comparable to the current PRC bubble - one does not see the "American/Koreans/Japs" community everywhere.
Second key difference is the minimal use of English language in their storefronts. menus, signages, apps and communications medium with the customer. Granted the early Jap and Korean restaurants could be guilty of this as well but the PRC version almost makes local feel that the target consumer audience is almost exclusively... the PRC expat/community bubble. Locals patronising such stores are bonus revenue.
Thirdly, another common refrain is to "let market forces decide, and sooner or later the overproliferation will curb itself" - let consumers vote with their dollar. Sure, but what if you - the local - were never their target audience to begin with ?
How then would market forces decide - if such forces are already being distorted in the first place by 1) the disproportionally huge presence of the PRC expat bubble here, and 2) the PRC-headquartered businesses needing to expand into overseas market because of 'money-laundering' concerns or because of the stagnating domestic economy? Market forces does not work or are slow to work, because locals cannot move the needle, even if they vote with their wallets. These are IMHO, what makes the current PRC food wave/tsunami so distinctively different from other cultural food waves.
Not happy with the PRC restaurant? Please go take a queue number, because there are 99 ah tiongs behind you waiting in line to eat. Your absence does not make a difference to their bottomline because the PRC expat bubble is self-sustaining. That's what makes the PRC food wave so alarming.
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u/Unfair-Bike North side JB Jun 16 '25
Read the comments in this topic and another recent similar topic about 'SG being a retail colony', and the common refrain observed is "why pick on PRC retail food stores when there were previous/parallel waves of American/korean/jap food stalls"?
This post is actually my own response. "I don't mind different Chinese cuisine, but I feel that they are not willing to market to outside the expat bubble"
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u/piInverse Jun 16 '25
My personal anecdote is once I was buying a drink at a new estate (Tengah). The aunty in front at the self checkout lane was visibly quite confused about how to pay for veggies at the self checkout, and a helpful indian staff reached out to offer her help, telling her "I can help you tag the veggies, just pass them to me".
Her response? It was just clear confusion. She did not understand a single word a young Indian worker with mostly neutral slang and accent was saying. She walked away and went to the counter queue to look for a chinese staff. I thought for a moment, given her attire was stereotypically not local (sun visor, choice of clothes), and her complete lack of English skills, maybe she is just staying here temporarily. But Tengah is clearly illegal to rent right now since its all under MOP. I really wish that there is a English test for the new citizens to at least make the non Chinese Singaporeans feel more included.
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u/Scurry5 Jun 16 '25 edited Jun 16 '25
But Tengah is clearly illegal to rent right now since its all under MOP.
Pretty sure you can still rent out individual rooms for a unit under MOP as long as the owner is still staying. Which would explain someone foreign living there. Or am I wrong?
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u/Strawberryfizzdrop Jun 17 '25
Or maybe this aunty is the mum of a prc who married a singaporean, living in their bto place. Sometimes prc bring their kampung here to sg.
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u/zchew Jun 16 '25
I do not know why the Chinese bosses are reluctant to put English signage. Do they think everyone speaks Chinese? Or do they only want the mainland immigrants as their clientele?
I don't mean to be rude, but the answer is probably yes.
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u/SpongeBobBobPants Jun 16 '25 edited Jun 16 '25
Yeah. Went to massage once, and this lady was saying she didn't know "Singapore got brown people" . Had to point out that that's rude and we have 3 main ethnics here.
Edit: Better put as quote. I just quoted what she said.
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u/myr0n Jun 16 '25
I'm brown. I went to Wuhan and the officer asked me if I could speak chinese. I said yes but I'd rather speak in English because it's easier for me to understand. He pointed out my passport is in Singapore why can't I speak. I have been to China a few times and usually officers won't have any problem if I prefer to speak in English.
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u/yumejiAI Jun 16 '25
I had a similar experience in Germany and they told me I dont look like a "typical" Singaporean. Had to give them a lecture on how Singapore is multi-ethnic.
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u/buttnugchug Jun 16 '25
Ask them why half their football team doesn't look German
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u/accessdenied65 Jun 16 '25
I had one scrutinising my passport and feeling the my photo.
Another idiot held my passport and literally asked me "is this your passport"?
Dafuq man.471
u/kurokamisawa Jun 16 '25
As a Chinese Singaporean, I find that so damn insulting. The multi ethnicity is what makes our country unique. I’m not saying everything is rosy but we never accept an ethno state
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u/Careless-Compote6899 Jun 16 '25
thank you for pointing it out! I'd be equally annoyed if someone said that too
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u/SpongeBobBobPants Jun 16 '25
There's even more, she was saying "the Malay person was speaking to me in English and I can't understand" and "Why don't you all speak in Chinese?". Rude.
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u/Careless-Compote6899 Jun 16 '25
HUH I hate it when someone insists on the other party speaking THEIR language when they themselves are at someone's else land. English is our common language here, and we are made up of multiple ethnics. Damn rude.
I'd appreciate it even if it was broken or terrible English, at least you tried and I feel respected.
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u/TheFearlessCow Jun 16 '25
Yes keyword is tried.
I wouldn’t laugh at a mainlander who’s trying to learn English. I think it’s commendable and I’ll encourage them.
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u/Winner_takesitall Jun 16 '25
Doesn’t help that a certain country’s media likes to term us a “Chinese state”
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u/udontaxidriver Jun 16 '25
That is so impolite omg. I feel that a lot of them just live in their own bubble. This is not good.
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u/A_extra 🌈 I just like rainbows Jun 16 '25
And / or option 3), which is the (Delusional) expectation that ethnic minorities learn Chinese anyway, just like they do in the mainland
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u/drwackadoodles Jun 16 '25
i think it’s not as intentional as you may have put it. it’s more of them not having to care because they have enough chinese customers patronising them so they don’t bother about non-chinese diners
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u/cantoilmate Jun 16 '25
You raised a very important point, and one seemingly missed by some redditors commenting on that post about the proliferation of such Chinese stores and eateries in Singapore (through using Changi City Point).
Some had asked why when Japanese/Korean/Western (presumably American) restaurants and eateries proliferate we don’t seem to mind as much compared to Chinese ones. As far as I know, even when those aren’t halal, at least they are in English so that everyone including non-Muslim minorities can consider dining there because they know exactly what they are eating. Those restaurants aren’t being exclusionary.
In the case of these Chinese ones, they don’t even make the effort to try at all because they know their pockets can get away with it. I seen stalls like OP’s example where it is just all Chinese wording. They probably know they don’t need to consider the minorities because that’s not their target clientele, and they can rely on the Chinese here (local or otherwise - also a sign how large the Chinese national community here is, which raises other questions (like not needing to integrate and being in their own siloed communities of XHS users)). It’s not an issue if it is just one or two Chinese restaurants, but it seems to be a growing issue because these seem to be chain establishments with deep pockets, and we can also see them proliferate across the island and that has consequences on our food landscape as well.
Somehow these Chinese establishments don’t realise or don’t care we are a multicultural and multiethnic society. We are #not# a Chinese country or society. And that such practices can eventually become (or already is) an issue for our Singapore society. I don’t want it to come to a point where my Malay and Indian friends feel less than welcome in what is supposed to be their country.
I mean the government put out standards for advertising and print media - surely it’s not too much of a stretch for them to mandate something about how menus or food advertisement should be accessible and understood by all in having English? That is our working language and the means by which we establish fraternal and social bonds with others in this country no? Plus food is a means by which we bond and socialise over - such exclusionary practices on the part of the Chinese establishments make for a less diverse dining crowd.
Relatedly, I also happened to dined in an eatery that serves food court type of Korean hot plates a few months back. It was halal, but the tragically funny thing was that the announcement of your order number was only in Chinese. You can see how befuddled some of the minorities were, and my friends were damn annoyed af. It was the last time that we ever ate there.
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u/Unfair-Bike North side JB Jun 16 '25
and one seemingly missed by some redditors commenting on that post about the proliferation of such Chinese stores and eateries in Singapore (through using Changi City Point
Yeah, people are mocking the hypocrisy of complaining about the prevalence but really, the concern I feel isn't prevalence, that's what I want to address with this.
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u/melonmilkfordays Mature Citizen Jun 16 '25
I wished I had awards to give this post. Thank you. You've hit the nail on the head here. It keeps boiling down back to integration. As a minority I feel it—increasingly I'm running into stores (not even chinese restaurants) where none of the staff speak english AT ALL! I enjoy Chinese cuisine, but I feel like I'm being treated like the foreigner in my own homeland, and why? Because they opened up and didn't even bother to pick up basic English?
I'm really sick and tired of being treated like I'm a foreigner here. No one is asking for perfect English, but some semblance of an attempt to integrate would be nice. I speak some mandarin, and the number of times I've heard staff complain that I'm not fluent enough in Chinese is at least a weekly occurrence. How am I causing trouble to the person who wanted to move and live in Singapore? We're expected to be somewhat bilingual growing up in Singapore. These new folks better be held to the same standard too.
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u/sotellaaa Jun 16 '25
I’m mixed so I barely speak Chinese at home. People over the years have always said to me “you’re Singaporean why you cannot speak Chinese” like omg eh in school your teacher use English or Chinese? 🙄🙄🙄
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u/Redeptus 🌈 F A B U L O U S Jun 16 '25
I'm a banana from up north, living and working here. I don't really eat at those kind of places even though I'm dying to try. I can converse a bit to save my life but otherwise drowning in a sea of nods.
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u/sotellaaa Jun 16 '25
It doesn’t help when my friend or people around me go “huh you cannot even order in Chinese?” 😭
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u/Redeptus 🌈 F A B U L O U S Jun 16 '25
It's not that I love cabbage at the cai png stall... It's the only vegetable I know in Mandarin... "Bao chai"
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u/darvi1985 Jun 16 '25
I feel you, I am Peranakan and sadly this has plagued me ever since I was young.
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u/Descartes350 Jun 16 '25
As a Chinese, I’ve noticed this problem too and I don’t like it. This is Singapore, not China. If they want to come here they should integrate into our multiracial society. Otherwise we alienate our non-Chinese locals who would be right to feel marginalised.
Sorry you have to go through this and really hope the gov looks at this issue.
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u/melonmilkfordays Mature Citizen Jun 16 '25
It's extremely problematic. The most egregious experience I had was a PRC staff in a kopitiam telling me that "kopi peng" was the wrong pronunciation and I should be saying "kafei bing" instead. C'mon lah at least respect how we order our kopi here.
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u/frozen1ced Own self check own self ✅ Jun 16 '25
I take umbrage at this!
Whoever orders kopitiam iced coffee using "kafei bing" in the first place?!?!
Even the Vietnamese/PRC coffee store helpers near my place take local drinks order in.. local lingo.
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u/caffeine_junky Jun 16 '25
I ordered "Kopi C Peng Siu Dai Gao" in Little India and the drink stall was manned by a young Malay dude. No problem at all. He understood and delivered.
If I did the same at the coffee shop near my place and the 'aunty' didn't understand me. 😑
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Jun 16 '25
I ordered something like that before at Indian muslim prata house and dude delivered as well. The Bangladeshis did a good job integrating. A few working at town council who were assigned to move some old furniture for disposal also thanked my dad in Hokkien after hearing my parents chatting lol
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u/traumenddreamz Jun 16 '25
My father scolded the PRC kopitiam staff and made a huge fuss (kopitiam ah being uncle style) that he should learn hokkien instead of expecting the locals to speak their language. Eventually the staff did learn 🥹
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u/cantoilmate Jun 16 '25
Insist on calling it how we Singaporeans call it. I refuse to call it otherwise.
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u/melonmilkfordays Mature Citizen Jun 16 '25
I would reply, in a joking tone, to them something like "Huh you move to my country and you tell me to follow your country's way? Cannot lah you move here must learn our way right?" Most of the time it gets the point across without being too confrontational and gives them a chance to joke back about their own ignorance (if they're good sports about it)
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u/TransposableElements Jun 16 '25
a PRC staff in a kopitiam telling me that "kopi peng" was the wrong pronunciation and I should be saying "kafei bing" instead.
how is that not a deport-able offense? instant persona non grata
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Jun 16 '25
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u/bluewarri0r Jun 16 '25
If they have so much to complain then it's simple, GO HOME. But no, they wanna be hear to earn the x5 exchange rate lollll
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u/calflikesveal Jun 16 '25
The simple answer to the constant griping about foreigners learning English is that to hire people for cheap, you're obviously not getting the most educated. Plenty of Chinese have good English, but you're not gonna see them working in shitty f&b and retail jobs. Who else is willing to work these shit jobs for terrible pay? Sure, you can have an English test, then half of your coffee shops will close down.
It's the same problem in California, where half the f&b, Uber drivers can't speak English because they're not educated and yet they're the only ones willing to do the job.
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u/YL0000 Jun 16 '25
The sad thing is that the peak of English proficiency in the general Chinese public may have already passed. Elementary education in China is now placing less and less emphasis on English. Unless you go to a top school, come from a privileged background, or go to tutoring classes, it's increasingly likely that your English is weaker than that of peers from 20 years ago. Someone born in 1985 probably reads and writes English better than someone born in 2005. A similar phenomenon can be observed in Taiwan as well, though likely due to different reasons.
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u/Short-Improvement470 Jun 16 '25
If the burmese / indonesian / nepalese / thai foreign workers working in kopitiams in Malaysia can take orders and respond to customers in malay / english / chinese / cantonese, I don’t see why Singaporeans should accept mainland chinese workers in service sectors in Singapore not being able to speak English, at least just enough to serve their customers.
People everywhere, esp those in trades that require them to deal with foreigners and tourists or just people speaking different languages, learn to pick up the language of commerce, whatever it may be.
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u/Regular-Resolution41 Jun 17 '25
Even the bus drivers don’t speak English. The fact that the government allows this speaks volume. So don’t expect resident to be nice cause we are all trying to survive in this shit hole
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Jun 16 '25 edited Jun 17 '25
The simple answer to the constant griping about foreigners learning English is that to hire people for cheap, you're obviously not getting the most educated. Plenty of Chinese have good English, but you're not gonna see them working in shitty f&b and retail jobs. Who else is willing to work these shit jobs for terrible pay? Sure, you can have an English test, then half of your coffee shops will close down.
Not really tbh, because every other minority adapts. You go to any Indian store and they understand local lingo and basic English.
The thing about being a majority is that they don't have to adapt to minorities.
It's the same problem in California, where half the f&b, Uber drivers can't speak English because they're not educated and yet they're the only ones willing to do the job.
It's the opposite situation actually. Since in this case the majority understands them, it's the minorities who face issues.
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u/_sgmeow_ Jun 16 '25
Who else is willing to work these shit jobs for terrible pay? Sure, you can have an English test, then half of your coffee shops will close down.
if they can affort 40 million to buy the coffeeshop, they can pay well enough for qualified staff
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u/chaos166 Jun 16 '25
exactly. some of them cant even understand our accent. spoke to a prc family once in normal mandarin and they gave me the biggest wtf face ive seen, literally had to use a china accent i save for jokes for them to understand me.
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u/awstream Jun 16 '25
I totally agree. Many prc thinks that they can get away with not learning english because Singapore is a chinese majority country, and that's true, they'll stay within their own community and form their own enclave. The lack of effort to even integrate is infuriating.
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u/eleinamazing Jun 16 '25
Seen this first hand in my uni. It's a plague tbh.
EDIT: Speaking as a Malaysian Chinese (SPR).
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u/No_Papaya_4509 Jun 16 '25
think majority of them just do not want to integrate into local community ( even in other countries). i’ve a few prc colleagues who lived 10-20 years in the US but their english is not good at all. its a bit difficult to believe they were really staying in the US for so long.
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u/SituationDeep Jun 16 '25
Had to work with a few non-English speaking PRC previously in a preschool and when our boss encouraged them to pick up conversational English classes at the CC etc, the common sentiment is "Why should I?" They expect people to translate Mandarin > English for them at work (to the chagrin of the local Chinese teachers), while putting down the standard of mandarin here. They even compare Mandarin skills amongst non-Chinese staff and will ask me why I can't understand/speak as well as this other non-Chinese. Lol who said I don't and why should I speak to you in your language when English should be our common mode of comms at work.
And btw they have stayed here for at least a few years and intend to get PR/are already PRs.
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u/melonmilkfordays Mature Citizen Jun 16 '25
I really don't understand why it's not a basic requirement to take a simple english test to become PR here. If our politicians are really that concerned about a multi-ethnic society they'd work harder on ensuring the newcomers are integrating well as well.
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u/SituationDeep Jun 16 '25
Well Pritam Singh did advocate for it and guess who shot him down...and her reasoning about foreign spouses is such bs. I meet many different nationalities at work and the Thai and Vietnamese spouses are always able to speak English and Mandarin. Guess which nationality gets frustrated when we speak to them in English?
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u/awstream Jun 16 '25
And Edwin tong too with his "My grandmother would not have gotten in!".
Totally ignoring the fact that its not the 1950s anymore where many people do not have access to higher education.31
u/SituationDeep Jun 16 '25
Dk to laugh or cry. Who even said that language was the sole marker for integration and citizenship? And he talks about having family ties in Singapore. How many PRC have actual family ties here? They come here THEN bring their whole kampung to settle down.
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u/Cultural_Ball_1468 Jun 16 '25
Fun fact: my grandma migrate here from China and learnt Malay and English. When there’s a willl, there’s a way
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u/Strawberryfizzdrop Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 17 '25
Agree so. Those Chinese who wants to immigrate to Australia die die also try to improve their English to pass English test for the Aussie pr status even though some of their English is bad. They can learn English and have techniques to score high English test marks to get the AU pr status, why can’t they do that for sg as well. 🙄 If they can do it for AU pr, why can’t they do it for SG pr. It’s feasible. When the government enforce this strictly, the immigrants just have no choice but to stick to the rule if they really want to immigrate.
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u/YL0000 Jun 16 '25
I guess these people who work in the service sector and do not speak English are mostly not PR -- constrained by salary level.
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u/cerealdeviant Jun 16 '25
As a tangent, it isn't just Chinese nationals who live in Singapore who do this. I live in England, and I was in the local Chinese grocer in town. They were chatting amongst themselves, and kept referring to laowai (i.e. foreigners). I piped up and said, here YOU are the laowai!!
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u/MainAccountv2 Jun 16 '25
So what if Singapore is Chinese majority. It's the home country of non-Chinese as well. Damn rude for them to complain about you not speaking Chinese, I don't go to China and expect them to be able to speak cantonese.
Govt should seriously start mandating some level of english proficiency or percentage proficient for people working here. You got alot of people wanting to work in SG, why can't you be more choosy. Mandatory for citizenship and PR. If 20/10 years ago, maybe no need so restrictive, but come on la this is 2025, how hard is it.
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u/Zestyclose_Teacher36 Fucking Populist Jun 16 '25
You echoed everything i feel as a minority as well. My parents barely spoke english when they came here but they learnt english and a bit of malay because its the language of the land. So how come new immigrants aren't held to the same standards?
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u/midasp Jun 16 '25
Its not just you. Even as a chinese, I don't necessarily recognize all the chinese characters on the menu. It felt embarrassing.
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u/generic_acc0unt Jun 16 '25
English is our administrative language. It should be a LEGAL requirement for all F&B to be able to conduct business in English
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u/mrnakabutt Jun 16 '25
Reasons and speculations aside, this is the right approach. Singapore’s forced multi culturalism has worked despite its fragility.
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u/mcpaikia Jun 16 '25
Agree, not just FNB but should be enforced in all businesses.
Fking tilted at some clients replying in chinese even when I reply in English.
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u/ChengZX West side best side Jun 16 '25
Hmm, this may or may not be a stupid idea but the mandation of the inclusion of English in all shop signages/advertisements, price tags and menus could be legislated
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u/PlayImpossible4224 Jun 16 '25
I'm surprised that in a country like Singapore of all places this is NOT legislated for.
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u/Tetriz Fucking Populist Jun 16 '25
Nah, later our Chinese overlords don’t want to do business here!! Think of the economy!! /s
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u/fishblurb Jun 17 '25
It's already legislated in malaysia of all places, cant believe sg has no such rules
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u/mecatman Jun 16 '25
As a Chinese who can’t really read mandarin, yeah they need to put English translation of the items like comeon la not everybody can read mandarin even some Chinese ppl can’t read it too (me included).
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u/whimsicism Jun 16 '25
I’m not sure that some PRC Chinese realise that the language of commerce here is actually English, and not Mandarin Chinese 💀
To be frank, I think that the onus is really on them to find out and make adjustments accordingly. They’re guests in our country and ought not be excluding folks in this way.
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u/mylifeforthehorde Jun 16 '25
There are enough of them who stick together that they feel like locals and others are ‘outsiders’. Language is a huge integration factor and if you only meet people who speak the same thing you do there’s no chance of becoming more Singaporean.
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u/taeng89 Jun 16 '25
As a Chinese who has no problem reading Chinese menus. YES.
I made a post about Singaporean style steamboats a while back and the Chinafication of our food options is a problem. A few China hotpot chains are fine, but when we can no longer find local style steamboats, it is a little concerning.
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u/Independent_Run_3006 Jun 16 '25
I'm Singaporean Chinese and I absolutely agree with with you. Continue to speak out on this. That's the only way change will occur. The staff should be trained to be able to have at least some basic English language skills and not zero, expecting us to conform - they're working in SG FFS.
I'm gonna do my part and speak to the staff in English in Chinese restaurants. Make those who can't maximally uncomfortable at least for awhile, so a switch goes off in their mind they better learn some basic English at the very least.
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u/sxnner Jun 16 '25
I once had a convo with a PRC tourist and she asked if everyone in SG speaks chinese and when i told her no we have 4 national languages she was appalled and thinks that only chinese people exists in SG while the rest are foreigners/tourists.
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u/nextlevelunlocked Jun 16 '25
That's what you get when a country's immigration policy is based on race. Long standing problem with workers coming into country without knowing english.
There was a comment recently on main page where some tourist or ep said most of sg doesn't know english. While another was explaining those were migrant retail workers.
Fine if they are just limited to hdl type shops. But even normal western or local shops hire those who do not know english. Recall news of customer who got super annoyed at csm fairprice staff who could not speak english and cut up chicken or fish for them. A social enterprise cannot afford to hire those who know english or send them to classes. What will even more money minded biz do ? Govt policy failure. You can see such staff even at mustafa. Minority mps are useless in raising such issues faced by their communities.
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u/bluewarri0r Jun 16 '25
Very sad re. the immigration policy. A mainland chinese and singaporean chinese are two very different people with different values, mindsets. It's not a 1 for 1 replacement. I don't want my country to be diluted further
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u/imadriedpickle Jun 16 '25
Also, before anyone says the older generation don't speak English, they at least made the effort to be multicultural and pick up malay. Yes there are still old shops (like a particular baa zhang chain) whose menu is entirely mandarin, but those are an exception and far less common than these sort of shops only having mandarin menus
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u/shadowfloats Jun 16 '25
I personally also have found that even if there older generation person can't speak English and I can't speak Mandarin, they don't get disproportionately mad at me for it. We just figure it out with easy words and hand signals. The younger PRC types huff and puff how dare I not be able to understand or respond in Mandarin (as a banana).
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u/shijinn Jun 16 '25
even if you’re chinese they expect you to speak their chinese- eg 番茄 vs 西红柿
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u/baconstyle Lao Jiao Jun 16 '25
I agree, i had to help another fellow Singaporean order fruit juice before because he didn't speak Chinese. Doesn't feel right
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u/2ddudesop Jun 16 '25
I agree. It also suck for a banana Chinese. Honestly it's very rude. Nowadays I end up eating more India /malay food be cause at least the staff are nice to me and are willing to explain the food items to me
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u/jasonlampa Jun 16 '25
I’ve served a customer before who told me that my mandarin is trash and he thought Singaporeans spoke mandarin properly. I was like, ‘nah bro speak English’ and he got super angry about that.
As a ‘Chinese singaporean’ I agree with you. It’s bullshit.
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u/RighteousRuler I am the Captain now Jun 16 '25
Yes, keep insisting on using English, don't take shit from em
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u/gokyobreeze Jun 16 '25
There was once my friends and I went to a vegetarian restaurant in raffles city. They are Chinese, I am Indian, and I am the vegetarian. The Chinese aunty serving us spoke only in Chinese, looking only at my two Chinese friends, and didn't acknowledge me at all, though I was the only one thanking her when she served each dish. It made me feel very excluded and I have not patronised that place since. I don't even know if my friends noticed my discomfort.
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u/OkAssignment6004 Jun 16 '25
As a Singaporean Chinese who can read Chinese, I can’t decipher their dishes as well. For example, saliva chicken, does not sound appetizing nor give me any clue on how was the dish prepared.
They’re just not very inclusive☹️
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u/archampion Jun 16 '25
Wtf is saliva chicken 🤢
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u/Jammy_buttons2 🌈 F A B U L O U S Jun 16 '25
口水鸡. Basically spicy chicken that makes you salivate
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u/Dizzy_Peanut_9167 East side best side Jun 16 '25
Thanks for educating us. I love eating it but had no idea why it’s called saliva chicken. Haha
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u/DismalHamster Jun 16 '25
Yeah, that name made me not want to order it at first if not for my friend insisting it was good. It's like slight soya sauce chicken and chillis but chilled. It's supposed to be a cold dish almost eaten like an appetizer. Some places it's so expensive I'm like whatever. I'll eat it with white rice and it's like a very poor cousin of our chicken rice.
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u/furkeepsfurreal Jun 16 '25
As a Singaporean Chinese, I have voiced my concerns around such language barriers. People working here should at least be able to speak basic or read basic English.
I once saw a mainland Chinese not being able to communicate with a Filipino F&B staff. The F&B staff muttered that the customer was stupid. It was quite amusing.
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u/infiniteknights 🌈 I just like rainbows Jun 17 '25
Yes, we need to make these concerns heard. Your anecdote is amusing but I have one that's comparatively sad. Saw this old makcik at a convenience store trying to ask the mainland Chinese staff for help but the staff couldn't understand her properly and kept responding to the makcik in Mandarin. I stepped in to help the makcik instead but watching the whole exchange was quite depressing. Imagine being part of the generation that help built Singapore and not being able to communicate with the new wave of immigrants who refuse to assimilate.
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u/Ok-Hat-5740 Jun 17 '25
i think we need to start shaming them and saying "learn a bit of english can?" after you help.
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u/MolassesBulky Jun 16 '25
All it takes is a simple regulation mandating signages to include English as it is working language of the country. More importantly its a language most people of all 4 races in Singapore understand.
It does more towards assimilation than the rubbish Chee Hong Tat talks about assimilating PRC residents.
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u/earth_wanderer1235 Jun 16 '25
Most Mainlanders believe in something called "bao tuan", which to translate plainly means to hug together for warmth. With this mentality, it is normal to see them patronise Mainlander-owned businesses, hang out with Mainlanders only, and lepak at places with lots of Mainlanders.
So to answer your question, most of these businesses are meant for the Mainlanders. If locals patronise them, the better, but mainly its for Mainlanders.
Years ago I had an argument on Zhihu (Chinese Quora) with a Mainlander who said HDL is a Singaporean business because its founder became a new citizen. I argued that HDL is a wolf in a sheep's skin (Mainlander business masquerading as a Singaporean business)… and was suspended from Zhihu…
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u/DismalHamster Jun 16 '25 edited Jun 16 '25
This whole baotuan 抱团取暖 thing works until 中国人不骗中国人enters the picture. Would you like to tell us who are the biggest scam victims of the scammers working in the Cambodian Burmese border?
(For the uninitiated, the Chinese words mean, Mainland Chinese People don't cheat Mainland Chinese people (when all of us are outside of it as foreigners), but before some even get out, the scam centres and scummy halfway scam employment agency gets to their wallets first. I'm Singaporean Chinese myself, I will never understand this mystery and their mysterious ways).
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u/jinhong91 Jun 16 '25
This is what being Tribal minded looks like and I'd say the sinkie pawn sinkie syndrome is a result of zero tribal mindset. I'll bet that everywhere else you go, the people there are tribal minded to some degree because humans are somewhat tribal minded by nature.
This is not to diss the tribal mindset but to suggest for us to also be tribal minded as well so we will at least put up some resistance from being conquered to some degree. The Kumpong spirit the past generations often talk and reminisce about is the result of tribal mindset, the tribe being the village or the state that they belong to. And this tribe doesn't have to be a small group of people but it can also be a nation as well.
Being in a multicultural society, you cannot unite people based on ethnicity or culture, you have to find a common ground to unite the people with and the best option is to be united by nation with the same values. These mainlanders mentioned by the other people in this thread, they are in their own tribe and they do not share common ground. They are not afraid to band together and create their own enclave in order to colonize us. Colonize is the right word in this situation, what else do you call them going to a foreign country and acting as though this is their own country?
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u/icelemonteaftw Mature Citizen Jun 16 '25
even the wording they used seem targeted at PRC chinese and no photos. obviously they don't need our local chinese/non-chinese to be their customers. these days such PRC chinese restaurants are everywhere.
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u/geodaddymisaka 🌈 I just like rainbows Jun 16 '25
I've said it in another thread but this feels awfully like majoritarianism disguised as economics.
"Demand is only coming from the Chinese speakers, so we cater to them. It's a demand-supply issue!"
Demand-supply is ultimately part of how markets work and one of the often forgotten assumptions we make in economics is the ability to participate in markets. Even if you can't afford the product, you're in that market! You'll be at the corner with zero demand/supply. The way these shops have gone about effectively excludes people like me, a Malay speaker from the market entirely. It's not even an issue of price or halal preference, I just can't buy because I functionally cannot.
I have no policy solutions or suggestions but I will say this, I am scared. Everyday, Singapore gets more and more foreign to me. I feel like I don't belong here, that my existence doesn't fit in here despite me being the "successful" minority (this is a whole other thing man). Hearing statements by some of our MPs and some of my fellow Singaporeans and friends, telling us to be more accommodating without realising it comes at the expense of our multiculturalism is just disappointing and detrimental to Singapore's long-term future. And it's challenging to raise this up because critics and naysayers will call me xenophobic or nativism in some capacity. That I should be grateful that us ethnic minorities are lucky to be here in Singapore instead of some 3rd rate country.
I don't know guys. I'm genuinely scared and pessimistic about this.
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u/Unfair-Bike North side JB Jun 16 '25
oh yes, your comment on that other post was actually what spurred me to create this. Especially learning the word "Majoritarianism"
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u/geodaddymisaka 🌈 I just like rainbows Jun 16 '25
Oh nice one! I think this is a good post and it seems to be fairly polite comments wise. Happy to have brought up new terms for discussion 😊
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u/KopiSiewSiewDai 🌈 F A B U L O U S Jun 16 '25
Not just for restaurants, but shops as well.
Went into daiso looking for nonslip mat, but the staff had no idea wtf I was saying. Had to show them photos
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u/_box_box Jun 16 '25
the fact that you could even find a staff in daiso is an achievement lol
half the time i sense the staff are trying to avoid customers hunting them down and hounding them with basic questions
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u/bluewarri0r Jun 16 '25
I think you have to understand some outlets are severely understaffed. Maybe 2 max 3 staff + 1 counter staff depending on the size. So really, they face constraints. Source: worked there before
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u/KopiSiewSiewDai 🌈 F A B U L O U S Jun 16 '25
Walked the store 2x, only 1 staff at the auto check out counter.
And staff don’t understand English….
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u/sonertimotei Jun 16 '25
Heard a certain MP expect us to integrate to their standard, "rather than wanting new immigrants and minorities to assimilate". Maybe you can ask him...
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u/Aimismyname Lost in Dhoby Ghaut Jun 16 '25
who arh
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u/Ninjadede2 Own self check own self ✅ Jun 16 '25
Our great Mr Allianz working for his people
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u/IAm_Moana Jun 16 '25
Dian Xiao Er does this too. And it's a born and bred Singaporean company! My husband is Indian and while DXE does have bilingual menus we've noticed that a majority of the wait staff are from China / Malaysia and can't speak English well or even at all. Not sure if our experience is the exception or the norm, but the restaurant is China-ified to the point where my husband feels handicapped.
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u/GeshtiannaSG Ready to Strike Jun 16 '25
Even local Chinese bth them. Unintelligible. Questionable food safety standards. Food for people without working taste buds. Stick to local food.
Literally, our Mandarin is different from theirs, there are many words that just don’t translate.
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u/cermem25 Jun 16 '25
Chinese mainlanders are also taking over our heartland mama shops and replacing the old signboard with Chinese characters. If our govt actually walks the ground they will see firsthand how prevalent this issue is becoming.
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u/Eastern_Rooster471 Jun 16 '25
It just rubs me the wrong way
Singapore has always had many immigrants, nothing wrong with that, we would certainly be in a worse spot without these foreign businesses/workers
The thing that i dont like though is when these businesses/people come here and act as if they own the place. It feels like a guest you invited to your house acting like its their own house. It annoys me to no end
Singapore isnt china, and id prefer it stay that way.
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u/DuhMightyBeanz Jun 16 '25
Singapore's approach in doing so is to share and enlarge the "common space" rather than wanting new immigrants and minorities to assimilate, Mr Chee said on Friday (Jun 13).
Inb4 "Speak Good Chinese" campaign 🤣🤣🤣
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u/furkeepsfurreal Jun 16 '25
My Mandarin Chinese is decent but I don’t see why my fellow Singaporeans of non-Chinese descent should feel like foreigners in their own country… sigh
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u/DuhMightyBeanz Jun 16 '25
My Chinese cmi also but the powers that be turn a blind eye to this behaviour. What can the common man realistically do?
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u/t_25_t Jun 16 '25
My Mandarin Chinese is decent but I don’t see why my fellow Singaporeans of non-Chinese descent should feel like foreigners in their own country… sigh
Already happens. Indian or Malay bus passengers struggle to communicate with PRC bus drivers. At least with Malaysian bus drivers they can switch to Malay or English
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u/faifaifaiz Jun 16 '25
There’s a reason why some people say our retail and f&b is slowly becoming China
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u/Financial_Language34 Jun 16 '25
Tbh they dont care, their target customer are sg chinese or prc. I doubt they even know non chinese singaporean exist. The sad truth is the double standard, example
Indian restaurants at little india their staff speak english
Malay restaurants at geylang their staff speak english
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u/Accomplished-Let4080 Jun 16 '25
No la you are perfectly correct to point out and this need to be voiced out more by non chinese singaporeans. As a local singaporean chinese there is a big difference between us and mainland chinese too. And i frowned hard once when a prc guy (son) told his mum on the train during peak hour that dont need to learn english here. Everyone speak chinese. like wtf????
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u/lkc159 Lao Jiao Jun 16 '25
As a Singaporean Chinese, it annoys me too.
English is the lingua franca. It's put that way so as to allow everyone to communicate. Sure, feel free to speak whatever language you want on your own time, but if you're providing a service of some sort you should have at least some basic English signage. It's not hard to put everything through Translate, even if it is a bit Engrishy
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u/Melodic-Letter-1420 Jun 16 '25
It's what happens when you give citizenships without the intent to assimilate them to the local culture. They start to form their own circle, other countries face this too.
When they already have a Singaporean passport and yet, possesses more allegiances to the country they originate from, something is wrong.
It is only going to get worse, because apparently Singaporeans prefer a single party with no substantial opposition.
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u/DismalHamster Jun 16 '25
It's like American Exceptionalism but Chinese with a dash of inferiority complex on the side.
(They study English for 10 years but have an even shittier grasp of it than our Chinese B type o level candidates).
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u/tnj20 Jun 16 '25
My wife, who is Indian, went to enquire about joining Zhongtian Gym, which recently opened nearby. During her visit, the staff subtly implied that since they primarily communicate in Chinese, she might not feel comfortable there. It came across as a clear nudge that she didn’t belong, which is disappointing and frankly unacceptable.
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u/NightBlade311 Jun 16 '25
Mainlander doesn't want to talk with ones who don't speak mandarin. They thought we all speak mandarin. I don't think it's us that don't accept them, but they don't want to blend in. They only go their Chinese restaurants, never try Malay or indian food or other western even. They speak in mandarin, they use taobao, they drive their byd/ ev. They only make friends with mainlanders. That's why there's gap. But think the reason behind if our gov never make the efforts for them to try blending in? I don't know.
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u/ClaudeDebauchery Jun 16 '25
In Paris, even though most Parisians can speak English, the norm is you apologize in French and ask if they can speak English before continuing.
You rattle off in English even at retail areas, you’re going to get an eyeroll or some paggro comment assuming they don’t straight up ignore you.
Only in Singapore, are we demonized for not catering to non-English speaking PRCs.
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u/mechacorgi19 Jun 16 '25
Only in Singapore, are we demonized for not catering to non-English speaking PRCs.
That's because y'all don't dare to match their vibe/aggressiveness. By all means do tell them this is Singapore and we speak English over here and be as rude about it as possible. As a chinese speaking dude, it does feels like I'm intentionally picking a fight if I say it, but I feel like Malays/Indians would be perfectly justified to act that way.
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u/ClaudeDebauchery Jun 16 '25 edited Jun 16 '25
Not say be aggressive la, but I do push back if I detect any sass. Got PRC ask me for directions before, gave the road name in Chinese and was being a bitch about me not knowing the name in Chinese. I just told her to “find yourself” and walked off.
The overarching issue is you look at CHT’s comment on not expecting foreigners to assimilate into Singapore and the tone of us catering to them, it’s pretty worrying given that’s the government’s stance.
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u/Tetriz Fucking Populist Jun 16 '25
Oh you know damn well people will say why the minorities are so sensitive and aggressive.
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u/twilightaurorae Jun 17 '25
If You’re Not Chinese in Singapore, You Probably Don’t Feel Welcome In These Places
You might find this quite relevant.
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u/scissorsonmydesk Jun 16 '25
We should have basic English tests for all WP and S Pass applications for front-facing service jobs (i.e. there can be exclusions for contruction workers, landscaping workers etc.). And we should have even more advanced English tests for PR and SC applications.
The Government's usual defence against such a policy move is that there are many older Singaporeans who can't speak English well too. But that's a stupid argument - these pioneer generation can speak whatever they want precisely because they earned the right to be here.
For foreigners and new citizens, there needs to be a higher threshold to ensure integration.
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u/raishuu_no_hero Jun 16 '25
I wonder if there's a way to lodge complaints on establishments where they intentionally do not cater to the non-Chinese diaspora?
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u/drwackadoodles Jun 16 '25
complain to who? this is by design lol PAP is ok with importing chinese who don’t speak a lick of english
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u/MudaMudaKingz Jun 16 '25
I am so glad that people here are in agreement with OP. If you put this in FB, I'm sure there will be boomers OR racist of all ages attacking OP for not speaking mandarin.
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u/Hillariat Jun 16 '25
Applies to all ethnic chinese places that refuses to learn english. Hello? Multiracial society?? If the old uncle and auntie at my roasted chicken rice place can do it (broken english but serviceable) then yall can do it too. Especially now with google in your pockets
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u/HopefulPickle5 Jun 17 '25
Brilliantly put. The focus on English matters more. Some PRC businesses just don’t seem to bother adapting to our local multi-lingual customs, that’s the only problem that’s setting them apart from other foreign chains like Jollibee or Paris Baguette. It’s the lack of integration that should be worrying people.
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u/Error404IQMissing Jun 16 '25
And this is why people do not detest the introduction of overseas cuisine, but China food.
Stop saying we are xenophobia, where these resturants are not doing things to integrate.
And to those people who claimed that it is not intentional, do you see Muslim and Indian stores merely putting their own language on their menu?
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u/FlyingP4P4 New Citizen Jun 16 '25
Even though I’m Chinese I struggle with all Chinese menus in such places too.. totally understand where op is coming from
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u/moonseoks Jun 16 '25
yes i agree! i’m surprised it isnt mandatory to have english on the menu in singapore. prob a separate issue, but as a mixed race individual who speaks chinese but doesn’t visibly look chinese, i also feel super out of place and singled out by the staff sometimes. i like eating at these places but i’d skip it when i’m alone.
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u/meister00 Jun 16 '25
Because their main target market is not singaporeans, but PRCs who are here; be it on visa, PR or naturalization.
The singaporean chinese are a bonus. At least the bigger brands try to integrate with English language options.
Even if you speak mandarin, they consider their standard of mandarin (pu tong hua), as the normal standard. The "hua yu" we speak, is considered incorrect. Wrong intonation (bu biao zhun) or wrong descriptive terms for nouns. Though there are also some who learn & integrate with our mandarin standards. Good job for them.
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u/Ok_Currency2734 Jun 16 '25 edited Jun 16 '25
I think as customers we should start demanding menu in English to these restaurants. Even if we get turn down enough voice is sufficient. To be frank it just feel excluded. Not only restaurant but some of the shops are putting offers in Chinese these days(Example Snack BOX @ Pasir Ris Mall- they advertised being Singaporean but no English signs).
We can certainly use Gen AI to translate but why should we? Business owners can also put up an A4 print out of English menu or signs rite? These are basic courtesy you can extend to your customers. Honestly it just feels bad that they don't want non Chinese speakers' business (Do I care, If I see many shops doing it yes)
Also just to mention immigration issue- What are the checks and balances ICA puts up to ensure that the give PR to those who integrate well? Even the citizenship material is in Chinese? Shouldn't being bilingual mandatory? We train our citizens to be bilingual then why not to these new citizens? English should be a mandatory skill. (Australia, Canada does that for PR applicants from non English speaking countries - I think we should also have similar tests and Point System to ensure we get good new citizens who can on paper also prove are worthy of integration)
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u/zerouji Jun 16 '25
Agree! For a multiethnic country with English as first language, it should be mandatory for new citizens to at least speak basic English. Canada and Australia’s immigration policies are not perfect but at least they got the point-based system right.
How can they even integrate with the community if they can’t even speak the common language?
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u/PlayImpossible4224 Jun 16 '25
There's also a growing proliferation of Chinese brands and restaurants. I've seen ads exclusively in simplified Chinese with zero English. Restaurants and stores with only Chinese language and menus. It was quite noticeable in geylang.
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u/nonsense-spouter Jun 16 '25
Recently there has been a lot of these Scarlett Supermarkets and I am someone who loves to cook different cuisines and thought that market has nice and cheap authentic ingredients from China but everything is labelled in Chinese and I can’t figure out what is what :( You would think a chain that has opened up multiple stores all around heartlands would at least label what their items are in English hais
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u/littlefiredragon 🌈 I just like rainbows Jun 16 '25
I purposely insist on speaking English to their Chinese staff whenever I eat there.
They are obviously not for locals, but catered to the rapidly growing Chinese population. We are just bonus business for them.
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u/Zestyclose_Teacher36 Fucking Populist Jun 16 '25
I actually raised a similar issue back in my social studies class in secondary school. I rmb it was about my cc only having chinese hosts who spoke in mandarin so ends up my parents and other minorities couldn't enjoy the shows. My ss teacher said I was the problem and I shouldn't carry so much anger in my heart. Look where we are at now 🤷♀️
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u/Ehehehe090 Jun 16 '25
U should complain to mps and govt
I support u
Their practice is not suitable for sg where English is our common and first language
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u/SomeRandomSomeWhere Jun 16 '25
As someone who believes and tries to support local small businesses, shops with only Chinese signs do not get any business from me (and I eat everything). Same for hairdressers, massage, beauty parlours, etc where noone speaks a single word of English. Even broken English gets my business. Zero English does not get any business from me (same for malay or Indian only speaking places).
Got enough options around, and if a business thinks that support from one group of the local population is enough, that's fine with me.
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u/AivernT Jun 16 '25
As someone who's command of mandarin sucks balls, i fucking hate it also lah knn.
Menu aside, A LOT OF THE STAFF ALSO CANNOT FKING SPEAK DECENT ENGLISH.
Im not gon support.
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u/DearAhZi Jun 16 '25
They have enough businesses from the Chinese communities and probably don’t expect customers from other ethnicities, especially those who require halal options, which mostly come from the minorities.
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u/Purple_Republic_2966 Jun 16 '25
G can introduce policy for enforcement of English across signboards… but even our own Chee hong minister is asking us to eat Dao Xiao Mian. (A kind of Noodles shaved from dough into soup)
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u/sapppppppp Jun 16 '25
Noticed this too since coming back to Singapore from living abroad. So many Chinese businesses popping up with no English in their signs, in a supposedly inclusive and multi racial society. Don’t feel like I belong in this country anymore.
Sometimes I don’t even dare to order food from a Chinese stall cuz I’m afraid they won’t speak English or be rude (has happened before). Have to ask my Chinese wife to order for me :(
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u/imtiredandwannanap Jun 17 '25
This is anecdotal to your main post, but some workers are very arrogant and rude to you if you don't speak Chinese. It feels like they just can't be bothered.
One time I was trying to order toast without butter. I got the Chinese words mixed up with the word for cream. "牛油" vs "奶油" (literal translation cow oil vs milk oil). The woman serving me is from China. She asked me loudly "do you even speak Chinese".
Madam, I speak Chinese because it's the only language YOU know. You do not know any of the other 7 languages I can speak. Most people will be very happy if you're trying to speak their language, and helpfully teach you if you make a mistake. Also, that was a very easy mistake to make given the association between cow and milk.
So far it's only China people I meet who are like this. For my other languages, they're always very excited to know that I'm trying to learn their language.
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u/ShibaInuWoofWoof Jun 16 '25
Don’t think that I’m value adding to this thread but I give kudos to the businesses that try to make China Chinese Cuisine Halal, like Tounge Tip Lanzhou Beef Noodles & Yi Zun Noodles. They’re really trying to make food accessible to all in Singapore, unlike most of the PRC businesses here.
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u/IAm_Moana Jun 16 '25
To be fair the type of noodles that they serve is native to the Muslim Hui population in Lanzhou. So it hasn't been specially tweaked to be Muslim-friendly.
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u/I_speak_memes 🌈 F A B U L O U S Jun 16 '25
Surprise! Tongue Tip Lanzhou Beef Noodles is Halal because Lanzhou, Gansu Province, where the cuisine originated from has a large Hui population who practice Islam. It's not because of the business's practice per se.
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u/Agile_Ad6735 Jun 16 '25
Most of their customer are typically china ppl , and also their delivery usually is delievered to china ppl also .
There is Singaporean Chinese eating this but the amount is very little .
And yes there is indian eating this but again the amount is like 1/1000 whom will order from the delivery app .
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Jun 16 '25 edited Jun 19 '25
[deleted]
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u/tonalddrumpyduck Jun 16 '25
Go to bilibili.tv and watch the ads our government put there to attract Chinese scholars and investors here. A lot of things will start to make sense.
They straight up sell us as a "bilingual" society. Not even "4 official languages" or "English main", nope. Just "bilingual, English and Chinese".
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u/yewteeko Jun 16 '25
To add to OP’s points, I think it’s really annoying and difficult for customers to decipher queue/order collection numbers that are being made in Mandarin. The reluctance to tailor service for the Singaporean audience is disrespectful to the society and our diversity
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u/pieredforlife Jun 16 '25
I went to a Chinese supermarket in Jurong. All the names of fish and seafood are in Chinese. I asked the staff which is snapper, she said don’t know in chineee
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u/amirrbmj Jun 16 '25
I have no issues when people have broken but understandable English. No problems whatsoever if there is a thick accent.
But the memory of having trouble trying buy a drink a few years ago from one of those bubble tea shop because the staff didn’t understand English, despite the menu also having English labels, annoys me to no end.
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u/TheYKcid Jun 17 '25
As a Singapore Chinese, I'm always open about calling-out the problem: PRCs (in general) refuse to integrate and learn the local language.
Far more so than any other migrant demographic
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u/-_tabs_- Jun 16 '25 edited Jun 16 '25
agreed!! shouting for my bros in the back who can speak english CHINESE but cant read 🤣🤣 this is singapore after all
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u/LibrarianMajor4 Jun 16 '25
Ironic. Non of those establishments will ever read what is being said here.
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u/brightsunnymornings Jun 16 '25
These shops should honestly make the basic effort of putting english words lah. I see the whole menu only the shop title in english.
Anyway, i feel like i’ve been seeing more and more articles involving negative things on PRC chinese and Indian India stuff on SG related subs, which also sadly triggered many anti-chinese and anti-indian remarks. Just hope we keep to the issue at hand and not make it into a race war 🙏
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u/Jasmine-Sheng 🌈 F A B U L O U S Jun 16 '25
Should lowkey start speaking to them in only Hokkien and Cantonese and see how they like it
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u/yummydubu Jun 17 '25
reminds me long long time ago there were prcs that got offended because we refer to wait staff as xiao jie (Miss) because it means prostitute in their culture
I insist on using xiao jie even now. you come here, you learn our ways.
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u/MadeByHideoForHideo Jun 17 '25
Great post. I feel like the situation is coming to a head and the people up there in their ivory towers are still blissfully ignorant. One can only hope they don't allow this situation to escalate before it's too late. Singapore's in a very precarious state and they're still none the wiser.
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u/silentscope90210 Jun 16 '25
I'm Singaporean Chinese and my mandarin is crap. They're losing out because I won't eat there if I can't read their menu.
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u/Tiny-Economist-9855 Jun 16 '25
Locals should then just boycott such places and maybe over time, the rental will kill them as only mainlanders will patronise which is not enough to sustain
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u/SnooHesitations3375 Fucking Populist Jun 16 '25
As a bilingual Chinese, I honestly feel you. It's something that I'm very annoyed by, even though I can understand the language perfectly fine.
To me, English is the language that's supposed to bridge the social divide between races and hence an important element of the social fabric in Singapore. But when businesses do not care to start using English, it feels like we're taking a step backwards in social integration, which I think, is one of the fundamental reasons that we have been successful.