Proud to be “SingapoLian”: A
Scrutiny on the Rise of “Ah Lian” Culture in
According to local
sociologist Chua Beng Huat, “Ah Lians” are, for the English-speaking
middle-class, caricatures of female youths who are working class or otherwise
failures in the competitive education system and market economy in the 1980s (10).
The perception of “Ah Lians” then evolves to become less of a manifestation of
class differences and more of the opposite
of self-appointed sophisticated English-speaking cosmopolitans by choice. This
paper will examine the intriguing transformation of “Ah Lian” culture from a
subculture with negative connotations to an endearing identity to associate
with for Singaporeans. The favourable shift in the perception of “Ah Lian”
culture stems primarily from the fact that people begin to
find it cool to “play” at being working class. This, in turn, leads to the
blurring of class differences as more
and more non-working class people start to embrace “Ah Lian” culture. Complemented
with a diminishing association with crime, “Ah Lian” culture is endowed with
new meanings played up by the media. It is hoped that through this analysis we
will discover the influence “Ah Lian” culture exerts on the mainstream society
with its dramatic rise in popularity and also unravel the complication of
proclaiming “Ah Lian” culture as a truly Singaporean phenomenon.
“Ah Lian” culture
was primarily a subculture before the masses catch on with it. The culture was
perceived as a working class culture that offered alternatives to mainstream
culture. According to Albert Cohen, distinction from mainstream culture is
brought about by the symbolic use of style (1). And style, as Michael Brake
elucidates, encompasses the image, demeanour and argot of members of a
subculture (12). The image of an “Ah Lian” is effectively epitomized by
the adjective “loud”. She stereotypically dresses in neon colours and loves to wear
chunky platform shoes. “Ah Lians” hanker after designer brands yet there is a
seeming randomness in their choice of clothes so much so that it seems to
involve some haphazard mixing-and-matching. Their gaudy dress sense evinces a
desire to attract attention. They do not actually seem to care if the attention
they receive is positive or negative. They are just comfortable being in the
limelight. The preferred lingo of an “Ah Lian” is Singlish, the
The article
“SingapoLIANS & proud of it!” in the August 2004 issue of Her World extols
the existence of “Ah Lians” in
“Ah Lians” were
regarded as wayward, uncouth and unaccepted by the masses in the past. In the
article “It's hard work being an Ah Lian” (The Straits Times), Sherlin Ho, an
actress who plays an “Ah Lian” in local movie Street Angels comments, “If
people call us Ah Lians, that means we have succeeded because our characters in
the movie are all bad girls.” The association of “Ah Lians” with girl-gangs was
strong in the past. “Ah Lians” was a synonym for wayward girls. But nowadays
the association with gangsterism has diminished and Singaporean youths have
seemingly embraced “Ah Lian” culture. This change is brought about as
gangsterism is simply not prevalent anymore. We no longer see “Ah Lians”
brawling on the streets. There is a reservation of judgment by Singaporeans
when we see people dressed in an “Ah Lian” fashion because the connection with
crime has faded. The increasing popularity of tattooing and hair dying among
youths is also explained by the same reason. Tattooing and the dying of hair
were, like “Ah Lian” culture, previously associated with gangsterism. But
people have come to realize that not everyone who dresses outlandishly is a
gangster. Likewise not everyone who sports a tattoo or has coloured hair is a
mobster. Subcultures begin to be judged less through tinted lenses. The
onslaught of “Ah Lian” culture occurs at a time when the society is seemingly
more accepting to subcultures. The favourable shift in the perception of the culture
stems primarily from its diminishing association with crime. People then start
to catch on with “Ah Lian” culture as the culture is endowed with new meanings.
In the article “No
need scared, we all buay pai, leh (not bad, what)” (The Straits Times), Caroline Soh, a 20-year-old
youth and a self-perceived “Ah Lian”, claims she likes bright coloured clothes,
funny boots, big pants and big T-shirts. Her unusual dress sense attracts
unwanted curiosity from others but that does not bother her. Using the preferred lingo of “Ah Lians”-
Singlish, she proclaims, “I'm not scared people see. I am young, I am
adventurous. I like to try new things and wear my kind of clothes. So what?” Sumiko
Tan, a local columnist, urges everyone to learn
from “Ah Lians” one important message: “Life is too short to waste being
self-conscious or bothering about what others think of you” in an article
titled “Confessions of an ...” (The Straits Times). “Ah Lian” is painted as a go-getter in both articles; someone knows what she wants and she gets it. So long as the
clothes catch “Ah Lians’” fancy, they will just go ahead and buy them. “Ah
Lians” may end up looking a little strange but they do not mind sticking out
like a sore thumb. They do not mind being dismissed as gaudy by others. They do
not find any need in feeling embarrassed about donning what their heart desire.
But we also discern from Caroline’s interview that “Ah Lians” actually enjoy basking
in the limelight. As Joanne Entwistle asserts in The Fashioned Body,
dress is used to articulate a sense of “uniqueness” and express a difference
from others (138). There is a desire among “Ah Lians” to try new things and be
different from the crowd. “Ah Lians” dress the way they choose because they are
young and daring. They can afford to adventure on their dressing. “Ah Lians”
know that they are perceived as weird by others but they are at ease with
themselves. They are comfortable in their own skin.
Local artiste Kym
Ng echoes the idea of “Ah Lians” being an unabashed
bunch of people in “SingapoLIANS & proud of it!” She annunciates, “I am proud to be a Lian because Lians are
fun people. They are carefree and fearless. Most important, they are not pretentious.”
“Ah Lians” are extolled for their forthrightness. Their desire to display their
true selves to others is so overpowering that they seem to be unrestrained by
norms as epitomized by the word “fearless” Kym Ng has used. This liberty they
seemingly enjoy entices people to want to join them.
This leads me to
opine that one reason why people are increasingly attracted to “Ah Lian”
culture is that people realize “Ah Lians” dress the way they dress to “make a
statement in this age of heightened self-consciousness” (Davis 3), rather than solely
to attract attention. They are apparently protesting against the norm as they
strut about abashedly thronged in their gaudy costumes. By ditching conformity,
“Ah Lians” seem to be predicating that the taste of the masses does not equate
to good taste, conversely, the taste of “Ah Lians” is not the equivalent of bad
taste. The notion of good taste is challenged by “Ah Lians” and it is
legitimate. This is because there is no such thing known as “genuine good
taste” (Bourdieu 56). “Legitimate good taste” is nothing more than the “taste
of one particular class – the ruling class” (Gronow 11). In spite of advices
about understated sophistication and discrete chic from fashion gurus, “Ah
Lians” continue to sport trendy fashion very conspicuously. Ah Lians embrace
the look of looking like a “walking advertisement billboard”. Janice Wong
explains in “SingapoLIANS & proud of it!” that the preference for clothes
with more monograms stems from the motto, “Got cash, must flash!” “Ah Lians”
want to display their pecuniary strength outwardly. Wong writes that “I figured
that since I was paying so much for the brand, I might as well make the most of
my hard-earned salary and pick the one[clothes] with the biggest logo.” The
showy dress sense of “Ah Lians” can be attributed to their working class
background. When they spend their limited amount of money on clothes, they wish
to derive the most amount of attention from donning them. And they seem to have
faith in their own taste and stand by their choice of clothes. Their expression
of self serves as a challenge to the norm. It seems to question that mainstream
culture is in no way superior to working class culture. And this questioning of
the norm is apparently caught on by others. “Ah Lians” manage to shed the label
of being tasteless and become endued with the new label of having character.
“Ah Lians’” gaudy
dress sense was originally perceived to be the result of poor taste due to
their working class background. However, the “working class” taste begins to be
popularized when people from the mainstream see “Ah Lians” enjoying the
limelight everywhere they go. Donning designer wear according to the advices of
fashion gurus does not allow one to stand out from the crowd. Discrete chic is
the dress sense of the middle class (people from the mainstream) and it is not
exciting. People begin to find it appealing to “play” at
being working class because dressing outlandishly seems to get them more
attention than plainly following fashion trends. It becomes cool for people to don
their apparels conspicuously as they get to outshine the rest. Slowly, people
from mainstream culture begin to adopt “Ah Lians’” spirit of “be loud”.
It has to be noted
that media influence plays a large part in perpetuating the rise of “Ah Lian”
culture. According to Chua, the frequent portraying of “Ah Lians” in popular
culture such as magazines and television programmes has caused people to take
to “Ah Lian” culture. “Ah Lians” are portrayed as cute, frank and unpretentious
working class folks in programmes like Phua Chu Kang, Ah Girl and City Beat. These
programmes paint glowing pictures of “Ah Lians” and emphasize their endearing
qualities. In particular, popular sitcom “Ah Girl” portrays its protagonist Ah
Girl, an “Ah Lian”, as dim-witted but likeable mobile phone sales girl. Ah Girl
likes to dress in skimpy, brightly-coloured outfits and high platform shoes to
pull in male customers. In spite of her “loud” dress sense and “Ah Lian” antics,
she is popular among co-workers and customers. Ah Girl is also optimistic,
carefree and happy with her life. The roaring success these programmes enjoy in
terms of viewership seems to point to the fact that viewers enjoy watching the
antics of “Ah Lians”, albeit on the goggle box. By highlighting the positives
of “Ah Lians” and the apparent happiness they enjoy, such programmes help
in endearing “Ah Lians” to the masses. Being working-class seems to be fun
to the audience. Desirable qualities, such as jocundity and geniality, which are associated
with on-screen “Ah Lians” also appeal to the masses. This
compounds the attractiveness of “Ah Lian” culture so much that even the
young English-speaking middle class is attracted as well (Chua 11).
Besides enjoying
plentiful airtime on national television, “Ah Lian” becomes a popular “cult”
figure to associate with. Celebrities start claiming that they are “Ah Lians”
to varying extent. Local singer Stefanie Sun reveals in infotainment show Glam that she was an “Ah Lian” during her school days because she thought it was cool. Janice
Wong, a journalist from Streats, proclaims that she is now still a Lian at
heart despite being a working professional in “SingapoLIANS & proud of it!”
(Her World 121). Sumiko Tan also claims that she has a bit of that “Ah Lian”
quality in her and that is something she feels proud of, not ashamed of (The Straits Times). According to Chua, local celebrities
declare themselves to be “Lian” because they wish to make known their
working-class background (88). These celebrities are propelled into the
glamorous media industry despite their humble backgrounds. It becomes cool to be
associated with “Ah Lian” culture among celebrities because the working-class
origins of the culture seem to endear these well known personalities to common
folks. It then becomes fashionable to be branded as “Ah Lian” among the masses
as well since people see their idols and celebrities declaring themselves as one.
On top of becoming
a fashionable icon to associate with, “Ah Lian” also becomes entwined with
Singaporean identity. People espouse “Ah Lian” culture as it is identified as a
true-blue “heartlander” spirit. The antics of an “Ah Lian” are appropriated to
become a marker of “Singaporeaness”.
Actress Tan Kheng Hua, for one, suggests that there is an “Ah Lian” in all of us. She joins in
the celebration of “Ah Lian” because
she feels that “we all are that at heart, which is why in Singapore the
Ah Beng and the Ah Lian will
always have a very important place” (The Straits Times). Again, “Ah Lian”
culture has been appropriated by media personalities, this time to become an
identity marker that stands for being Singaporean (Chua 11). “Ah Lian” culture
is extended from a working-class culture to become a common Singaporean culture
as its appeal increases. The masses accept this appropriation because the local
origin of “Ah Lian” culture seems to attest it being a true Singaporean identity.
The acts of speaking Singlish
and dressing outlandishly come to represent a distinctive “local” identity.
People equate “Ah Lian” culture to Singaporean culture because they can
identify themselves with it. It is important to acknowledge at this point that the
common group identity of Singaporeans is actually rather unclear in the first
place. There is some ambivalence among Singaporeans as to whether to think of
themselves as members of ethnic groups or as Singaporeans (qtd. in Appold 26). Thus
we can deduce that the act of speaking Singlish (which is derived from mixing
the four languages
and dialects spoken in
On the other hand, it
is mind-boggling to note that the garments of “Ah Lians” are in fact pared down
derivatives of the highly-eclectic styles of urban Japanese youth mediated by
Hong Kong and
“Proud to be
‘SingapoLian’” has become a fashionable declaration everyone rushes to make.
This is miles away from the situation a decade ago when everyone shunned the
label of “Ah Lian”. The stigma has since faded and positive traits are
attributed to “Ah Lian” culture. “Ah Lians” in the 80s dressed as outlandishly
as “Ah Lians” of the present. But people only catch on with “Ah Lian” culture
now because positive attributes are played up, with much help from the media. The
popularity of the culture leads to ordinary people to start proclaiming
themselves to be “Lian” to varying extent, following the trend set by
celebrities. “Ah Lian” culture’s drastic transformation from a manifestation of
class differences to the hallmark of “Singaporeaness” is explained by the fact that people find it cool to “play” at being working class. And as
the popularity of the culture spirals, class differences naturally start to
diminish. Speaking Singlish and dressing garishly become trendy and as more and
more people embrace “Ah Lian’s” antics, they become a marker of the Singaporean
identity instead. While the traits of “Ah Lians” do seem endearing to the
masses, claiming that “Ah Lian” culture is part of Singaporean culture seems to
be rather misguided.
Works Cited
Appold,
Stephen John. “Socio-cultural
exchange and Singaporean identities.” Exploring
Socio-Cultural Exchange and New Identities in Asia : proceedings of NUS-JSPS
Workshop, 25-26 November 2002,
Bourdieu,
Pierre. Distinction
: a social critique of the judgment of taste.
Brake, Mike.
Comparative youth culture : the sociology of youth cultures and youth
subcultures in
Chua, Beng
Huat. Life is not complete without shopping : consumption
culture in
Cohen, Albert K. The
Sociology of the Deviant Act; Anomie Theory and Beyond ASR 1965
Davis, Fred. Fashion,
Culture and Identity.
Gronow, Jukka.
The sociology
of taste.
“I'm Ah Huay, my
hubby's Ah Beng.” The Straits Times
7 December 1997
Soh, Gim
Chuan. Slices of
Tan, Sumiko. “Confessions of an ...” The Straits Times
7 December 1997
---. “It's hard work being an Ah Lian.” The Straits Times
3 October 1999
Wong, Janice, et al. “SingapoLIANS & proud of it!” Her
World August 2004: 120-129.