Ah Beng

Ah Beng (Chinese: 阿明) is a pejorative term applied to describe an anti-social lower-class youth in Singapore who displays common characteristics such as having dyed hair, wearing loud fashion, playing loud music in public and being less educated. The female equivalent of an Ah Beng is an Ah Lian (simplified Chinese: 阿莲; traditional Chinese: 阿蓮; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: a-liân).[1]

Ah Beng
Chinese阿明

A stereotypical Ah Beng would be someone who is not highly educated, is loud and unsophisticated, and operates within secret societies and street gangs. Ah Lians on the other hand are regarded as bimbos, and are stereotyped as anti-intellectual, superficial, materialistic, and shallow.[2]

The equivalent of an Ah Beng in other English-speaking countries is often attributed to Australia's bogans, the United States' rednecks and Britain's chavs.

Etymology

Ah Beng comes from the romanisation of the Singaporean Hokkien pronunciation of 阿明 (Pe̍h-ōe-jī: a-bêng). Due to geographical proximities, the term has also begun to see its use in Malaysia with the same definition. The character "明" (pinyin: míng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bêng) is commonly used in the names of ethnic Chinese males in the region; the term "Ah Beng" alludes to their commonness.

Among Cantonese speakers, Ah Beng is also known as lala zai (啦啦仔). "Lala" has no actual meaning in itself, although it may have originated from the Singlish word "la"/"lah", while "zai" means "boy." "Lala zai" refers to individuals who speak in "pure" Singlish and who possess a strong preference for gaudy fashions or hairstyles.

Ah Bengs have been featured in several Singaporean films, including:

  • Army Daze (1996) — A play, later made into a film, depicting the melting pot of National Service in Singapore. One of the characters is named after the term.
  • Money No Enough (1998) — a film exploring the trials and tribulations of the Chinese people of Singapore (who make up the majority of the island's population).
  • 15: The Movie (2003) — "The adventure of five fifteen-year-old boys in Singapore: estranged to every social reference, except for that of appearance and close friendships, they live their lives distant from their families and school, passing their days in a complete state of indolence in the search of experiences, at times even physically painful (tattoos, piercing, wounds)."[3]
  • S11 (2006) — A film about three Singaporeans whose lives coincide.[4]
  • Taxi! Taxi! (2013) — a 2013 Singaporean comedy film based on the 2010 work Diary of a Taxi Driver by Cai Mingjie, said to be "Singapore's most well-educated taxi-driver".

The stereotypical Ah Beng was the title character in the television series Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd, played by Gurmit Singh. In the show, Chu Kang's brother, Phua Chu Beng, is humorously nicknamed Ah Beng, despite being an articulate, educated architect, the complete antithesis of an Ah Beng.[5]

See also

In other countries

Notes
  1. Beng Huat Chua (2003) Life is not complete without shopping for bimbo products: consumption culture in Singapore, Singapore University Press of the National University of Singapore
  2. "Here's the reason why an Ah Lian is called an Ah Lian". Goody Feed. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  3. Official website at Zhao Wei Films Archived 28 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Tan Dawn Wei, "Ah Beng Rulz Liao", The Straits Times (2 August 2006).
  5. Mak Mun San, "I'm a Paid Extrovert", The Straits Times (28 August 2006).

References
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