‘What are they impatient about?’: Foreigner claims he can’t understand S’poreans as they speak too quickly

Content creator claims Singaporeans are ‘impatient’ and speak ‘way too fast’

A foreigner who recently visited Singapore seemingly encountered difficulties understanding locals when they speak.

In a TikTok video posted last Thursday (16 Oct), Chris Zou shared his observation on how many Singaporeans speak too quickly, even suggesting that they are “impatient”.

Foreigner confuses ‘PayWave’ as ‘takeaway’ in Singapore

Chris started the video by claiming many foreigners do not realise that the “primary language” in Singapore is English.

He then defended himself and other foreigners, explaining that Singaporeans tend to speak “way too fast.”

“(This) makes it really hard for a lot of us to understand,” he said.

Chris later highlighted that this is especially prominent when conversing with “workers” at stalls.

He cited some examples, including mishearing “PayWave” as “takeaway”, which caused the staff at a stall to get “irritated”.

Speculating why Singaporeans speak in such a manner, Chris suggested that they are perhaps “impatient”.

Nonetheless, he expressed confusion at the situation as there were no customers behind him at the time.

“What are they impatient about? I don’t know!” Chris asked.

Singaporeans explain their fast speaking pattern

In the comments, one netizen shared another situation where he was confused by how Singaporeans spoke.

He shared how he could not understand why his colleagues kept saying “Ken” when replying to him. He later learnt that they were actually saying “can”.

Many Singaporeans also offered explanations for locals’ fast speech.

This TikTok user attributed it to Singaporeans’ “fast-paced lifestyle” where “speed is valued”.

She also assured Chris that most Singaporeans are not being rude, even though their tone may suggest so.

Another netizen also pointed out that some service staff are not Singaporean.

Also read: American living in S’pore wonders if using Singlish is offensive, netizens say it’s endearing

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Featured image adapted from @storiesofcz on TikTok.