The Chinese

This is just an observation and you can't call me racist cuz I'm Chinese.

I've noticed that in the different countries (Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore) that I've visited or interacted with on some level there often tends to be a fairly substantial percentage of folks with Chinese heritage that have migrated to the country in question over the years. 

And this is a generalization - but the Chinese often tend to have done quite well for themselves and have often attracted the ire of the other ethnicities.  In many countries, the Chinese have also changed their names and localized it to fit with whatever nationality is in question.  Nevertheless, in many of these countries, it's safe to say the Chinese account for a fairly small percentage of the population but often hold a substantial percentage of the economic wealth. 

As a result, I've noticed there's a lot of tension between the Chinese and the other minorities or natives for lack of a better word.  It's quite ridiculous at times as I've heard about situations where locals have called out the Chinese saying they didn't do the work, and shouldn't get the credit for it.  Yet, a lot of the tension is very subtle as people are pleasant to another but deep down, there's that level of distrust and angst.

But to make matters worse, the Chinese aren't generally accepting of whatever the "non-local Chinese" and at times feel threatened by migrant Chinese workers.  So ironic.  We're such a screwed up bunch of folks...

Singlish

So the locals here generally speak multiple languages (English, Chinese (Mandarin plus some dialects), Malay, etc.)  As a result of the fusion of multiple cultures, there english is a bit different than what's spoken at home.  It tends to be very rhythmic and they add lots of random superlatives that one would think is not necessary.  Plus they have a big tendency to switch between languages a lot and so there is english mixed with chinese, malay and other random dialects.

For example, if you're in a taxi and say YongAn Park, they wont understand.  However, if you say Yong An Park La, then they totally understand.  It's magic how the "la" seems to make everything make sense.  Perhaps the funniest thing is I saw some white people yesterday say "Taxi La."  I guess you can say people adapt!