Talk:Ang mo

Should I Be Offended?

Ever since my first visit to the family of my wife-to-be in Malaysia, some of her family members have referred to me as "ang mo" or "ang mo lang". I didn't know what it meant, but they were friendly, so I figured it was something of a local epithet for "foreigner". Another family member I met later asked me if I was offended and I said that I had no reason to feel that way. They explained to me that it meant "red-haired monkey". It still didn't bother me, since I knew they were nice people and they were just having a bit of fun at my expense.

After I read this article about "ang mo" and this discussion, I wonder if I should caution these family members not to call me that, since I don't want them to appear racist to others. At the same time, if some stranger in Malaysia calls me that, should I react cautiously? Is it really as bad as calling a black person "nigger"? --Lance E Sloan (talk) 16:11, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

I am a human rights lawyer who has both lived in Singapore and graduated from the National University of Singapore with an LL.M. in International and Comparative Law.

I believe, that among other things, it may indicate that they believe (falsely, no doubt) that you are too "stupid" to know what they are talking about. I feel, if a stranger smiles at you, and uses the word, they are assuming that you do not know what it means. Imagine you are smiling at a non-English speaking member of a disfavored population, and utilize an English racial pejorative while behaving otherwise normally. Surly you would not intend this as a compliment.

As for the notion that it is synonym for foreigner, rest assured that Singapore’s four official languages offer sufficient alternatives to “red-haired devil.” Waiguoren “outside country person” comes to mind; Laowai expresses the same thing more casually. A very positive expression is waiguo pengyou—“foreign friends”. In Malaysian mat salih means “Caucasian.” Some people believe that orang putih may also be derogatory, but at least its literal translation is “white people.” Orang asing is also reasonably uncontroversial as it actually means “foreigner” which they use to express the connotation “person who is not from Malaysia.” Tamil is more difficult; I am unaware of a precise translation, though the Hindi firangi would likely be comprehended. "Paradesi” is an offensive way of saying the same thing. Singapore’s fourth official language is the one used by government, courts, and is the only one universally understood by anyone born after decolonization, even including many of the Bangladeshi laborers fighting to live in the societal margins of the Lion City. It is called English.

As for people under thirty, of a reasonably materially comfortable economic status, they do not likely harbor hatred for foreigners, and are simply using one of the most crude alternatives available to them. Think of the fad in the 90s of American teens referring to things as “gay” even though they harbored not an emoticon of ill-will toward homosexual persons. Nevertheless, occasionally careless use of the word was rewarded with a punch in the arm.

I would consider telling your soon-to-be relatives that you know what the word literally means, that you’ve been patient, but that they need to knock it off and speak to you utilizing a diction that reflects respect and dignity in our diverse globalizing world. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.166.223.112 (talk) 07:37, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

If they are saying it to your face with the assumption/expectation that you do not know what it means and smiling, then I would take it as offensive. My temptation would be to simply smile back, and say "hello ching chong slopey head" and smile again. ( BTW my father is Malaysian Chinese). The problem of course is you may upset your wife. Therefore I think the best course of action is probably to speak to your wife as she probably knows her family better than anyone, and can therefore best assess their intent and perhaps advise you as to a response, or explain you feeling to her family. 118.210.150.202 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 13:52, 10 December 2011 (UTC).

Personally, I think you really need to take a look at the context. The problem is that the term can be used both ways by us Singaporeans (and I assume Malaysians too). Despite its roots I do believe most of my generation view it as a term that can be used as an amusing label to tease our Caucasian friends, or to mouth off someone we do not like. So the context is really important. I don't think the above advice should be taken; you'll look small-minded, and then they'll really end up using the term behind your back in a derogatory manner. They did explain it to you, and you took no offense. Backtracking is just going to make you look bad. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.7.164.214 (talk) 19:33, 6 February 2010 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: page moved. Vegaswikian (talk) 20:48, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

---

Ang Mo → Ang mo — The term is not a proper noun, so mo should not be capitalized. — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 11:05, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Change of EngVar

It seems user Hendrick99 is on a campaign to change articles from American English to British English whenever possible. This article was started in American English, and it is now being changed. Please debate changing the style here before universally changing it. Cheers

taiwan and Malaysia

shouldnt taiwan and malaysia be flipped? ang mo is also used in malaysia in addition to singapore but taiwan has their own words for referring to white people Lilraveoli (talk) 17:07, 10 December 2021 (UTC)