Ah Lian

Ah Lian (Chinese: 阿莲; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: a-lián) is a pejorative term applied to a certain group of ethnic Chinese girls in Southeast Asia, especially Singapore and Malaysia. These Chinese girls, in their teens and twenties, are usually found in larger cities in the region. Ah Lians are regarded as bimbos, and are stereotyped as anti-intellectual, superficial, materialistic, and shallow. They are the rough equivalent of the English Essex girl or chav stereotypes.

Characteristics

Ah Lians, or sometimes referred as Lala-lui are stereotyped as uneducated & sexually promiscuous. They usually have very thick eye make-up, manicured nails & dyed, rebonded hair. They're typically dressed in flip-flops, low-cut singlets with contrasting push-up bras and short shorts (usually bought short enough to deliberately expose part of their buttocks or “bum slip”.) They behave in a boisterously assertive & crude manner, talking loudly and spouting vulgarities. They're fond of squatting and sit in unlady-like positions either with their legs spread apart or with one foot on top of the chair. Daily activities involve heavy drinking sessions in coffeeshops with their fellow Ah Bengs. Other common pastimes include playing pool, karaoke and clubbing.

They also enjoy taking selfies and usually imitate the way Japanese girls take their pictures, making their eyes look big and puffing out their cheeks. They take pictures by putting a horizontal 'peace sign' over their eyes, pressing a fist facing outwards against their puffed cheek.

Ah Lians commonly speak a kind of hybrid mix of English, Malay, Mandarin and other Chinese dialects referred to as Singlish or Manglish. It is also common for the grammar from these dialects to cross over to English usage, creating English phrases with Chinese grammar. In front of males, they sometimes apply a very sharp tone in their speech which they classify as “cute".

The term "Lao Lian" is sometimes applied to older women ("lao" means old in Chinese) who exhibit similar characteristics as Ah Lians.

In Singapore, they're usually found hanging out in Bugis Junction, Bugis Street, Orchard Road, especially Cineleisure, and shopping malls throughout the country. In Malaysia, they are usually found around Midvalley, Sungai Wang Plaza, Low Yat Plaza, Berjaya Times Square, Sunway Pyramid (Asian Avenue), or SS2.

See also

• Ladette (England)
• Millie (Belfast, Northern Ireland)
• Naco (Mexico)
• Ned (Scotland)
• Scanger (Dublin, Ireland)
• White Trash (United States)
• Xiaxue (Singapore)

References

Definitions of 'Ah Lian':

• from the Coxford Singlish Dictionary
• from A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English

External links

• ShaolinTiger. "Ah Lians Lian, Ah Bengs Beng and Lala's". Ranting.
• How to get that Ah Lian and Ah Beng look
• AhBeng and AhLian