Commonly found variants; note these may range from acceptable alternatives to non-standard forms or incorrect spellings*.
* Singlish is a largely spoken creole, and as such descriptivism (recording forms that reflect actual pronunciation in spoken language, or as appearing in the linguistic corpus) is more pertinent than strict prescriptivism. Nevertheless, the use of more standard forms (or for words originating in languages with Latin script, such as Malay, accurate to the original spelling) is recommended and encouraged.

also can:

buey sai bue sai be sai beh sai

buay sai

Min nan:

𫧃使

poj:

bōe-sái / bē-sái

expand for details Detailed etymology

definitions

verb

  1. cannot; may not; not allowed to
  2. - Can find anyone to cover my shift next weekend?
    - Buay sai, it's the CNY long weekend, no one will do it lah.