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kiasu-ism
* 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:
kiasu-ism
* The diacritic ◌̃ represents a nasalized vowel.
[ SSS:
kiãsuism ]
kiasuism
definitions
noun
- a stereotypically Singaporean mindset of overcompetitiveness, fear of losing out to others, selfishness, and wanting to get ahead of others at any cost
Kiasuism is not unique to Singapore; rather, it is a unique manifestation of any competitive society to excel economically.
— 2016 April 20, Jeremy Chew Cheng Huat. Today, "Harness positive aspects of kiasuism to spur innovation". p.18
Kiasuism is an underlying reason why the average annual car mileage is an outrageous 18,200km in an island bounded by a 197-km coastline ... I implore a review. Kiasuism can be put in reverse gear to relieve road space demand.
— 2013 December 19, Lim Soon Heng. Today, "Focus on reducing distance travelled per vehicle". p.24
usage notes
* The nasal vowel is almost always unmarked by speakers, though it is very important to the pronunciation of the term. In a dipthong or tripthong, the recommended convention is to mark the final vowel, unless it is spelled using a repeated letter, in which case the first-occurring repeated letter is marked.