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.
* 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:
mafan
ma fan
简
繁
→
Mandarin:
麻烦
麻煩
pinyin:
má fan
Detailed etymology
definitions
noun
- troublesome; hasslesome; annoying
... having a child on your own, single mother, very ma fan leh, get a dog. Fish even better, no need to clean poo. Ma fan doesn't even begin to cut it ...
— 2923, Elaine Chew. A Serious Case of Egg Shortage, in The Second Link: An Anthology of Malaysian and Singaporean Writing. Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd. ISBN: 9789815169386. p.18