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:

ricebowl

rice bowl

General chinese:

饭碗

pinyin:

fàn wǎn

expand for details Detailed etymology

definitions

noun

  1. (metaphor) livelihood; means of making a living; job; career
  2. ... Lee had "clearly played an active role as she had deliberately manipulated the quotations in order to protect her own rice bowl".

    — 2017 April 6, Alfred Chua (quoting Salina Ishak). Today, "Director’s jail sentence for corruption shortened". p.15