#trending: S'poreans 'don't speak, they sing', says woman in viral TikTok video after mistaking UAE flag as Singapore's

SINGAPORE — When asked what language do Singaporeans speak, a woman on the streets of Sydney, Australia said: "They don’t speak, they sing".

A street interview in front of the Sydney Opera House by vlogger Nat Chipa in Australia drew some unexpected responses from interviewees.

In a TikTok video posted on March 5, the vlogger asked two passers-by to identify the flags of different countries. When asked to identify the United Arab Emirates (UAE) flag, one of the women answered that it was the Singapore flag. 

“What language do you reckon they speak?”, the vlogger then asked. 

“I don’t think they speak, they sing,” the woman replied.

It is unclear if the pair were trolling or joking with their answers. They called the American flag the "African" flag and answered that the native language of India is Indonesian in the same interview. 

Witty comebacks from Singapore online users came in fast at the mention of the nation. The video went viral with 218,000 views and 16,000 likes. 

Many replied in the same troll-like fashion.

One sang: “It’s true, I’m from Singapore, we only sing, in fact this comment is a tune 🎵🎶,”

A TikTok user joked: “As a Singaporean, I can guarantee that this is true.”

Another TikTok user quipped: “That's correct, in Singapore we actually sing instead of talk.” 

Adding a pun, one other said: “I mean Singapore people speak SINGglish, so ya, I guess that's right.” 

Jumping onto the bandwagon, one joked: “I need a friend from Singapore, I can't afford a Spotify subscription.”

Just to clarify, yes, the colloquial tongue of Singapore is Singlish, but it has nothing to do with singing. Instead, Singlish is a snappy blend of English, Malay, Chinese dialects and Tamil.

And the singing some of us do is typically in a karaoke room.