Cute girl named "ah lian" by a commentator
Yesterday I chatted with my friend from Singapore and I told her some stories about my stay in Malaysia. Then she asked me if I met any Ah Lians or Ah Bengs. I had no clue what those were. She was laughing. First I thought those were prostitutes, but then I went to Wikipedia (article here) and found out that: "Ah Lian is a pejorative term commonly given to a certain group of young Chinese girls in Southeast Asia, especially Singapore and Malaysia. These Chinese girls, whose collective age ranges from their adolescent years to late 20s, are usually centralised in the busier and more developed cities in the region. They usually hang out in Bugis Junction, Far East Plaza, outside Cineleisure and are regarded as bimbos, and are stereotyped as anti-intellectual, superficial, materialistic, and shallow."
"Ah Lians are commonly stereotyped as having hair dyed in gaudy and bright colours, and attired in fashion mimicking hip-hop culture, or outdated Japanese fashion, although how much of this is true is debatable. Most of Ah Lians are wearing fashions that are out-dated and they still have their hair straightened with thick fringe. They love to take own pictures and imitate the way Japanese girls take their pictures which is by making their eyes look big and puffing their cheeks. Few more examples of the way they take pictures are by putting a horizontal 'Peace sign' on their eye, putting a fist facing outwards on their puffed cheek. Another distinct feature of an Ah Lian is they swear in most of their conversations just like Ah Bengs. Much like their male counterparts - that is, Ah Bengs - Ah Lians are also thought of as being excessively flashy and show-offs."
Well, there's really tons of these kind of Chinese girls on Facebook and Friendster, I think it became so common, that people don't deem it as so bad anymore. Of course, if you don't overdo it. It's even said that typical Ah Lians will sleep with anyone. Well, this kind of behavior is not unknown in the West. And I guess you don't have to have an Ah Lian fashion style to be promiscuous. So it's all down to how they dress up and behave. Many Chinese girls in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan say they 'play cute', when they snap those photos with their cell phone. It's obvious that this swapped over from Japan. There's a similar style called gyaru (formerly ganguro), just that their hair is usually dyed blonde. Anyhow, I learned something new yesterday. Although I was there, I did not know the term. Funny :) Did you know it?
Their male counterparts are called Ah Bengs. I've been trying to find some galleries of these Ah Lians (also called 'mei mei' in Taiwan) and I found some nice pics. You can check them here:
Well, once I checked out all these pics, I remembered I saw some of these in Singapore. In fact, plenty of them. Also in Penang there were many. But my friend told me that not all of them are bimbos. Some have the Ah Lian look, but can be fairly bright. On the other hand, there's really a strong hatered towards Ah Lians on various forums or blogs. I don't know why such strong feelings, but let's check some more on Wikipedia, that goes on describing their look and behavior:
Well, once I checked out all these pics, I remembered I saw some of these in Singapore. In fact, plenty of them. Also in Penang there were many. But my friend told me that not all of them are bimbos. Some have the Ah Lian look, but can be fairly bright. On the other hand, there's really a strong hatered towards Ah Lians on various forums or blogs. I don't know why such strong feelings, but let's check some more on Wikipedia, that goes on describing their look and behavior:
"Ah Lians are commonly stereotyped as having hair dyed in gaudy and bright colours, and attired in fashion mimicking hip-hop culture, or outdated Japanese fashion, although how much of this is true is debatable. Most of Ah Lians are wearing fashions that are out-dated and they still have their hair straightened with thick fringe. They love to take own pictures and imitate the way Japanese girls take their pictures which is by making their eyes look big and puffing their cheeks. Few more examples of the way they take pictures are by putting a horizontal 'Peace sign' on their eye, putting a fist facing outwards on their puffed cheek. Another distinct feature of an Ah Lian is they swear in most of their conversations just like Ah Bengs. Much like their male counterparts - that is, Ah Bengs - Ah Lians are also thought of as being excessively flashy and show-offs."
Well, there's really tons of these kind of Chinese girls on Facebook and Friendster, I think it became so common, that people don't deem it as so bad anymore. Of course, if you don't overdo it. It's even said that typical Ah Lians will sleep with anyone. Well, this kind of behavior is not unknown in the West. And I guess you don't have to have an Ah Lian fashion style to be promiscuous. So it's all down to how they dress up and behave. Many Chinese girls in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan say they 'play cute', when they snap those photos with their cell phone. It's obvious that this swapped over from Japan. There's a similar style called gyaru (formerly ganguro), just that their hair is usually dyed blonde. Anyhow, I learned something new yesterday. Although I was there, I did not know the term. Funny :) Did you know it?
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