You know who they are. In fact, you remember them just like it was yesterday: long pointy end of an orange plastic comb sticking out of the back pocket. Pinky with an extra long nail. No matter what they were wearing, they could execute a flawless Asian squat. You could observe this species in flocks in their natural habitat (a.k.a. Orchard Road MRT station, Far East Plaza or Centrepoint) whenever the weekend rolled round. Known to be brave and boisterous in their posses, Ah Bengs had a tendency of turning shy and muted once isolated from their “brothers”. They are a well-known phenomenon, perfect fodder for stereotyping—the best-known of which must be the perfectly-cast Gurmit Singh as the best contractor in Singapore, JB and, some say, Batam.
Any true 90s Ah Beng worth their salt could effortlessly sprout Singlish with a colourful smorgasbord of Hokkien that would make any boomer blush today. They walked with a confident swagger in baggy jeans and always had the collar of their shirt turned up. And of course, they wore their fringe long and proud like Hong Kong superstars Aaron Kwok and Ekin “Noodle” Cheng… though admittedly their iconic hairstyle with that center parting looked a lot more like unfortunate “cockroach feelers”. But I blame that on our humidity.
Rebellious yet cool, Ah Bengs were the popular kids in town and could be found everywhere. They were at Sparks Discotheque dancing up a storm on the 7th floor of Ngee Ann City (sadly, now a car park), shooting pool in dodgy parlours with crappy cue sticks (that’s why they would bring their own), bumming smokes off each other (sometimes coating their cigarettes with Axe oil for that extra menthol kick), bellowing “KNNBCCB, LJ!” at friends who always let them finish said expletives without interruption (a matter of brotherhood and respect), and proudly referring to their girlfriends with the rebonded red hair (a.k.a Ah Lian) as their “stead”.
I grew up with unapologetic Ah Beng cousins, who, to this day, love to make fun of this MGS girl for her lousy Singlish and dismal grasp of our mother tongue. We couldn’t be more different; while they were crooning along to Wang Jie, I’d have Frente’s “Bizarre Love Triangle” playing through my headphones. But the close relationship the boys shared with our Ah Ma was something I had always openly envied. It made me want to speak our dialect better (this was way before Kelvin Tong invited me to star in Jiak Ba Buay, Season 3) so the shy Ning from before the turn of the century decided to make friends with the Ah Bengs… It was perfectly fine that they spoke to me in Mandarin and I replied in English!
The Ah Bengs I knew came in different varieties: there were authentic Hokkien Bengs (like Singaporean comedian Mark Lee) who become as eloquent as the famed poet Li Bai once they start expressing themselves in dialect. There were the KTV Bengs who lived to belt out Taiwanese rocker Wu Bai’s 你是我的花朵 or 浪人情歌 at karaoke.
Of course there were the Subaru Bengs who lovingly pimped their ride with “happening” interior LED lights or other illegal modifications—the coolest of them might have done street racing at some point. There were the hardcore paikai Bengs who would make any teenaged girl’s parents nervous if she brought them home for dinner (bonus points if they sport gangster tattoos).
Last but not least, there were the most fascinating of the species: the intellectual Beng who reads serious angmoh books like the ones by Machiavelli and Nietzsche and explains them to you in Singlish with Hokkien expressions of wonder.
Beng No.1: Award-winning filmmaker, Royston Tan
No stranger to the media and especially adored by aunties and uncles throughout our fair land, I thought Royston would be perfect to help me understand where have all the Ah Bengs gone. After all, he’s made many films celebrating Ah Bengs and our authentic Singaporean lifestyle, which is really more heartlander getai than Crazy Rich Asians.
Beng No. 2: Founder of BooksActually & Publisher of Math Paper Press, Kenny Leck
If I made up a new character in my next book, a self-professed Singaporean Ah Beng who is also a successful entrepreneur in the book retail and publishing business, some readers may consider it unbelievable. But Kenny is no figment of my imagination! My favorite intellectual Beng takes time off work at everyone’s favorite local bookshop to share his 2 cents worth.
Beng No. 3: Director of Photography based in Shanghai, Jeffrey Ang
Jeff’s mother cooks the best lor mee. It’s always a hoot eating with them because I get to watch this big tough guy who’s an industry bigshot transform into a sweet, obedient son when his mom (one of the sweetest old ladies I know) talks to him. If loyalty and filial piety is a featured attribute of a Beng, Jeff should get an award.
WHERE HAVE ALL THE AH BENGS GONE: THE INTERVIEW
a.k.a 3 Bengs and a lady tok tok lim kopi
NING: First of all, what is your definition of an Ah Beng?
ROYSTON: Ah Beng definitely Chinese one; a certain Chinese demographic, not the angmoh pai kind! More crude, most likely a bit of an outcast, and they form their own identity.
JEFF: To me the definition of Ah Beng is a way of life. Regardless of religion, race, education level and family background. It’s an identity that some are not willing to be associated with while others are proud to be. I’m the latter.
KENNY: My classic definition of an Ah Beng is one that is an all-rounder. He values both education and being streetwise. Education can be in the form of formal schooling or self-taught, and to be streetwise is to be a survivor. When you are a streetwise Ah Beng, you will always be the last one standing.
N: What are the hallmarks of a Beng’s personality?
K: Being straightforward in his actions but not always with his words. Though he would also be a person that owns up to his failings, and would make amends for it. The Ah Beng is also a person that is generous with his friends, sometimes to the detriment of his family. Ironically, the notion of “brotherhood” runs deep in him, and he is only there for his biological family in times of need.
J: I think Ah Bengs most of the time are true to themselves; very real people who speak their minds, though not necessarily articulate or very tactful in expressing themselves in most cases. They go by our own code of conduct, primarily placing the trust that friends have in them as something of utmost importance. In other words they have integrity or 义气.
R: Ah Beng is the very 讲义气 (value loyalty) kind. The regard “brothers” as their family. Ah Beng focus on that and filial piety towards their parents. Ah Beng usually quite young, skinny, direct, use a certain lingo, and very good at speaking to girls.
N: Is being a Beng more… a state of mind?
R: I don’t really think Ah Beng is really a state of mind. Because they’re from very marginalised backgrounds. So the kind of lingo and behaviour is from the environment they were from.
J: Actually, I would agree that it is a state of mind. The way they conduct themselves in public or with friends is totally what they feel comfortable doing. It could be speaking in broken Engrish or swearing in Hokkien, squatting by the road, or having kopi-o at the coffee shop in their slippers, with one leg up on the stool.
K: It is definitely a state of mind, and perhaps a form of natural selection and the environment that one grew up in. I didn’t realise that I was Ah Beng until one day in Sec 3 when a classmate commented that I walked like a gangster, which was the complete opposite of what I was on day one of entering secondary school. I was a super nerdy kid that loved books, and I still look nerdy.
Straight into the first week as a Sec 1 kid, I was immediately bullied by a bunch of Upper Sec kids. One of them got me to buy food for them during recess and did not pay me back for it. Luckily, a few of my older brother’s friends who were in the same school saw that and “took” me in. They were the delinquents of the school who had a permanent table in the canteen, and they would smoke in the toilet. It was a journey of no return and it became a state of mind for me ever since.
During one of my Sec 1 school assemblies, I remember the principal was on stage droning on about why we should be good students, and not join gangs that were prevalent in my school. He said this phrase “浪子回头十年不晚” (it’s never too late for the prodigal son to return home) hoping to drill into us that it is never too late to be a good student. But I think it had the reverse effect on my peers—isn’t much cooler to be a 浪子 (bad boy) than an average human being 普通人？
N: So did you identify as one? Do you embrace it? Why?
R: Hahaha! Yes, I used to be an Ah Beng. Now trying very hard not to be, but still cannot lah. I think there’s still traces of it but for me—it’s more about the character. I still put friendship first and as much as I try to be very angmoh pai (Westernised), I cannot. Really cannot! Do I embrace it? Of course, I’m proud to be one! Probably very proud to be one of the early Ah Bengs to make films. And also because of my background, I get to meet people from all walks of life and that enhances the way I tell stories, which are different from fellow Singaporeans lah. So yeah I embrace my roots and Ah Beng are more 接地气 (down to earth), more “connected to the ground”.
K: To a certain, I’d say “yes”. I definitely embrace it as the good side, like the fortitude and the strength of the Ah Beng has gotten me through some very tough challenges in life. I think without that attitude, I would not have been able to run the bookstore for the past nearly 16 years.
J: I guess I do, yes. I embrace it as it’s not pretentious and it’s uniquely Singapore. There is an Ah Beng in most Singaporean men, like it or not. It’s only the degree of Bengness that differs! We’ve all behaved like Bengs at some point of time in our lives, especially during our national service.
N: Tell us… Who are some famous Bengs you know and how are they like IRL? For instance, I consider Mark Lee a very authentic Ah Beng!
R: I think Mark Lee is a very good example of an Ah Beng. He is very “homeground”, very local. The way he speaks, like if you see his talk show, his English is really Ah Beng style. There’s this very charming thing when he talks and people listen to him because it’s not pretentious. He’s not trying to be somebody else. That’s the charm of Ah Bengs: they’re very real.
J: I don’t know any of them personally but okay, Mark is one. That’s why a lot of Singaporeans find him funny or can relate to him. Of course Gurmit with his Phua Chu Kang character on screen and on radio, DJ Glenn Ong …. hope I don’t get into trouble for giving such examples ’cause to me, being Beng is in a way a compliment to people for being down to earth and a heartlander.
K: The most famous Ah Beng are the ones from Kelvin Tong’s movie Eating Air. Both Ah Boy and Ah Gu are quintessential Ah Bengs, and Mark Lee actually acted as a Lao Beng. In real life, the Ah Bengs that I grew up with, all of us are now in our early 40s. We are the same normal average Singaporeans getting through life as best as we can. We have our good days and bad days.
Credit: Mark Lee’s Facebook
N: Who’s the coolest Ah Beng you ever knew and what made them stand out?
K: Definitely a schoolmate in secondary school. His name is Ding Li 丁力, as in the Ting Lik (in Cantonese) from the classic HK drama The Bund. He was already quite well-known as the student that got into trouble with the teachers but he was always nice to everyone around him, and would always be the first to help when I was in a bind at school. He also did not stand for bullying, and definitely didn’t stand for extortion of the Lower Sec students. He has always been this ideal Ah Beng that I think us as an Ah Bengs tried to live up to.
J: I guess I don’t have names as I’m not sure if they consider themselves Beng. Hahaha! But I’ve worked with very talented people in the advertising industry from photographers to cinematographers.
R: I have Ah Beng friends who are DJs so for them it’s very important like when they hear a new song, they will do their own remix. As long as you have any slow song, we can always ramp it up and make it a techno remix!
N: Looking at our youngsters today, why do you think we lost our iconic Ah Bengs?
K: We lost them because Ah Bengs came from joining secret societies. And even during my time in the early ’90s, secret societies were mostly muted and ineffective entities that the Singapore legal and law enforcers had managed to clamp down and neutralise. Also, probably the dying of the lion dance troupes contributed to the discontinuation of that history and lifestyle.
J: I guess it’s different because of the way young people interact nowadays. In the past there were more camaraderie amongst friends who hang out as we really spend time physically doing things together or in some cases nothing at all… just sitting at a cafe and waiting for another friend who is always late because he has to achieve the perfect hairstyle before he leaves his house! It’s because of that that we would come up with things to talk about, look at girls, make cat calls at them, or get their pager number. There was more participation and interaction. Now you just have to go online to meet your friends or talk.
R: I don’t think we’ve lost them, I just think they have evolved already. Now with K-Pop and everything, we lost the Hokkien speaking Bengs but like I mentioned, it’s like Pokémon—part of the evolution! They’ve evolved to be softer, and now they are more social media, tech-based; more keyboard warriors than going down on the ground to fight.
Stay tuned for part 2, coming soon.
