MY THOUGHTS ON BEING CALLED ANG MOH! | SINGAPORE EXPAT Q&A 

Thanks for watching guys! 🙏🏼 How 3 years can fly by eh?! 😯 Remember to LIKE the video and SUBSCRIBE if you're new here! Want to leave you with these three questions, comment your answers below!: 1. If you work in Singapore, do you find it’s long hours and stressful? 2. Would you come to a meetup? 3. When did you discover my videos? ☺️

Ang Moh is just a description for Caucasians. It’s a direct translation from hokkien (dialect). It is not meant to be derogatory.

I used to work in Singapore from 2003 to 2007. I must say that the singlish used is so interesting at the work place. I was called "Ang Mor" too and was told that it translated to "White person". I notice most singlish are just abbreviations or slang that Singaporean used without offending anyone. I had a lovely time working there and made multi local friends. Hello to my "Kakis" from Canada!! "Kakis" means buddies.....

Hi Georgia! I love watching your videos. I came across your channel at the end of last year (when I heard we were moving to SIngapore). Since arriving here on Dec 31 it learned me a lot (and they are fun to watch). I definitely vote YAY for the meetup!

Been watching your channel for over 1 year now, and as a fan of all things Singapore, I enjoy your insight as a non Singaporean. Keep up the great work!

Hi Gerogia I'm a Singaporean, and what I would say is that it is a term that has been passed down from our parents and very commonly used. People don't put much thought into the term and most people certainly don't mean to be offensive. I personally use the term sometimes but by no means meant to be derogatory, but hearing from your POV I can see how it might be seen as such. I'm in no means trying to tell you that you should not be offended by it, but just letting you know the perspective from a Singaporean. I'm glad I watched your video, so I would be more mindful when I use the term in future.

I think Ang Moh is not necessarily derogatory nor is it categorizing all white people as one race. It could be seen as a singlish substitute for "Caucasian" or when we refer to white-people in general. It is similar to how Westerners will use "Asian" to describe people with yellow/brown skin with black hair, which doesn't really mean they are being disrespectful or ignorant for categorizing all Asian as one race. That being said, I understand why you would feel that it is derogatory if people were to say "stupid ang moh", as I think it would sound equally disrespectful if someone were to call us "stupid Asian".

Georgia I can’t believe it’s been three years! Always love your posts 😘

I started watching like 3 months ago after coming back from Singapore for vacation. i love your videos.

I started watching when you were working in Singapore and vlogging!! Love ur hauls from ezbuy etc!

Hi Georgia, I love your channel. I JUST started watching it and find it insightful to see how other cultures view Singapore and Singaporeanisms. Thanks for your frank comments. It helps us Singaporeans be more self-aware!

Ang Moh is just a hokkien term we give for Caucasian people. Singaporeans or any person in Asia you hear this term from don't actually mean anything degrading~~ :) Also, we use Ang Moh cause it's just our dialect (Hokkien) and I don't think we have another term in Hokkien. It's just a very native term. Singaporeans use Ang Moh cause it's easily understandable between us that we mean nothing more than just "Caucasian". It's like if I tell my friend "This Ang Moh very pretty". We don't know the country you originated from, so we just use the term "Ang Moh".

Hi, So responding to your questions...... I have only been watching your videos for around a month now. My husband and I moved to Singapore in April and have found your videos almost eased the transition. Your honest opinions and humor are bang on. I would definitely make every effort to come to a meet up!

Hi Georgia! I found your channel and videos before you came to Singapore but have only been watching your videos when you came here! :)

I first stumbled upon your video when you announced you were moving to Singapore and have been following you since then as I think it is really cool to get a perspective of how foreigners see Singapore. What's even better is that you started doing more Singaporean-related videos which I absolute love and that's when I began subscribing to your channel! I also started noticing other expats-youtubers in Singapore following your footsteps which is awesome! Thanks for loving Singapore and taking the extra step to get to know our culture! I really appreciate the level of dedication and effort put in to making these videos with so much local flavour and it's amazing how you did it with a full time job! I sometimes think we Singaporeans don't deserve so much love for Singapore from you! Not looking forward to the day when you gotta move back to the UK and stop doing these videos as often..but you have become like a "friend" to me that I know I will continue to follow your journey anywhere in the world! Keep making videos:)

Hi Georgia, I love your channel. You are doing a wonderful job :)

I love your hat/cap?! and I love your frank and honest views! Keep going Georgia! 🌸

I started watching just maybe half a year ago. Love your videos!!!

That’s awesome you do the ten step Korean skincare routine! Your skin looks really healthy. More people around the world need to know about how beneficial this routine is.

yeah! no glasses :) happy 3 years - keep sharing and vlogging ur experiences. GEORGIA MEETUP - YES PLEASE

thank you for sharing your thoughts on being called angmoh! I just came across your videos recently since I moved from SG to the US for college and was missing home and looked up a bunch of Singaporean RU-vidrs! I love how you clarified that not all white people are the same, just like how not all asian people are the same, and we shouldn't be using such over-generalized labels to refer to people, because I've come across too many similar situations here in the US of people referring to asians in the same way that singaporeans refer to angmohs. More people need to be enlightened!!

Thanks for sharing so much of what you does here. Hope that you will be able to enjoy much more during your extension stay here. I personally have been to UK twice. I love the cooling whether there but like you had said, it’s better to have sun shine rather then all year round sunless whether. 😜 Love your video keep up your good works, cheers and I look forwards more video from you.

Georgia enjoy your stay here in Sg your presence + contributions are much appreciated blessings Jerry

YES WOULD LOVE A MEETUP PLS. I've been watching your videos since you moved to Singapore.

I started watching you since you moved here. I've always kept a lookout for you when I`m outside because I definitely want to say hi :) A meetup sounds good! Maybe at Botanic Gardens?

Always looking forward to your videos. You are so positive and optimistic which is what is lacking in our society today. And yes.. please do a meetup. 🙂

Only just started following, think curiosity just made me look for things on Singapore. I have looked before but ended up watching one video after another here. I rather liked them. Bring back memories. Used to live just off Dover Road near Clementi and I LOVED Singapore. I mean, I just went from country to country and it was just nice to find pretty much everyone spoke English, great public transport, fantastically safe, great food, compared to other places like South America with next to no public transport, horribly high crime rates, chronic poverty, everything in Spanish, it was just heaven. Wouldn't surprise me if you miss it when the day comes to leave.

Welll I am not working yett but I am still studying and it is stressful and I find that we study for very long hours! That aside, YESSSS I would definitely come to the meetup!! I discovered your video when RU-vid like suggested 1 of your Asos haul like a year ago and i found that the other videos interesting! That's when i discovered and stayed!!! :D

Ang moh is just a term for blonde for the Chinese who can't speak English back in Colonial Singapore. The story back then was the Chinese labourers needed a way to address their colonial bosses back in the day and one of the translators translate "Blonde" as "Ang Moh" so the term sticks and everyone begin using it. Same for Chinese being called Tiong kok kia (中国仔), huan nar and ah neh...

angmoh is just a slang term for white person.

Waiting for your meet up session!

i discovered u when u moved to sg! i just found ur channel about 1-2 momths ago :>

Started watching a few days back. I have got interested in Singapore because of playing Geoguessr. The unique easy to recognise from the first glance of the Google Street View provided country definitely drew my attention and I've decided to both learn it better for the game purposes and to potentially visit it (hard to say whether I would like to move, the biggest downfactor seems to be the climate, here in Ukraine I am miserable at summers and to have it all the year round might be tough). I have learned quite a lot from the videos in this short while so thank you for the good content 😊

Hi Georgia, I've been watching your videos for a awhile now and I really enjoy them! I'm a Singaporean married to a British living in sg, and in quite a funny roundabout way, your videos help me better understand my husband's views on certain Singaporean ways. Usually, he doesn't make too much effort articulating his views over day to day things, and would sometimes not think to bring up the 'minor' little experiences he comes across. But when watching your vids, I pause it here and there to ask him if he feels the same way as you do about things. Sometimes we even launch into full on discussions about the differences in ways of life in sg and the uk, taking it further to talk about the mindsets behind why we do things the way we do in both countries. It's interesting how a person I've never personally met, can open paths of communication between my husband and I to discuss views we would otherwise not think to converse about. I will definately go to your meet up if you do decide to have one :) Oh, and to answer your question, I have previously worked in the UK and that was pretty much a 9 to 5 job doing exactly the same job as I do now in Singapore. But over here, it's looking more towards 9am to 10pm :P

started watching your channel after you moved to Singapore! btw have you tried the nasi lemak puff from old chang kee lol

I agree humidity really helps with dry skin. My son has eczema. He gets rashes and itch. Last time we were in Singapore, we noticed his skin cleared up all of the sudden. When we returned home to Australia, the eczema was back.

Great watching your videos. You look great (in fact better) without specs. Cheers!

it makes me so happy to watch your videos because you seem to like singapore a lot!!! makes me a proud singaporean HAHA and it tells us more about the perspectives people who weren’t born in singapore have HAHAA YES IT’S JUST REALLY INTERESTING

Hi Georgia! Congrats on 3 years!! I think the first video i saw was about sg vs british views on sex and marriage so that was after you moved here for a while. I'm Singaporean so the title stood out for me because i love learning about cross-cultural differences. Enjoyed watching that so I subscribed after and I'm glad I did (-: about the angmoh thing, like what most people in the comments are saying, i think it used to be derogatory but now it's lost that negative connotation (unless people have that intention). It's really just a Hokkien term that's remained in Singlish to refer to any Caucasian, but not to address them by it

10:51 to the topic

Hey Georgia! Just a thought... I think it's about the third video of yours that I'm watching with the makeup/glasses free apologetic intro. You really shouldn't - and I'm saying this as a 26 y.o. guy. I think that the verb "painting face" sums up how funny the concept of this action can be, as if it's a paint to put on the refrigerator door. You're a good looking woman (no subliminal messages here, just stating the facts), and you can do no wrong without it - there's nothing to hide. I'm sure Justin and enough viewers will agree with me on that (and those who don't, well, good luck to them). And on a different note - I started watching your channel just recently, after a relocation opportunity in my company just came up, and I'm enjoying it so far (plus, I adore the UK, so being a british vlog is another reason to watch it). Keep up the good work and all the best to you and Justin, you're a wonderful couple. Cheers from Israel.

Yes I’d come to your meet up!!!!!

Started watching u recently. :)

I'm the opposite: I'm a Singaporean and have loved living overseas for the last 30 years in New York City, partly because of the cold weather; to the point that native New Yorkers think I'm nuts. The summers here used to be just as bad as Singapore but it has surprisingly gotten cooler in the last decade or so.

Hi Georgia, 1. I'm a Singaporean working here, i think work life here is quite balanced. After listening to what my Koreans friends go through in terms of work, i think Singapore's alright. 2. Yes, i would come for a meetup session. 3. I started watching your videos since Feb, just stumbled upon your channel.

There will always be "good" & "bad" people... in any country... Really enjoy your videos. Keep up the great work!

If you are feeling adventurous you should try frog leg porridge. It actually taste pretty good, texture is kind of like a really muscular chicken.

Glad to be able to see your beautiful eyes in this video. 😊

YOU LOOK GOOD WITHOUT YOUR GLASSES !! There's nothing to be sorry about ! I've been watching since you just move over.

I started watching your videos after you moved to Singapore. I find that the replies that you've given in your videos are usually very comprehensive. Anyway, if you've ever had bad experiences being labelled as an "ang moh", just forget the bad experience(s) when you go to sleep. When you awake the next morning, the bad experience doesn't come to mind. That's what I do personally, to relieve myself of this unnecessary mental suffering. In hindsight, usually I don't even remember bad experiences I've had had just a week ago. Cheer up.

Angmoh is not a derogatory term actually. It’s like how in Bali locals call caucasians ‘Bule’ it’s just a term

nobody will ever say 'ang moh' straight to you because we think westerners find it offensive or wouldn't understand it, so you'd only hear it when someone is actually being rude. but among local singaporeans, 'ang moh' is pretty much the only word we use to mention caucasians and it has a neutral connotation.

PLEASE STAY ! We Welcome you and would love for you to stay!! Ignore the haters! You have more supporters than haters! YES TO THE MEET UP!

Can you make a video on how your squeeze out your blackheads? What is the technique you use?

Hi! To my surprise I have indeed been following you for three years! Congrats on the milestone. This is my very, very first RU-vid comment so please be gentle ... In all honesty, I have found a few of your posts slightly inaccurate and slightly whiny. But, hey, that's your opinion, which by and large, helps locals like me see myself the way an outsider sees us. The rest of the time, your posts have been a delight. So ... please don't leave. Please stay a while. Even consider setting up roots here. Ignore the trolls. The day you leave, I reckon my quirky country becomes a little less delightful. All the best!

just ignore those who gave negative remarks

1. Yes working here is stressful and always overtime (from a Singaporean in a sme company) 2. Not sure abt attending meetup but I definitely love your videos & love you! 3. Since early 2017

hey Georgia, don't go back! Ignore those hurtful comments, you are one of my fav youtube personalities! So please stay !

I just recently came across and subscribed to your channel,and because I was once an international student living in the UK,I can easily relate and agree with most of what you said in this video. Once i actually had to use the NHS for MRI scan,and I'm just so surprised that I don't have to pay for it,even if I'm just an international student. Do I pay? Where do I pay? Who should I pay to?? Do they send the bill to my house? So many questions unanswered. Other than that, I've only had to pay for my medication (@Boots) and not doctor's consultations. Oh yeah,and I miss walking down the aisle in Tesco and seeing and buying those ice cream tubs on discount. Ok, I don't speak for all singaporeans, but, loved the UK weather, everything from the amazingly cooooling temperatures ,overcast skies, hails, strong winds, snowing or even even raining (although not a torrential downpour like ones you get here), but I do know it'll create a lot of difficulties for people, so yeah, I do feel bad about being overly happy about cold conditions. Yeah, I do have difficulty mingling with the locals in the UK, only because the city I'm in (Sheffield), has plenty of international students, so I'm more likely to meet up with fellow international students then local British students,. This is a bit more personal,but because I'm a lot more introverted than others, I found it even difficult to approach meet up groups to make new friends, and that worsens my depression (cause of depression? failing my second year and being Singaporean, it means a lot,wayy to much for me to handle at that time), so my advice would be to join online groups like reddit or couchsurfing and get to know each other online first before meeting up. IDK,just an idea if that helps.

Working hours are long in singapore but it depends on wat job it is,some1 in my overall family creates events n stuff so he has to work over time n not get many hours of sleep

YES A MEET UP PLEASE!!!

Can visit pharmacist in Guardian or Unity for medication. There is 11 public holidays.

Pls do a collab with Tina Yong! She's in Singapore at the moment 😊 Would love to see the both of you doing a video together. Much loves 😍💕

The term "Ang Moh" is generally used to refer to Caucasian. I think our grandparents' generation and perhaps generations earlier did not learn the proper term for Caucasian. Few people were educated in those days. So they called the Caucasian based on their most obvious physical attribute: by the colour of their hair. "Ang Moh" literally translates to "Red Hair", and it also refers to golden hair too.

Working hours is often long and stressful. But i do sometimes enjoy being busy.

Hi Georgia! I am a Singaporean living in the UK for the past 4 years (going into my 5th year in September) and I find your videos very interesting. Living in the UK for several years and understanding how you as a British national (or any other non-Singaporean) views Singapore has allowed me to appreciate Singapore a lot more, which as you said, the warm weather, public transport etc. Work culture/hours wise, although I put in 50-60 hours a week, I find my hours here are shorter than comparable industry in Singapore (management consulting). You view on being called "ang moh" is very similar to mine being the "Asian guy" here in London. As much as I dislike being called the "Asian", which as you said feels being reduce to one's race, it's quite a reality when one is a racial minority in a country. I am heartened you do know that "Asian" is such a poor description in a sense it lumps all the nationalities of Thai, Vietnamese, Korean etc. into one homogeneous group. However as you said, there will be people who are ignorant, and here in London it is still quite common for me to be reduced to that "Asian person" by some "ignorant" British or other "ang mohs". I guess we have to be patient to correct people and hope it gets better in the future. Will be looking forward to more of your videos!

Actually, you can't really talk 'bout general categorization within Singapore. I'm currently taking a module in my Uni, we are learning about the categorization of Chinese in Singapore. The Chinese, Malay, Indian, Caucasians who have been living in Singapore since the early 60s-70s have been categorized together by our government. I wouldn't be surprised if locals tend to categorize other people together too. When the law was set back then, the government did not know what to do with all the races/ethnicity around Singapore. Hence, they came up with an idea to simply label everyone by a general term. The Chinese (Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka, Cantonese, etc.) were labelled as Chinese, the Malay (Indonesia, Malaysia, Arabia, etc.) as Malay, the Indians (North India, South India, Bangladesh, etc.) as Indian, and the Caucasians (America, UK, Australia, Germany, etc.) as Caucasians. Hence, for Singaporeans to generalize all Caucasians together as "angmoh " or Caucasians aren't uncommon. Considering we have been generalized first, so it can be almost said that this was the wrong move made by Singapore years ago and the repercussion can be only seen now. As after the internet was created, planes were cheaper, etc. has allowed Singaporeans to come to a realization that there are more to just general terms out there. Such examples could be like; calling South African as Africans can be offensive, and a Caucasian from America as European, etc. This is a ripple effect that was kind of put in motion since the early 60s. Note: I'm not making excuses to call Caucasians angmoh, I'm talking 'bout the term generalization.

You look so good without glasses!

i have an angmoh ceo and I always call him that way. fortunately he's also in singapore for the past decades and he understands that.

if you want fruits and veggies that are really good quality and cheaper, you should go to wholesalers!! especially the pasir panjang wholesale center that one has really fresh stuff

Georgia, you are gorgeous in your natural state!

Singaporean here. Most of us use the term “ang moh” without bad intentions. I guess it is just a habit of ours when identifying someone or when referring to someone. We call our fellow Singaporeans often by our races like “that Malay guy” or “that Chinese girl”. So “ang moh” is just how we refer to to westerners. This may be seemed racist to some who are not used to the culture here but we usually don’t have any bad intention to bring in the race, just a way we refer to a person. I usually do it when I don’t remember a person’s name, like “That Chinese guy was with me yesterday” :X

for me angmoh is a term used to describe Caucasians? Like the generalisation thing doesnt make sense because then calling people Asians would also mean theyre generalising which I feel is kinda an overreaction?

Haha... chill la.... Ang mo is like just like Aunty or Uncle.... every elderly is a Uncle or Aunty...😊😊 Was already watching your channel when you relocated to SG...and through all the ups and downs you have encountered.... Congrats again!!! Did not realise it was tat long too....

I've started watching you when I you were already in SG and I was moving from SG to UK haha

im singaporean and watching your videos really makes me happy because im so glad to see that someone from the other side of the world can come all the way here and try her best to appreciate everything that our country has to offer! keep the negativity out of thought and continue being who you are

100% agree about the weather. Winter is so depressing and so is the often mucky, grey snow. I'd rather be too warm yet uplifted by the sun and blue skies in Singapore than too cold and blue to function.

Hi Georgia being British in Singapore where can you find the best scones for afternoon tea? I mean real English afternoon tea with sandwiches, sconces, cakes and nice cup of English tea? I tried the one in Foster restaurant at Holland V but didn’t think that was authentic enough......thanks! Love 💕 all your episodes, can you perhaps do one episode about English afternoon tea in SG...

Yes, meet up please. My husband and I are planning a trip to Singapore in March 2020. Would love to meet you and your hubby to be. :)

Only started watching from your I'm moving to Singapore video.. Quick qns, have you been to Singapore before you moved over?

Glad you mentioned how some Westerns also sterotype us Asians as well =) And DIm Sum originally comes from Hong Kong, it is one of my favourite food! (except chicken feet, lol) And to your last question: I start watching your videos today! haha

I've been watching since before you moved!! I remember when you made your announcement vid that you were moving to singapore!

I've got a question: what do you do in Singapore? :) work? study? nice video btw, its always nice to see another person's perspective of your country

Georgia, see how long an average Singaporean can hold a gaze with you - eye to eye. You'll mostly find people quickly glancing away after 5 seconds, since it's considered to be confrontational. I left Singapore when I was 16 and it took me over a decade to learn how to look at someone in the eye.

Ang Moh was used in the past to describe white people with red hair (Ginger?) which evolved to become the word to use to describe a Caucasian person regardless of a blond, brunette or ginger. I think Ang Moh is not as offensive as "Gwai Lou" a term used in Hong Kong because that term literally means Ghost Fellow, which seems more derogatory. Caucasians on the other hand seems to be ignorant at times too, categorizing all Asians as Asians despite Asia being a very diverse Continent with many different cultures, ethnicities, languages etc

A meet up with fans could be interesting actually

I started watching after you came to Singapore! not sure if its weird but I like to watch people talk about singapore, my own country lol. Really enjoying seeing your perspective on a country which I have lived all my life.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but not everyone would verbalize certain views - especially on such a public platform. If you want to voice them out, then simply be prepared for those types of comments (those people are also entitled to their opinions).

Hey Georgia! I've only started watching your videos recently but its been really interesting to view things from your point of view. I'm also not singaporean so i could relate to some of the stuff you've talked about. However, i was raised in singapore so i was exposed to stuff like singlish and singaporean culture since young. So for me, ang moh is not used in an offensive way but just means "Caucasian". We are well aware that there are many many cultures and races that fall under "Caucasian" just like how there is for "Asian". I do want to apologise for the mean comments and those who look down upon you just because you are from the UK.

Yes I would love you to have a meet up 🙆🏻

Yes we work long hours but i find my expat colleagues working even longer hours than me. I dun think its more stressful since longer hours allows me to complete my task so that i dun need to worry about it when i go home.

Ang Moh is an archaic Hokien expression for "foreigners" in the 17th century. "Ang" is red and "Moh" means hair. To the extent that it was used in an era when the majority of Chinese had not seen Caucasian people before, it was a condescending expression in the same manner as the expressions Brits had for foreigners. It is archaic in the sense that it has fallen out of favour in Hokien or Taiwan vernacular and is only more commonly heard in Singapore or Malaysia. It is considered derogatory only in the same sense as when some Singaporeans might feel offended to be called "black hair" and nothing else.

Angmoh isn't at all meant to be used negatively, to be honest my friends and I have many caucasian friends be it American, Aussie, etc. We sometimes refer to them as our angmoh friends. If it were a negative term, I doubt it would've been used in such a context 😂 Angmoh is also used to refer to English as a language, like "my friend speaks more angmoh than mandarin" for example. I guess sometimes used as a "safe" way to describe caucasians when we're not sure where they're from and such?

I wished we had free healthcare here too :( And please ignore those people who tell you to leave SG. You've been extremely open to the culture here and always put things in perspective. So thanks!

we have a slang term for every race, i think pretty normal, i use angmoh all the time if im talking in chinese( almost 70% is singlish) . but i would never use angmoh when im speaking english, i'll usually use Caucasian/british in that case.

Start watching yesterday

You should try attending a KPOP Concert in Singapore too, there's 1 coming up in June. TWICE. Just suggesting. It's an experience though. Cheers! :D

Hi Georgia! I’m curious to know how you renew your work visa? Does your company simply assist in renewing it for you? I am aware that in Europe and the US, the process of doing so for foreign workers is way more complex. I hope this isn’ a nosey question, just genuinely curious 😊

People are mad for a 7-11 video?? That’s crazy!

Glad to hear you’re continuing ur stay. But tell me Georgia, what are your feelings towards the town of “Ang Mo Kio” (which means the Caucasian bridge)? Just kidding. I can understand why people feel the term “Ang Mor” is derogatory.