Monday, November 28, 2011

Don't kay kiang and mess with perfectly good English idioms, hor.

There is an expression in the Hokkien dialect to describe someone or something he or she has done as being smart-alecky (or too clever by half), the result being ultimately an embarrassing failure. That Hokkien term is "kay kiang".

And there is a perfectly good English idiom, "poster child" which, in alternative usage, may be modified to become "poster boy" or "poster girl", to suit the subject's gender. The contemporary meaning of this idiom is "someone who is a typical or quintessential example of something, or who represents a particular cause or ideal".

http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/POSTERCHILD

But for some strange reason, TODAY, in its page one lead story (28 Nov, "Change, from the bottom up: PM"), decided to label MP Denise Phua a "poster woman":

First elected to Parliament in 2006, Ms Denise Phua has, on some occasions, spoken out against Government policies, including criticising the "many helping hands" approach in social services.

Ms Phua, 52, yesterday became the unlikely poster woman for the "new PAP" -- she was singled out by party secretary-general Lee Hsien Loong at the ruling party's annual convention as personifying what a transformed [PAP] needs to become.

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Nope, being "kay kiang" and trying to put a different spin to an accepted idiom by tweaking it into "poster woman" just does not work, good usage-wise. Does TODAY feel that a 52-year-old woman cannot be a "poster girl"? Would a story about, say, a senior citizen who still leads a very active life and who is someone we want to hold up as exemplary be called a "poster Ah Pek or poster Ah Um"?

Incidentally, the original meaning of a poster child is a more poignant one (see the hyperlink above). But that usage is less common now.

Also, look out for the PAP's increasing use of the word "advocacy" as its latest buzz word, as it transforms itself. The Young PAP members who -- at the weekend at Speaker's Corner -- spoke out in support of polytechnic students being allowed to pay concessionary public transport fares were said to be engaged in "public advocacy".

And, in PM Lee's speech yesterday, he said: "[Ms Phua] has passionate views, she pushes for them and we give weight to her views and I think we have shifted some of our policies, not all of them, in response to her advocacy because we believe what she says makes sense."

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Okay, it's humour time. I'm adding this joke to my "Pearly Gates" collection:

A modern-day cowboy appeared before St. Peter at the Pearly Gates.

"Have you ever done anything of particular merit?" St. Peter inquired of him.

"Well, I can think of one thing," the cowboy offered. "I came upon a gang of mean-looking bikers who were threatening a young woman. I directed them to leave her alone, but they wouldn't listen. So, I approached the largest and most heavily tattooed
biker and smacked him in his face, kicked his motorbike over, ripped out his nose-ring, and threw it on the ground. I then yelled, 'Now, back off!! Or I'll kick the shit out of all of you!' "

St. Peter was impressed by this man's unswerving chivalry. "When did this happen?"

"Just a couple of minutes ago...".

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