In these comical videos, ex Miss Universe Singapore and Nominated Member of Parliament Eunice Olsen plays the character of Annie How who is the typical Ah Lian in Singapore.
Ah Lian is a pejorative term applied to a certain group of ethnic Chinese girls in Southeast Asia, especially Singapore and Malaysia. These Chinese girls, in their teens and twenties, are usually found in larger cities in the region 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Ah Lians are commonly stereotyped as having hair dyed in bright colours, and wearing outdated Japanese fashion, although how much of this is true is debatable. Most of them also like to wear hot pants or mini skirts. Most Ah Lians have straightened long hair, usually with thick fringes. They like walking in big groups where most of the people in the group are Ah Lians or Ah Bengs and make their presence known by talking loudly.
They enjoy taking self- portraits of themselves and usually imitate the way Japanese girls take their pictures, making their eyes look big and puffing out their cheeks. They also take pictures by putting a horizontal ‘Peace sign’ over their eyes, pressing a fist facing outwards against their puffed cheek. They also apply a very sharp tone in their speech which they classify as “cute”. Another distinct feature of an Ah Lian is they swear in most of their conversations similarly to their male counterparts, Ah Bengs.
The Ah Lian “culture” is especially prevalent in the secular Chinese educational system schools.
Ah Lians commonly speak a kind of hybrid mix of Singlish or Manglish and Chinese, or Chinese-related dialects. It is also common for the grammar from these dialects to cross over to English usage, creating English phrases with Chinese grammar.
Ah Lians are stereotyped as very loose, sleeping with anyone of any race, age, and social status.
Recently MELOTV.sg produced a series of localized (Singapore) online videos about The Misadventures of Annie How and Joe. It’s worth the watch and the laughs! Check them out below.
Melotv.com – Annie How & Joe – Going to Horrywud
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4KzSkqiXd4]
Melotv.com – Annie How & Joe on Facebook
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2pfVFqOH6Y]
Melotv.com – Annie How and Joe – Joe’s CD Cover
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYTmESk_G_U]
Eunice Olsen plays the role of Annie How. On the contrary, in real life, Eunice is no Ah Lian. She’s really such a sweetie and humble beauty.
Read on to find out more about Eunice Olsen
Eunice Olsen Bio
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eunice Elizabeth Olsen (born 24 October 1977) is a former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) from Singapore. She is well known for having been the winner of the Miss Singapore Universe contest in 2000, and for appearing on a number of television shows in Singapore, including being the co-host of Wheel of Fortune on MediaCorp TV Channel 5.
Olsen was educated at St Margaret’s School and Anglo-Chinese Junior College. After winning Miss Singapore Universe and representing Singapore at Miss Universe 2000, she was selected by MediaCorp to co-host the Singapore version of Wheel of Fortune in 2002, taking on the role filled by Vanna White in the US version of the show, operating the puzzle board. Olsen also co-hosted the Singapore television arts show Front, and served as a judge on Season 1 of the International Emmy Award-nominated show The Arena. She has also appeared in the MediaCorp TV dramas A Child’s Hope and Red Thread, and hosted the AXN show The Duke.
Olsen is an active volunteer, providing counselling services at the Toa Payoh Girls’ Home and the Andrew and Grace Home for troubled teens. She has also volunteered at the Eurasian Association of Singapore.
In November 2004, Olsen was appointed as one of nine NMPs, becoming the youngest Member of Parliament at the age of 27. She remained an NMP until July 2009. She sought to raise awareness about youth issues and to promote youth programmes and volunteerism. In the parliamentary debate on integrated resorts in 2005, Olsen called for stronger measures to address social problems of compulsive gambling, including mandating a loss limit for casino patrons and to require the casino operator to provide responsible gambling counseling services.[1]
Olsen is a Eurasian Singaporean, and has called for more representation of Eurasian community in parliament.[citation needed] She is of mixed Norwegian and Malaccan Portuguese ancestry.[2][3]
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