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Ah Beng
Ah Beng
Chinese	阿明
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Ā míng
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ	A-bêng
Tâi-lô	A-bîng

Ah Beng (Chinese: 阿明) is a pejorative term applied to describe an anti-social lower-class youth in Malaysia and Singapore who displays common characteristics such as having dyed hair, wearing loud fashion, playing loud music in public and being less educated. The female equivalent of an Ah Beng is an Ah Lian (simplified Chinese: 阿莲; traditional Chinese: 阿蓮; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: a-liân).^[1]

A stereotypical Ah Beng would be someone who is not highly educated, is loud and unsophisticated, and operates within secret societies and street gangs. Ah Lians, on the other hand, are regarded as bimbos, and are stereotyped as anti-intellectual, superficial, materialistic, and shallow.^[2]

The equivalent of an Ah Beng in other English-speaking countries is often said to be Australia's bogans, the United States' rednecks and Britain's chavs.

Etymology

Ah Beng comes from the romanisation of the Hokkien pronunciation of 阿明 (Pe̍h-ōe-jī: a-bêng). The character "明" (pinyin: míng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bêng) is commonly used in the names of ethnic Chinese males in the region; the term "Ah Beng" alludes to their commonness.

Among Cantonese speakers, Ah Beng is also known as lala zai (啦啦仔). "Lala" has no actual meaning in itself, although it may have originated from the Singlish word "la"/"lah", while "zai" means "boy." "Lala zai" refers to individuals who speak in "pure" Singlish and who possess a strong preference for gaudy fashions or hairstyles.

In popular culture

Ah Bengs have been featured in several Singaporean films, including:

Army Daze (1996) - Actor Adrain Lim acted as Recruit Ah Beng Teoh who has a severe dislike of having to serve National Service and is only doing it for the allowance. A recurring joke about Ah Beng is that everyone keeps telling him speak Mandarin when he speaks in Hokkien.
Money No Enough (1998) - A film about three close friends who start a car polishing business together to resolve their financial problems.
S11 (2006) — A film about three Singaporeans whose lives coincide.^[3]

The stereotypical Ah Beng was the title character Phua Chu Kang in the popular Singaporean local sitcom Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd, portrayed by Gurmit Singh. In the show, Chu Kang's brother, Phua Chu Beng, is nicknamed Ah Beng, despite being an articulate, educated architect, the complete antithesis of an Ah Beng.^[4]

Notes

^ Beng Huat Chua (2003) Life is not complete without shopping for bimbo products: consumption culture in Singapore, Singapore University Press of the National University of Singapore
^ "Here's the reason why an Ah Lian is called an Ah Lian". Goody Feed. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
^ Tan Dawn Wei, "Ah Beng Rulz Liao", The Straits Times (2 August 2006).
^ Mak Mun San, "I'm a Paid Extrovert", The Straits Times (28 August 2006).