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“The main cast also comprises non-Singaporean actors who mostly speak in western accents,” he said, alluding to vetoed attempts by local members of the cast to include more “Singlish”, a form of local patois.

Singaporean cast members have also said they were told to use less Singlish, Singapore's unique brand of English and a central marker of identity; and the movie trailer featured almost no Singaporean accents.

They protested the trailer’s absence of Singlish, the patois prominently featured in the book.

Written by Lee and Marc Nair, Give Us Our Terrex Back was sung in Singlish to the tune of Lunar New Year favourite Gong Xi Gong Xi, heard everywhere at this time of year.

As much as I take pleasure in Singlish and miss it when I’m far from Singapore, my father has never been a huge speaker of it.