February 15, 2018

This Lunar New Year, be sure to have ready a repertoire of compliments and auspicious wishes. Assoc. Prof. Lee Cher Leng (Dept. of Chinese Studies) suggests that these could come in handy as conversational topics when visiting friends and relatives only during the Lunar New Year season. With the right set of compliments and wishes, you could boost social cohesiveness and eliminate any awkwardness or unpleasant feelings that may arise during uncomfortable silences.

Assoc. Prof. Lee found that the compliments mostly denoted the socio-economic values and interests of the Singaporean Chinese community. Hence, most of the compliments tend to centre on academic accomplishments, potential career successes, having children or grandchildren, and filial piety. Furthermore, compliments are usually dished out by the older members of the family, especially women. Older Chinese women compliment the youth on their appearances, followed by the usual interest in their relationship status. While older Chinese men tend to compliment youth on career progression and health. As flattering as the compliments are, most of the compliments are met with disagreement and rejection, out of a sense of modesty that is deeply rooted in Chinese culture.

The article, “Compliments and responses during Chinese new year celebrations in Singapore”, was published in Pragmatics (2009).

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