Here’s a list of words I dread to hear in conversations whenever there are soon-to-be married or married friends around. And for the benefit of readers unfamiliar with Singapore, there are further explanations.
– Punggol / noun / this is a suburb where many new government flats are located. Many newly married couples have bought flats here.
– Seng Kang / noun / (same explanation as above)
– ROM / noun / the acronym for the Registry of Marriages. It can also be used as a verb. E.g. I am going to ROM this Saturday. It just means I’m going to register my marriage this Saturday.
– marry, marriage, married / verb, noun, adjective / Pretty self-explanatory I think
– wedding photographer / noun / There’s almost always talk of who was the photographer of so-and-so’s wedding and so-and-so would like to get the same one ‘cos the latter liked the former’s wedding photos.
– HDB flats / noun / Housing Development Board flats. In other words, government-built flats in Singapore
– wedding packages / noun / The things that bridal studios try to con couples into forking out money for. Pushy sales persons are a common complaint.
– hotel ballroom / noun / The venue of almost all wedding banquets. The discussion of hotel ballroom layouts has become an integral part of conversations. Is it L-shaped? Rectangular? How big is it? *yawn*
– condominium / noun / The home of choice for the couples with a more substantial pay cheque and combined income compared to the rest of their peers.
– baby / noun / A small human being which is cute only in the first six years of its existence. After that, it metamorphises into a monster.
– kid / noun / You talking about me??? I don’t think I’ve evolved very much from that mental state.