Ang mo (simplified Chinese: 红毛; traditional Chinese: 紅毛; pinyin: hóng máo; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: âng-mo͘) or Ang moh is a racial epithet describing Caucasian (White people), mainly in Malaysia and Singapore. It literally means "red-haired" and originates from Hokkien (Min Nan).^[1] The usage is similar as in the Cantonese term gweilo ("ghost man").

Other similar terms include ang mo kow 紅毛猴 (red-haired monkeys), ang mo kui 紅毛鬼子 (red-haired devil), ang mo lang 紅毛人 (red-haired people).

Etymology and History[link]

The earliest origin for the term "Ang mo 紅毛" could be traced to the contact between Hokkien (Min Nan) speakers in Southern Fujian province of China with the Portuguese people and Dutch people during the 16th and 17th century.

During the 17th century, the Spanish people and Dutch people had colonized Taiwan and built Fort Santo Domingo in Tamsui, Taiwan, also known as "City of the Red-Haired" (Chinese: 紅毛城; pinyin: hóng máo chéng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Âng-mn̂g-siâⁿ) in Taiwanese Hokkien. This city was built by the Spanish in the 17th century. Following that, Dutch people were known in Taiwan as "Ang mo lang 紅毛人" (red-haired people) in Taiwanese Hokkien. This is most likely because red hair is a common trait among the Dutch. This historical term "Ang mo lang 紅毛人" continues to be used in the context of Taiwanese history to refer to Dutch people.

The Chinese characters for ang mo are the same as those in the historical Japanese term Kōmō (紅毛), which was used during the Edo period (1603–1868) as an epithet for (northwestern European) white people. It primarily referred to Dutch traders who were the only Europeans allowed to trade with Japan during Sakoku, its 200-year period of isolation.^[2] Portuguese and Spanish traders were in contrast referred to as nanban (南蛮), which is in turn cognate to the Chinese nanman and means "southern barbarians".^[3]

During the 19th century, Walter Henry Medhurst made a reference in his academic work A Dictionary of the Hok-Këèn Dialect of the Chinese Language that 紅毛 âng mô, red haired, generally applied to the English people. With the large migration of Hokkien people to South-East Asia, predominantly Malaysia and Singapore, the term Ang Moh became more widespread and was used to refer to Caucasian.

Racial Controversy[link]

The term ang mo is sometimes viewed as racist and derogatory by some Caucasians.^[4] Others, however, maintain it is acceptable,^[5] making it in some contexts a reclaimed word. Despite this ambiguity, it is a widely used term. It appears, for instance, in Singaporean newspapers such as The Straits Times,^[6] and in television programmes and films. The term was used in the film I Not Stupid, in which when several employees in the marketing department of their company resented a particular Caucasian individual because they perceived that preference had been shown to him because of his race.

Ang Mo Sai[link]

In Singapore and Malaysia, the term "Ang Mo Sai 紅毛屎" (red-haired shit) is a derogatory term used within the Chinese community for mocking other Chinese who are not able to read Chinese.^[7] It literally means "the shit of white people" and is used in a similar way to the derogatory term "banana" (yellow on the outside, white on the inside) or "chiak kantang" (growing up eating western potatoes).

Notes[link]

See also[link]

• Gweilo

External links[link]

• Definition from the Coxford Singlish Dictionary
• Definition from the Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English

Look up ang in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

ANG may refer to:

• Air National Guard, part of the United States National Guard
• Angiogenin, a protein encoded by the ANG gene
• Angola's IOC and licence plate country codes
• Angmering railway station, National Rail code for a station in the United Kingdom
• ANG Newspapers, a newspaper publisher
• Australian National Gallery, now the National Gallery of Australia
• Animated Network Graphics, properly APNG, a variant of PNG
• Absorbed Natural Gas, a methane storage technique used in motor vehicles as an alternative to Compressed Natural Gas
• Netherlands Antillean guilder, ISO 4217 currency code

Ang may refer to:

• Ang (surname), a common Hokkien and Teochew surname
• Ang, the ISO 639 language code for Old English
• Mr. Ang, the protagonist of The Alien
• Anga, Ang Desh or Ang Mahajanapada, one of the 16 Mahajanapada of Ancient India
• Angiopoietin, in biochemistry
• Ang 5.0, Angela Chang's fifth Chinese album
• Ang, the abbreviation for the orchid genus Anguloa

See also[link]

• Aang, main character of Avatar: The Last Airbender, an animated television series on Nickelodeon
• Anger, an emotion

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Kenneth Jeyaretnam
At a Reform Party rally at Speakers' Corner on 15 January 2011
Born	1959  Singapore
Nationality	Singapore
Education	Queens' College, Cambridge; Amsterdam Institute of Finance; Charterhouse School; United World College of South East Asia; St Andrew's School
Occupation	Politician
Religion	Anglican
Children	Jared Jeyaretnam[1]
Parents	Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam (deceased); Margaret Cynthia Walker (deceased)
Relatives	Philip Jeyaretnam

Kenneth Andrew Jeyaretnam (born 1959) is the current Secretary-General (leader) of the Reform Party in Singapore. He is the eldest son of the late opposition politician J.B. Jeyaretnam.^[2]

Family[link]

Jeyaretnam was born in 1959 in Singapore. He is the eldest child of the late Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam (sometimes known as "JBJ") and Margaret Cynthia Walker. His parents met in the United Kingdom in 1950 while studying law at University College London. JBJ, a barrister, became one of Singapore's most well-known opposition politicians and democracy advocates and was the first opposition member ever to be elected to Singapore's Parliament in 1981. Margaret Walker was a lawyer originally from England was later one of the first women lawyers in Singapore and Registrar of the Diocese of Singapore and Malaysia. Jeyaretnam was followed by a brother who died at birth, and then by Philip Jeyaretnam who was born in 1964. Jeyaretnam is now married to Amanda Jeyaretnam, with a 15 year-old son, Jared.

Education[link]

In Singapore, Jeyaretnam attended St Andrew's School, followed by the United World College of South East Asia. He attended Charterhouse School in England from 1975-77. From 1978-80 he returned to Singapore for National Service. From 1980-83, he attended Queens' College, Cambridge University, where he read economics and graduated with Double First Class Honours. Jeyaretnam is also an alumnus of the Amsterdam Institute of Finance.

Early career[link]

Upon graduation, Jeyaretnam returned to Singapore where he took up his first employment with Wardley (the merchant banking arm of HSBC in the 1980s), working as an Assistant Manager in the Lending Department. In 1984 Wardley decided to transfer Khim overseas and he was sent to work in their Hong Kong branch. This move by his employer coincided with the time of his father's second election victory in 1984. Whilst declining to join his father's Workers' Party, he contributed by writing sections of the party's manifesto dealing with economic policy and articles for the party newsletter The Hammer.

From 1987 to the early-1990s, Jeyaretnam worked in London and Tokyo for Continental Bank, Banque Indosuez and Lehman Brothers. He then moved to Nomura International in London as head of Japanese Warrants and later as Proprietary Trader. He met his wife-to-be Amanda while working there. They married in 1995 and had a son in 1997.

From 1998, Jeyaretnam moved on from the Asian derivatives markets to become a hedge fund manager specialising in event–driven investing. He set up and managed his own Funds from 2004-08. During this time in London, he was an enthusiastic member of the Singapore UK Association (SUKA) and later served on the association's committee working with fellow expat Singaporeans.

Prominence following J.B. Jeyaretnam's death[link]

Jeyaretnam lacked prominence in Singapore until the media attention after his father's death. Jeyaretnam's eulogy at his father's funeral was broadcast over YouTube and other new media sites. Subsequently, he arranged a memorial event and exhibition, working closely on the project with his father's supporters and civil rights groups.

Jeyaretnam's media prominence from this time also came about as a result of "The Letter of Condolence" which was sent from the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to both Kenneth and his brother, Philip and printed in full in The Straits Times on 30 September 2009.^[3] This letter, together with an unflattering obituary of his father written by the newspaper's Political Editor, Chua Lee Hoong, was widely denounced by the public. Likewise, opposition politicians stood in unity by echoing their disapproval and disparagement. This was seen by many to have rebounded on the ruling People's Action Party, and in the media at that time as there were many messages of support for Jeyaretnam and calls on him to take up the mantle of his father.^{[citation needed]}

Joining and leading the Reform Party[link]

In 2007, opposition politician Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam formed the Reform Party (Singapore). The survival of the new opposition party seemed to have been in question when he suffered a heart attack and died on 30 September 2008.^[4] With the demise of his father, Jeyaretnam began an active role in Singapore politics. He started contributing articles on economic themes to the Singaporean online blog, The Online Citizen. He gave his first public "political" speech alongside other prominent opposition politicians at a memorial event held in memory of his father in Hong Lim Park on New Year's Eve 2008. It was here that Jeyaretnam spoke of his belief that it was possible for Singapore to have both prosperity and liberty. During this period he also started working with prominent non-partisan groups in their campaign to have a chair elected in his father's name and in establishing a foundation for study which will sponsor Singaporean students in Human Rights Law and Politics.

On 10 April 2009 it was announced in The Straits Times and other sources that Kenneth Jeyaretnam had joined the Reform Party (Singapore). Assistant Professor Eugene Tan, a law lecturer at Singapore Management University, was quoted as saying: "Mr Jeyaretnam has given the Reform Party a tremendous boost given his academic achievements, professional background and political pedigree". Before long, Jeyaretnam was co-opted into the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC) and voted into the vacant position of Secretary-General.^[5]

Privatization policies[link]

Kenneth Jeyaretnam in a February 2010 statement available on the Reform Party (Singapore)'s website indicated that "The Reform Party would go much further though in dismantling or privatizing the whole GLC (Government-linked companies) structure starting with the privatization of GIC (Government of Singapore Investment Corporation) and Temasek (Temasek Holdings) and giving Singaporean citizens a direct stake, whether through shares, deferred shares or quasi-equity, in their assets. We would seek to sell off or break-up most of the GLCs which control such a substantial portion of economic activity (up to 60% according to some estimates) which has in our view a detrimental effect on the growth of a vibrant private sector in Singapore."

Election rally speeches[link]

Jeyaretnam speaking in the rain at a Reform Party rally at Speakers' Corner on 15 January 2011

In his maiden election speech in late April 2011, Kenneth Jeyaretnam said the objective of the Reform Party (Singapore) is to win a few seats in the coming May 2011 general election, adding that competition in politics will lead to better and more intelligent policies. He also sounded a warning that the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) will likely open the floodgates to more foreigners to enter Singapore again once they form the government. "Already you can see that. The Reform Party (Singapore) was the first to talk about how the government's track record was hollow. They always talk about the high rate of economic growth, but the economic growth is created just by bringing in cheap foreign labour. It is not created by raising the incomes of Singaporeans," he said to loud applause from the audience. Jeyaretnam criticized the ruling PAP for failing to improve the lives of ordinary Singaporeans as their median incomes have remained stagnant over the last few years, attributing this to the PAP's open-door policies to immigrants. "If at this election you don't take action now, you will expect the floodgates to open again," he warned. Due to the PAP's liberal and pro-immigrant policies, foreigners now make up 40 percent of Singapore's population, up from 14 percent in 1990. Of the remaining 60 percent who are citizens, an increasing number are born overseas. Jeyaretnam is taking the stance that the next election may be the last window of opportunity for native Singaporeans to reclaim ownership of their country after which they may be relegated to being a minority.

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Reform Party website