Ang Mo

"Ang Mo" (zh-sp|s=红毛|p=hóng máo; POJ: âng-mo͘) or sometimes Ang mo kow (red-haired monkeys), also spelled "ang moh", is a racial epithet that originates from Hokkien (Min Nan) that is used to refer to white people in Malaysia and Singapore. Literally meaning 'red-haired', the term carries a strong stigma at present amongst a large proportion of the Caucasian minority. The term implies that the person referred to is a devil, a concept explicitly used in the Cantonese term "gweilo" ('foreign devil').

The term is widely regarded as a racist and derogatory Fact|date=January 2008 by many Caucasians living in Singapore, but is widely used. It appears, for instance, in various Singaporean 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" is believed to be the term originally used in the Singapore place-name Ang Mo Kio (now usually rendered thus: zh-sp|s=宏茂桥|p=hóng mào qiáo). The term may either refer to the rambutan, a fruit with a red skin covered with hairs; or to a bridge built by the British after which the nearby town was named.

Fort Santo Domingo in Tamshuei, Taiwan is known as the 'City of the Red-Haired' (Chinese-inline|t=紅毛城|p=hóng máo chéng|poj=Âng-mn̂g-siâⁿ) in Chinese. It was built by the Spanish in the 17th century.

References

Definitions of "ang mo":
* [http://www.talkingcock.com/html/lexec.php?op=LexView&lexicon=lexicon&alpha=A&page=1 from the "Coxford Singlish Dictionary"]
* [http://www.singlishdictionary.com from "A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English"]
* [http://home.pacific.net.sg/~willows5/singlish_A.htm "from Hokkien and Singlish Dictionary"]

ee also

*Gaikokujin
*Laowai