CBEO
Alec: What’s that Hokkien way of describing a business tycoon again? Tau huey? Tau kwa?
Me: Um, I think you mean “towkay”. The other things you’re mentioning are forms of beancurd.
Alec: Ah.
Me: Also, you should be aware that for some reason, if this big boss person is female, they might be called a “towkay neo”. But the term I hear used more these days is “ladyboss”.
Alec: That’s actually quite refined for a Singlish term.
Me: True. If it were left to someone like me I’d probably have come up with “cheebye-E-O”.
Alec: ……
Somehow my attempts to teach Alec Singlish always end up in the same place. I don’t think I’m a very good teacher.