I have been dating my bf for a while but there are some points that I just cannot shrug off.

The expectation is that a guy should be at least a head taller than his girlfriend, but this is something that can only happen in my dream. The reason is he is only 2cm taller and not even 175cm, meaning that it feels like he is a sister/pal to me rather than an oppa. He is way too short for a guy and it doesnt give me a strong sense of security. I estimate he is in the lower tier of height range perhaps somewhere between 1.70-1.73m.

In fact, I would like to ask my fella ladies out there who are willing to date shorter guys or even marry them. What do you see in them? Dont you regret it after a while or will make this an issue whenever you start quarreling? There are plenty of bigger fishes out there and I am now starting to regret it.

Before you commentors start bashing me, I will be fair and point out some of his merits along with my concerns.

1. Yes, he is pretty good looking and has a nice heart. He often shows care for cats/dogs and feed them but I find this trait less manly and somewhat gross. A real man should be more aggressive, not like a beta sissy that plays with small animals.

2. He often buys lunch for me and brings it to the secondary school where I am teaching. However, sometimes kaypoh students will come to me and ask “Cher, your boyfriend ah? Legit? Why so short one?”- Not surprising since even my female students are taller than him. This is ridiculously embarassing. I even told my bf not to bring lunch to me but he doesnt get my point… He will just say ” If we are truly in love, we shouldnt care what others say”….. Yeah right you are not the teacher…

3. He will offer to carry the plastic bags whenever we go shopping. The problem is his legs are short so his hands are like in close proximity to the ground, resulting in some long plastic bags being dragged, even though I understand he doesnt mean it. This is pretty unsightly.

4. He is a mathematician and I remembered once he drew me a heart using math equations. This seems romantic to others but lame in my eyes. If he is sincere, he would have drawn the heart by hand, not indulge in these kinds of boring stuff. After all, how can all these math help him in his future prospect? I knew of a few friends already earning big bucks without knowledge of maths.

I do not not wish to elaborate any further because for every merit that I can think of, it is diluted by the negative aspects. They cant even offset his midget stature.

Unfortunately, all the good quality tall guys are already taken by the short girls, otherwise I would have ended this relationship earlier. I do not want my female besties to find out that I broke up, so I will just bear with it for a while.

My message to my fella sisters out there who are currently attached to the shorter guys. It is never too late to back out! Think of your future!

Haiz I’m not even that old (early 20s) and yet I’m having difficulties with the use of too many short forms online and in messaging.

I have to search, then I understood short forms like istg, iykwim, aitah… Then tdy saw something like SOL, idp which I googled but idk wht it means…

Seems like every phrase nowadays, also have short form. Maybe one day the whole sentence will be short form (modtwswbsf)??

I think I will really give up and scold the person if asking me a qn but most in short forms. The phrases are not even very long, and it is not common like idk/idc etc, can’t people type it out instead of letting people ask ‘what does this mean?’

Well, since they like it, I’ll just type my response in acronyms as well. (W, stli, Ijtmriaaw)

Netizens’ comments

• Hahaha thanks for assuring me I’m not alone. The other day I thought iykyk sounds like someone choking on water gonna die alr. Ngl sounds like the sound you make when you’re trying to poop hahahaah

• Hehe this one obviously never work for civil service before. If it doesn’t have an acronym, it’s likely not a Singaporean thing.

• All those English short forms I don’t really understand other than lol, btw, ttyl etc. So I have limitation to such vocab!But hokkien short forms I no limit. Wakaka

My fiancee thinks her parents are being unfairly treated as compared to mine.

I have moved in with my girlfriend for 2 years. We announced our engagement and let our parents know about our wedding plan recently. Both parents congratulated us and gave us their blessings. My parents then immediately wired me and her each 20k to support us for the wedding.

Now we are planning our next year budget. When it comes to the ang-bao, I proposed for this year only, we would give hers 200 each, while mine is 1000 each, as a way to repay their support. My fiancee was immediately triggered and went mad, thinking I was being unfair and did not respect her parents.

Was I actually unfair? If not how can I calm her down and bring her come to her sense?

Here are what netizens think:

• While your parents both gave u 20k, doesn’t mean that you need to give your parents more money because your parents may be rich to begin with so sending you 20k each is nothing to them?If you wanna give your parents $1000 each, why not you and your partner come up with $200 and you yourself top up the $800 difference?My parents in law gave me a huge angpao for wedding because they are well to do, but my mum gave me a huge angpao (not as huge) but it’s a lot based on the fact that she’s a retiree.We have always gave same rates to both our parents eh.

• Fairness and equality is not the same. In the sensitive case like this, both parents should get equal amounts. But it is fair to say that, you wanted to give your parents more because they gave you and your lady big wedding money. You want to return their favors. But now, both side parents become our parents. End.

• LoL….The difference between man and woman is that to man, repaying their parents for the sum they gave is a logical and filial thing to do. But to woman, not giving the same or more amount to her parents means the guy doesn’t take her seriously. You made things worse by being the one who suggested those amount….There is no right or wrong in this case. It’s just how each gender view things.So I suggest you should adjust the her parents angbao either make it equal or slightly more.If you want to be a filial son, you can top up with your own money

• raise it to her that your parents were being generous to give each of you 20k for your wedding and the angbao is like a kind ‘giving-back’ gesture. if she wants to give her parents more, she can folk out herself right?

I’m a 16 Y.O Singaporean (F) and I’m still attending secondary school and I have a criminal record

Context: Yesterday, my friend and I went to steal clothes at a mall and my friend was caught stealing. (I know it was stupid of us to steal. We learnt from our mistakes)

Of course, like what most managers would do is to call the security and the police. We were both detained and interrogated and we both explained that the reason why we stole. (It was because we couldn’t afford it and felt bad asking our parents for money as we are not born into a financially well family)

We fessed up that we have been doing this for awhile now and are guilty. They asked about our schools and our form teachers name and also told us to pack the things we stole before in a plastic bag and said that they would retrieve it. However they did not show up yesterday after we both went home.

The questions that I have right now is that

• Will this criminal record thing stay with us until we die? If no, how do I clear it and how long will it take?

• Can I still EAE into Polytechnic?

• If I want to work as a part timer, will the manager ask about it? (Correct me if I’m wrong but they would probably ask about it, right?)

• How will the school deal with this? Disciplinary case and stuff? Suspension?

Again, I know that it was foolish of us to commit such acts and we shouldn’t do such a stupid thing. Please don’t lecture us, we were already scolded by our parents (badly) Help us out.

Netizens’ comments

• Did the police bring you back to the police station and formally interrogated you?
  Basically what i am asking is – whether a statement was taken and you signed and acknowledged that you gave a statement.
  If they only contacted your school and parents, it is likely that they did not formally charge you.
  Take it as a lesson learnt and don’t steal again.
  Source: am lawyer but not yours so please do not regard this as legal advice just general observations

• Since u all minor won’t have criminal record. Usually they will let u go after warning. Pls don’t do stupid things like stealing.