A netizen shared how he came back to Singapore after more than 10 years abroad.
Hw was meeting some old friends from his primary school to catch up, and they taught him a new word: “Pundei”.
They told him that it meant “Good evening, good afternoon, good morning”.
He then went to his girlfriend’s house and greeted her mother with “Pundei”.
Here is the story:
“After PSLE, my parents sent me overseas to study in Australia.
By the time I returned to Singapore, 10 years had passed, I graduated and worked there for a while before coming back.
I met my Singaporean girlfriend while studying and when I returned to Singapore, she asked me to visit her mother with her whom she has not seen in a long time.
I agreed, but I asked her to meet some of my friends first because I wanted to introduce her to them.
We met for dinner and had a really good time getting to know each other, and one of them told me to say “pundei” to her mother when I see her.
I asked what does it mean, and they told me it was a greeting used to address elders respectfully.
So when I met my gf’s mother at her house for dinner, I shook her hand and said:
“Hello auntie, pundei!”
She appeared horrified and my girlfriend hurriedly chimed in and explained that I was still learning the local lingo to her mother.
After the visit, she told me that Pundei was a vulgarity and my friends had a good laugh at me.
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