'What's "Happy Happy" on the MRT?': MRT announcement puzzles commuter
Netizens helpfully solved the mystery for her.
A TikTok video by a French woman asking Singaporeans to explain what "Happy Happy" in an MRT public service announcement meant has gone viral.
"I'm in the MRT in Singapore, and every time I am on the Blue Line, the MRT lady keeps saying, "Happy, happy." Please, people from Singapore, tell me what "Happy Happy" means," says Audrey Thiloy, who lives in Singapore, in a video she posted on Thursday.
"I have it in my head - like it's stuck in my head and I don't know what it means, the Happy Happy."
The clip has been viewed 434,300 times, received 12,200 reactions and drawn close to 2,000 comments at press time.
It turns out "Happy Happy" is actually part of the Malay phrase "Berhati-hati di ruang platform", which means "Mind the platform gap". The announcement is made in Singapore's four official languages - English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil.
About 1,000 of the comments explained the meaning of the announcement or broke down "berhati-hati", which means "be careful".
Many netizens were amused, with some admitting they too once thought it sounded like "Happy Happy".
"Hati-hati means be careful. Is okay you're not the only one, I also thought it was happy-happy," said Whatuser172.
"Now each time I hear it I will think of your "happy happy"," joked stapleskeri.
Some took a more light-hearted approach. "It's a daily reminder for Singaporeans to be happy. Singaporeans are so stressed nowadays, be happy, happy, ok," quipped Fauzzz.
One comment, however, sparked a small debate. Anita Mega wrote: "Berhati hati means (be careful) in the Indonesia language."
Netizens were quick to point out that in Singapore, the language is Malay, even if the words mean the same in Indonesian.
"Melayu," corrected El. "But I guess the Malays and Indonesians have around the same language."
Others joked about similar "misheard" announcements. "Wait till you notice the wombedeh wombedeh wombedeh," wrote Initial J.
Lechemanam Velaiya helpfully explained: "It's in Tamil language they are saying 999, which is the emergency police number."
Another user JIRA clarified: "It's onbadhu, means 9. They say it three times, telling us to call 999 if you see anything suspicious."