Lifestyle

6 Objects You Can Identify With If You Were An Ah Beng Or Ah Lian In School

2016-08-19 , 10:01 pm

Last Updated on 2022-07-01 , 4:34 pm

Admit it, most of us have gone through this phase: There was a time in each of our lives when we desperately wanted to be part of that Ah Beng or Ah Lian group so that we could walk around in a swagger and be cool.

If you’ve confused on how an Ah Beng used to look like, watch this video and you’d understand:

Of course, now we look back at those times and laugh, but do you remember how awesome it felt to be accepted as one of them back then without resorting to TikTok?

The best part was, besides the swagger and loud talking, there was also the items we had to carry around to identify us as one of them, Do you still remember what they are?

1.The sharp comb

Some say the sharp tip deters their enemies while others say it’s used to do their centre parting so that they’d look like Aaron Kwok or Andy Lau. Whatever the reason may be, carrying one of these in your back pocket was a symbol of being an Ah Beng and being cool.

The girls would usually put them in their bags and swipe them around for effect when they feel the need to show that they are also part of the clique.

2. The Jean Paul Gaultier (JPG) or Valentino Long Wallet

Before JPG was a format, it was a brand.

Back then, these brands were considered expensive by a student’s standards so to own one of these was a status symbol.

But it has to be either one of these brands though. Unless your parents were rich enough to buy you a Burberry or Louis Vuitton, you made did with these brands and stuck in your back pocket with half of it sticking out.

And no: retro Bengs didn’t carry fake stuff. Either they have the real ones or they don’t.

3.The Centre Parting

I’m talking about the hair.

Every Ah Beng and even some Ah Lians had to have the centre parting as it was the trend back then, made popular by Hong Kong celebrities like Aaron Kwok and Andy Lau. It was even better if it came with blonde streaks throughout.

It was even better if it came with blonde streaks throughout.

4. The Sonia Rykiel or Chantal Thomass bag

This was for the Ah Lians. If you owned any one of these bags, you were probably one of them. It was a trend to carry the red Sonia Rykiel haversacks high up on their backs with as little books inside them as possible.

If your bag was sagging from the weight of your textbooks, you were deemed a bookworm and not ‘cool enough’. For Chantal Thomass, it was usually a shoulder bag that was either red or white.

5. The High Socks

Some may argue this as there was a period of time where the Ah Bengs and Ah Lians wore ankle socks instead. During my time though, they wore high socks, much like the ones golfers or soccer players wear.

I still do not know the reason for this until now but looking back, it was probably one of the funniest fashion faux pas ever.

But wait, did this trend just came back in recent years?

6. The Black or Red bra

This was especially popular with Ah Lians from schools that had white uniforms. Wearing an outstanding coloured bra that would be obvious through the thin uniform fabric was considered an act of rebellion and if you didn’t get caught by the discipline master or mistress, you were invincible.

I always thought this was more of a way to attract the guys’ attention though because honestly, wearing a coloured bra to be seen by the rest of the world doesn’t come across as very God-like to me.

This post was first published on Goodyfeed.com