jeez, what do they speak in Singapore?

Apparently, a whole mess of languages.

The national language of Singapore is Malay, while English is the language of administration and commerce. Tamil and Chinese are also official languages. Mandarin is increasingly encouraged as the lingua franca for the Chinese in place of dialects like Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka, Hainanese and Foochow. Among the Indian community, apart from Tamil, other languages spoken are Malayalam, Punjabi, Telegu, Hindi and Bengali. Most of the literate population is bi-lingual, and domestically English and Mandarin are the most commonly used languages. In parliamentary debates, members may speak Malay, Mandarin, Tamil or English and simultaneous oral translations are provided.

Jin not speaking English on what appears to be his first trip to Sydney and LA to meet with other Koreans does not bother me at all.

DH pointed out that when Jin, all bloody and guilty, says "I did it for us" (or I do it for us, I forget the exact wording), that would make a certain type of person hate herself, rather than Jin or Daddy. I don't jbnow if Sun is that sort of perso or not.

jeez, what do they speak in Singapore?

Malay and more.

eta: Groovy x-post

likely bi-lingual, customs agents.

Heh. Not in my experience. They could probably find a Korean-speaking agent for him, but the chances of the one at the booth speaking anything but English are pretty slim.

My brother goes to Singapore on business all the time, and doesn't speak...jeez, what do they speak in Singapore?

Because English is the default language of the international business community. However unfair to the rest of the world that is, I just don't buy Jin (who was both very committed to doing his job well, and planning to permanently escape to the US) not at least bothering to learn a few basic phrases like "Hello," "Thank you," "How do I get to ____?" and "Sorry, I don't speak English."

I just don't buy Jin (who was both very committed to doing his job well, and planning to permanently escape to the US) not at least bothering to learn a few basic phrases like "Hello," "Thank you," "How do I get to ____?" and "Sorry, I don't speak English."

I'm pretty comfortable with the idea that he was planning to fake it with a guidebook and get his stuff done, but ... how do we know he doesn't know those basic phrases?

I just don't buy Jin (who was both very committed to doing his job well, and planning to permanently escape to the US)

It didn't sound, to me, like this was some long-planned venture - Daddy says drop some shit off or pick some shit up in Sydney and LA and Jin goes - not a lot of time, necessarily, for Berlitz. And the escape, if it was ever really going to happen, was likewise just an opportunity to grab, not a long-term plan.

Did anyone get a better sense than I did of the timeframes between flashbacks than I did, though? Was this all happening as fast as it seemed or were we just seeing the various turning points? I suspect the former, though I'd've been more satisfied with the latter.

I was not very impressed with Sayid's "your recently estranged brother said not to go out with you so we're done" response to his conversation with Boone.

Loving Locke more, intrigued by Walt, my love for Michael is definitely fading, and Jack has completely fallen off my interest radar.

I was under the impression that Jin's decision was very sudden and close to the time of the trip. It was easier for Sun to get English lessons, she could easily pass it off as something else and she had the time. BossDaddy kept Jin on a tight leash and it looked like there was barely time to spend with Sun much less sneak off for lessons.

but ... how do we know he doesn't know those basic phrases?

Fair point. Still doesn't gel for me.

Ooh - something that I was thinking about while Michael went after Jin on the beach.

I wonder if part of Jin's motivation during that scene wasn't to provoke some of what happened to him? He saw how Sun reacted to him coming home covered in blood. And he clearly has a hate-on for the violence he's done himself. So if nothing else, Michael's actions here had to put the kibosh on any warm fuzzies Sun was feeling towards him, regardless of what happened between Sun and Jin.

DDK rocked the house on this one. That whole scene - from translations (thanks Vonnie) he was clearly trying to explain himself. But the way he kept getting back up after each hit, the combination of pride, defiance, and the whirlwind of emotions flying between himself and Sun - amazing.

When Sun was flashing back, it seemed like years passed between the wedding and Flight 815, but this time it seemed more like months.

how do we know he doesn't know those basic phrases?

Well, the joke is, even if he didn't before he got on the plane, he's spent 4 weeks on an island where English is the default and pretty damned necessary for survival. Of course he's learned some English, as anyone would, hearing nothing but all day long and needing to know what it means.

I mean, he might have learned only "cave" and "doctor" and "asshole", but those are three very useful words!