kiasu

comparative more kiasu · superlative most kiasu

1. SingaporecolloquialderogatorymildlyAfraid to lose out, particularly because one is overly competitive.

   No wonder the parents acted that way, she said. They were just being kia-su (afraid to lose out).

   1985 December 22, Irene Hoe, “A parent's helping hand or a nudge into the rat race?”, in The Straits Times, Singapore, page 20

   5 more examples

   The kia-si/kia-su ("afraid to die/afraid to lose") attitude of the Totalisator Boards in Malaysia and Singapore is deplorable.

   1988 December 11, "Pro Bono Puntero" [pseudonym], “That $5 win minimum [letter]”, in The Straits Times, page 35

   We often see a bus with commuters practically spilling out of the front door and crowding at the exit door. But beyond that, a vacuum prevails, says a reader. The kia-su attitude is the reason for this, says the reader, and most of the culprits are students from secondary schools and junior colleges.

   1989 April 26, “Crowding at bus doors”, in The Straits Times, page 2

   The story now going around is that the distributors of Suzuki cars will take over the failed distributorship of Korea's Kia cars. According to one wag, the new distributorship could call itself "Kia-Su Motors". For the uninitiated, kiasu means "afraid to lose" in the Hokkien dialect.

   1999 October 13, “Kiasu Motors”, in The Business Times, Singapore, page 2

   No lubang, so teruk. Kiasu cannot lose, / Kiasi cannot die; machiam machiam words / We also try. Proper English? So lecheh, / So correct, so actsy for what? […]

   2000, Leong Liew Geok, “Forever Singlish”, in Women without Men, Singapore: Times Books International, →ISBN, page 130

   Too often you hear about Singaporeans with the "K syndrome", meaning kiasu (afraid of losing out), kiasi (afraid of dying), kiabor (afraid of wife). […] So, Singaporeans, don't conform to what society labels you to be. Be kiasu in making a difference!

   2001 February 20, Carolyn Chew, “A different take on the Singaporean syndrome”, in Today, Singapore, page 6

plural kiasus

1. SingaporecolloquialderogatorymildlyA kiasu person.

   Apart from the kiasis and kiasus, there are also Singaporeans at the other end of the scale – the healthcare workers who put their lives at risk.

   2003 May 28, Frederick Lim, “Sars and the Singaporean: Crisis has brought out the best and the worst”, in Today, Singapore, page 22