"Speak in full sentences, with proper sentences and cutting out all the 'lars' and lors' at the end of each sentence," Lee said at the launch of the city-state's fifth annual "Speak Good English" campaign.

The Cambridge-educated Lee said that, with three-quarters of Singapore's population English literate, the republic has significant competitive advantages over other Asian nations.

"It is important for all of us to speak good English, because English has become the lingua franca of international commerce," he said. "English is our bridge to the world and helps Singapore to maximise our opportunities."

Singaporeans speaking colloquial English will often end sentences with 'lah', 'lor' or 'mah' -- suffixes derived from local Chinese dialects.

They may also literally translate sentences from Mandarin to English, resulting in odd and grammatically incorrect phrases such as 'I go toilet' and 'You go where, ah?' -- when they actually mean 'Where are you going?'

'Talk cock, sing song, play mahjong,' means idle talk.

Children who quarrel are often heard to threaten each other with the words 'I don't friend you!', meaning 'You're not my friend anymore!'

Singlish (Singapore English) also features terms like "kiasu" (being afraid to lose) and "wowo king" (someone who cannot fire a rifle straight).

Lee also made special mention of text-messaging English, which is used by many of the city-state's handphone-crazy youngsters, saying it may affect the way they learn how to spell.

In text-message lingo, 'that' is spelled 'dat', 'i see' becomes 'ic' and 'ttyl' means 'talk to you later'.

"When our English becomes too mutated, we become unintelligible to others," Lee said. "We then have a big problem."

Lee suggested establishing proper English as a service standard at the workplace and urged all teachers and parents to be ambassadors of good spoken English.

Singapore, a former British colony, is host to thousands of multinational corporations and implements an annual campaign for citizens to speak proper English to keep its competitive edge.

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