I recently read a “translated” version of the Bible verse, Psalm 23. Not in Mandarin, not the Revised Standard Version, but the Singlish version! Had such a good laugh over it! I tried reading the Singlish version to my mom but she refused to listen because she thought it was blasphemous to translate the Bible in such an irreverent way.
I doubt the Singlish version was done to make fun of God’s name. However, just in case, I went to read Matthew 26, both the Singlish and the New King James Version (NKJV) in parallel to ensure that there were no misleading translations or areas that misrepresented God. The translated Matthew 26 was hilarious (e.g. “elders of the church” = “lau uncle”, Judas “the betrayer” = “the sabo king”)… But I did not find any additional verses nor any mistranslated verses in the Singlish version of Matthew 26 when comparing it to the NKJV. I can’t say for other verses in the Singlish version, but Matthew 26 and Psalms 23 stayed close to the original meaning. In fact, the Singlish version reminded me of The Message version which translated the Bible in an easy-to-understand, modern-speak English, making some verses more animated and somewhat informal.
Having said that, I don’t see the Singlish version being the authority in God’s word. It definitely is not a substitute for versions such as NKJV, NIV or NRSV which have been thoroughly researched on and nuanced based on the original language (e.g. Greek, Hebrew). I also noticed that the Singlish version tends to simplify certain emotions described in the common versions like NIV, probably because of the lack of vocabulary in Singlish. Thus, the full impact of what the Bible is trying to bring out may not be accurately captured.
In sum, I think there is no harm for Christians to read the Singlish Bible, provided that it is not treated as your bible study material or the authority. Just read it for laughs… One good thing that came out of reading the Singlish version? My curiosity was piqued to also know what was actually said in the original version cos there was this Singlish verse where Peter (Jesus’ disciple) spouted expletives! I thought it was mistranslated… but turned out that it was recorded in the NKJV that Peter indeed cursed and swore 😛 hahaha….