Matsalleh oh matsalleh..

I had low self-esteem and was very shy as a kid. I usually just tagged along my siblings but would hide behind them when playing with the neighbourhood kids. We also had a Matsalleh neighbour then, Andre and Michelle, a young couple of about 28. My sister had no problems playing around their house and had no problems speaking london (read:speak english) with them. I was more afraid that they were White than they were older. I was about 5.

My mom said that now I am living abroad, I should have no problems speaking to Matsallehs and if I work in KL, I should be the first to volunteer to speak to Robert. Robert is my future foreign colleague that my Mum made up a few months ago, so to speak. Anyway, my parents told me how when they were still working, when there is a Matsalleh in their meeting or dinner, they would try to avoid because it is a bit mah fan as Matsallehs would prefer to go drinking and they would prefer if their non-Muslim friends went instead. I would totally understand that.

One thing I hate is how we Asians are usually "afraid" of Matsallehs. I don't know why. Really, as I used to be kind of afraid of these guys. But in actual fact they are just humans just like us. I used to think that because they could speak English (Duh, it is their language after all!) really fast and well, I would sound like an idiot. The truth is, they can speak, yes. but can they spell? Heck, even their grammar needs brushing! I used to think that the Matsallehs are smart, again maybe it was Hollywood and I'm not saying they are not,some of them really are, but you will be surprised to learn some of them can't even spell for peanuts.

A colleague once said to me, "No mimi, you cannot use reason being, because reason is not a human being. It has no form, so it is not a being. it should be the reason been, but pronunced as reason be'en (being). Siap ada Kolkolah subra pulak ok Matsalleh ni. I was pretty sure my spelling of being is correct, the last time I checked.

The other thing is, most of them do not know much about the world outside their country or outside their profession.(not to say that I am Miss Know It All!), but, Take this for an example. My qualified lecturer , after a minute or two thinking and staring at a Question paper he copied for us, sweared and muttered "Sorry guys, just ignore the RM on the paper, I accidentally printed off the Singaporean's version of the ACCA paper". If you know that Singapore uses Dollars, like how the Norweigan's uses Kronor , you wouldn't think RM would equal to Dollars, now would you? Kenapa semua orang kenal Singapore ni?!! tak aci kan!

And today while lecturing on Segmental Reporting, SSAP 25(bagus mimi, sambil blog sambil hafal standards!), we were to report our turnover Geographically . There were segregated into Europe, South East Asia and America . He was precising how if you had information on specific countries, you could just report in under their respective continents. He said, "So, what about Australia?? Wait, is Australia part of South East Asia??". The Matsalleh answered with a confident YES!. And he said it TWICE. Aku pun tak naklah beralah, cakap NO! NO!. Gilak kuasa kan! He was one of the few guys who had always been answering questions when the lecturer asked questions .

So you tell me? Should you now think you can start speaking to Matsalleh without worrying like I did as kid? Yes. Do you have to worry about your perfect English? No. But I still love my Matsalleh colleagues because they are full of compliments!

Ps-Cek belajar ngeja dengan buku Peter and Jane sampai dapat sticker.
PPS-Dolu-dolu orang kita selalu cite pasal Jane si matsalleh yang makan satay sedap, tapi dia tercekik tulang.