Giving 1 Malaysia a try Part 1

 1 Malaysia, the slogan that's been heard and seen across the National radios and television is the brainchild of our Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for Malaysians to think of ourselves first as Malaysians then our race. The idea behind it is also to promote ethnic harmony and and unity amongst all the major races in Malaysia.

 I welcome the idea wholeheartedly but before we truly accept this concept, what I see most Malaysians fail to do, is understanding the cultures and religion that comes with the races. I'm being generic when I say this, but we Malays tend to get offended when other Non-Malays eat Pork in front of us, but do we stop and think about the Beef we are eating in front of a Hindu or a Buddhist follower whose religion does not permit them to consume Beef? Or even worse, eating any kind of meat in front of a vegetarian? No we don't.

 I'm saying this because I'm experiencing a whole lot of cultural difference at my office at the moment. At the moment my closest colleague is a Buddhist girl who doesn't eat Beef. I accidentally ordered a Beef sandwich once when we went out for lunch, I apologised and tried my best not to eat it , facing her. Likewise when we decided to pack our lunch from home , she had brought a dish with pork in it and warned me in advance. She would apologise first and although we would still be sitting at the same table, she does not feel comfortable sitting right in front of me.  Understanding each other's most basic "requirements" would call for racial unity.

 But my other colleagues don't get why although there are other Chinese and Malay girls, we don't just stick to our own "people". I'm comfortable with anyone of a different race and my dad could probably attest to that. I believe it is because of the many friends I had back in primary school . It is also the same case for her, because she was in the normal Government school, she's had her mix of friends from other races. She knows her Malay words well, well, not to the extent of Dalam Hati Ada Taman kind, but enough to be above than the average Joe. But because there are not many Malays who can speak English in a very Malaysian Chinese way, my Chinese colleagues thought I could actually understand Cantonese.

To be honest, that's how I've been mingling with them. To be part of a team, you have to be like them. Let them believe that I can understand Cantonese. But, what they don't know is that, I only understand basic Cantonese and the foul words. It's not my fault that that's what the kids in school taught me then! Before I give you and example of the words I know, let me go on about the Malaysian Chinese english that I talked about earlier.

• "I don't know how to do this leh"

• "You don't know how to do this meh?"

• "She dowan (don't want) maa"

• "I dunno (don't know) lar"

Many non Malays, I have heard, who tried to talk this way, always get these words used wrongly. I have been told by my Chinese friends that I seem to be able to use them at the correct places. My dad fails in trying to use these words correctly. He would say " I dowan meh", although I have taught him many times. To some, learning this art of speaking is a waste of time, but let me tell u this, it will help you a lot in your business in Malaysia.

Coming back to the Cantonese that some think I can speak. The trick is, I know some basic words, and so if they are talking about something and I manage to catch some of the words that I know, I can tell what they are talking about. I'm especially good in the bad words department. Anyway, here's an example of what they did/said in training class that I could join them all together in a laugh. When the trainer told all of us to create folders on the drive with our names, one of the boys renamed the files as such:

1-  Si Fat Jackson

2- Ah Kua Peter

3-Siew Jie Jessica

4- Leng Chai Lawrence

I had a good laugh together with them, but I did notice some of them looking at me, curious whether I truly understood what was on the screen. And yes I do.

to be continued.