"Because I Sound Like Bangang"

I swear the above phrase is gonna be in the next edition of "1001 Phrases of 2006". But yeah, why do we use English as a tool to impress? Kalau cakap Tamil tak glamour ke? Cina ke? Melayu ke?

Oh, ke sebab "we sound like bangang" kalau tutur bahasa sendiri?

What the celebrity said about the whole "sound like bangang" is downright appalling. Nak cakap muka dia macam mat salleh, rambut blonde keras bak berus jamban tak juga...hitam je, lembut lagi - rambut Asia pendek kata. Nak cakap tuturan Bahasa Inggeris dia hebat gila pun tak juga...rojak juga susunan ayat.

Our tradition is draining down the loo. Doesn't take a genius with Superman vision to notice that. Baju kurungs are considered passe and out of fashion...when you meet a friend donning one, you go, "wah, perempuan melayu terakhir!". Why "terakhir"? Where are the other Malay girls? What, have they have gone extinct? Formed fossils? Passed away with some disease?

I'll tell you what the disease is. It's us.

Let's start with what got me thinking of this whole tradition-down-the-drain thing. I was at the kitchen after one fine ass-inflating break fast (buka puasa) and was ranting about how disorganized Petronas Victoria is at informing students about the upcoming annual dinner. Ok, imagine me washing dishes...

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Nada: <tengah gosok pinggan> Mentang-mentang la kita ni dok kampung (Clayton), tamau bagi tau. Bila kitorang tak tau pasal dinner ni, mula lah cakap kitorang ni kampung la, tu la, ni la. <Buat muka bengang> Kita tengok la nanti kat Malaysia siapa kampung siapa tak!

Izyan: <Tengah hisap botol susu...eh tak, tengah minum air dalam cawan> *Giggles* Tau la ko tu dok bandar...

                            *

That moment, I felt the urge to retaliate, felt like telling Izyan about how great the Sunway campus is gonna be compared to Melbourne - gonna be sticking my already proud nose up at the losers in Melbourne next year (siap plan nak call Yana & Izyan a.k.a. the Pink Squad tiap kali makan mamak lagi ok?) until I realized there was nothing to be proud of if I'm in Sunway or any other city in Malaysia, for that matter.

Think about it. What is so different about Malaysian cities compared to other cities in this globally-warmed world? We don't have much identity left -  not anymore at least. Minimal culture. Minimal traditions. Nothing to distinct ourselves from the rest of the world. We have skyscrapers, congested traffics, English-speaking communitites, Prada-wearing mak datins [model courtesy of Izyan], people who skip their prayers, skimpy girls who look they've ran out of fabric, alcoholics etc i.e. things every other metropolitan has too. So tell me, what extra qualities does KL have to offer? What else does our "multi-racial" city have to offer? Us multiple races don't even heed our traditions anymore.

Whatever happened to the girls who covered themselves modestly? The families who practiced their traditions so religiously? The young men who had so much respect for the girls, they wouldn't even lay eyes, let alone touch them?

Hampeh taik kucing!

That's what my late grandparents would say if they have to witness this ugly world today.

Maksiat merata. Depa tak takut Tuhan ka?

Memang diorang tak takut, Mak Tok, Pak Tok. Sampai kiamat pun diorang tak sedar kot.

Let's not get into religion - that's a whole other story. Now we're talking tradition. Culture. The very assets our ancestors cultivated, preserved and cherished long before we screwed it up. You think all those wars our ancestors went through against the Portugese, British and Japanese were for nothing? Well. I guess they DID do it for nothing. Cuz here we are practicing the very culture they shed blood against.

Biarlah orang nak kata kita kampung, kuno, zaman Tok Kadok. Dah ini identiti kita. Yang dia nak jaga tepi kain orang tu kenapa? Oh lupa. Baju dia kan tak cukup kain. Kena tumpang kain orang. Kan? Macam tu kan?

Biarlah orang lupa daratan nak buat apa. Kita cuba genggam asas kita.

Diorang pakai baju pelacur, kita pakai baju kurung, sari, cheong sam kita.

Diorang cakap Bahasa Inggeris berhabuk, kita cakap Bahasa Melayu, Tamil & Cina kita - biar "sound like bangang" pon lantak diorang lah.

Diorang sambut Merdeka dengan mabuk dan clubbing dia, kita doakan kesejahteraan nenek moyang dan pemimpin kita yang berlawan untuk kemerdekaan kita.

Diorang menari pole dance, kita buat joget kita.

Diorang minum beer, kita minum todi. Muahaha. Tak ah. Kita minum sirap, teh tarik dan teh bunga kita.

The next Malaysian I see who carries the wrong interpretation of what our country is meant to illustrate will get a look of disgust from me.

Jangan perasan mat salleh. We're not that genetically heinous to be one.

Wake up and bring our values back before they die for good.

...

Ha. Apa lagi? Undilah aku Perdana Menteri! Korang ni pon. Penat aku buat blog politik.

PS: Sorry for the mix-up of languages. Some things you just can't express in English. Harap orang tak paham BM buat-buat paham. I mean, I hope non-Malay speaking friends of mine understand.

PPS: Terima kasih la banyak-banyak kat Izyan...hang la bagi inspirasi kat cek buat blog ni. So apa-apa hal mahkamah, dakwa minah gedik ni. Muahaha. Cek pon harap la banyak-banyak hang sukaaaaa nama hang cek letak warna merah jambu naa. Hang manis la dondon merah jambu. Macam gajus.

Comments

[izyan]

I totally second u man![not the pink n gajus part of course] bravo nandos!

punbagaimanawalau [ni cara cikgu bm darjah6 aku sebut walau bagaimanapun], ko mmg pakar cibun tahap dewa la makcik! "aku nak mintak permission gune gamba ko utk blog aku".. gamba paling 'hot' tu yg ko ambik.. ceit! apakah?! tapi still tak blh lawan gamba '70s' ko tu la!;p ngahaha..
tapi takpe, demi "majulah Bahasa Melayu demi negara" [motto terbaru kami], aku sanggup!ngahaks.

seriously la, baju kurung is no kampung ok! even ppl here know how to appreciate it.

[meorALIF]

hahah!

[' Amir Muhsin ']

Marilah menghidupkan semula bahasa melayu!... ( ke bahasa malaysia? )
(((( AKU BENCI BAHASA INGGERIS!!! ))))

[SyiKinMaLakiAn]

dan kepada sesetengah orang yang dok oversea tak sampai setahun pastu mengada2 nak cakap melayu slang mat salleh,silalah g terjun bangunan.
*believe me kat ottawa ni banyak sangat dah melayu tak sedar diri.esp yg kawin dgn mat2 saleh.it pisses me off to no end*

[Nada]

Guys, I'm touched! Ada juga anak bangsa negara yg masih ingat akan budaya mereka. Che che.

Izyan - siapa boleh lawan gamba aku? Du'uh! <--Qalqalah nye jgn lupa

Amir - Bahasa Malaysia = Bahasa Melayu = bahasa kebangsaan :)

Syikin - baling je selipar jamban kat mat salleh wannabes tu. We do it mamak style! Baling selipar! Yeehaw!

[Wong Zhao Wen]

When I read it, i tot, 'Woah minah ni nak jadik PM ka? Lawan Amalina?', tgk2 kat bawah ko pun sekapla gak ngn aku. Hahaha. Nada for pres? Wow. How interesting our future will be...

Personally tho, I'd rather give up any distinction between culture or race, as long as society holds the true values of religion close to their hearts. Tapi tak salah pun kalau kita carry on with tradition. It's just my personal opinion, i hope it doesn't make me an antagonist here.

Tapi mmg I have to agree. I can't accept people yang malu nak ngaku who they are and their history. Ada some people malu nak ngaku jawa? Wtf? They should realise that educated people won't think of them any less if they're jawa ke, tamil ke, tibet ke. And those yg nak slang 'lembu melintas jalan', cmon. Don't fake it. It's just pathetic. Unless it's meant to be a joke or you just came back from the west after living abroad since u were a kid. There. Phew.

PS: jangan percaya fitnah 'Pink Squad'. TIPU BELAKA!

[MazEhezwaniAzwA]

bravo nada, BRAVO!!

[BadRina]

Nandhayo!!!~ (Jepun style of OMG!)

Nada....u rawk..!

[wAFi]

dasyat r ko nada..tapik spring seket...terkejut aku bacer..

[Nada]

I agree there is a difference with culture & religion. In most circumstances, they don't mix. However, culture is still an identity a race holds. Just don't adopt ones that contradict with our religion.

[aimran]

i love the pink squad!

[Nada]

Aim miang.