Language problems for bananas and non-bananas
On the 3 rd day of Hari Raya, I found myself at Amir’s small open house in his Bayan Baru flat. I had earlier texted him a short festive greeting and he replied with an invitation to his home. I didn’t expect the invitation and thought it would be rude to decline. He knew well I was very free. I was the only Chinese there among his guests, who were mostly his close neighbors. I felt out of place and ashamed of my poor BM. I used to be fluent but I haven’t been speaking BM for over 20 years. I apologized to my host for my rusty BM, as I kept reverting to English. This started a long chat with Amir about language problems. As I struggled with BM words, Amir said his son struggled with English words. Their environment didn’t require them to use English. He also said he regretted not sending the boy to a Chinese primary school so he could learn Mandarin and improve his job prospects. At least, he would know Mandarin and BM well, instead of just BM, and have some non-Malay friends, he ...