Had
lunch at a Nyonya restaurant up in Cameron Highlands recently. A young
Malay girl takes our orders. She speaks to us in pure Malay. And then
she writes down our orders entirely in Chinese. Very nicely written
Chinese characters, mind you (yes, I was watching closely). She
doesn’t really have to do it, because the menu is entirely bi-lingual
in English and Chinese (actually, the English text dominates, and the
font is larger) to suit the tourists.
No, this is not a
startling revelation. We all know that many young Malaysians of
non-Chinese extraction today attend Chinese schools. So what is my
point, you ask?
1. Here is a Malay girl who has taken the
conscious decision to practise daily a foreign language that she has
learnt. That the cooks round the back probably only read Chinese is
besides the point. How many of us Malaysians of non-Malay extraction can
still string a proper sentence in Bahasa Malaysia, years after leaving
school (and they key word here is proper)?
2. How often do we see Chinese Malaysians yapping away in Chinese among
themselves, oblivious to the fact that they are in the company of
people who do not understand the Chinese language? If this young Malay
girl can adapt to her external environment by writing down orders in Chinese, why can't more
Chinese Malaysians in turn adapt to those around them by learning the art of linguistic
courtesy and speak a common language when in the presence of others who do not speak our lingo? We demand greater access to mother tongue education, yet our
lack of courtesy makes us our own worst enemy and does us no favours.
3. And
while all this is going on, the Malaysian government is stubbornly
refusing to formally recognise Chinese private secondary schools. Yet,
here is a Malay girl who has chosen to adapt to a Chinese-centric work
environment, by using daily what she has learnt from school.
My point? All of us Malaysians - from grass-roots
to government - have something to learn from this young Malay waitress from Cameron Highlands - who speaks her native Malay fluently, and writes Chinese characters
beautifully. She has cut right through cultural-linguistic lines. We all
ought to do the same.
