Cutting across the cultural-linguistic divide

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.