Tuesday, March 3, 2009

.: Spiral of recollection :.


Scene 1.

OMG! What do I do? What do I say? Do you think she’ll understand us?

It sounds way hilarious in Malay, so here’s the version for the Malaysian readers.

Ei! Nak buat ape eh? Ape nak cakap? Agak-agak dia faham tak? Cam mane ni!

Occasionally when I’m dressed up like any other average kid on the block, I’ll get mistaken as a foreigner. It may have to do with me blabbing in English *I’ve been told I have the American accent, I do have an accent though it’s unlikely to be American*, taking shots like an eccentric Japanese tourist or that I take so much interest in the surroundings as if it’s a totally alien environment.

Because of that, I have encountered several side-splitting treatments, divided into several categories. These presumptions are based on the times I had with Malaysians that have difficulties in expressing in English.

  1. The helpful ones :- They’re willing to go all the way to help you by getting someone proficient in English, sign-language, win-lose-or-draw, charades etc. I’m dead serious on this.
  2. The freaked out ones :- "Me speak no English. Bye." Else a wave, smiles, walks off. They’re not being rude. They don’t know how to react. At least they have the courtesy to acknowledge your existence.
  3. The no-clue-what-to-do-but-wanna help ones :- Please refer to the panic attacks in scene 1. They’ll speak frantically to one another deciding on how, what to do often ending up stuttering, blushing and that’s pretty much it. These are generally the animated bunch.
  4. The rude ones :- They’ll ignore you. Either they freaked out or are just rude. I retract my words. They’re just plain rude.
  5. The blur ones :- They’re not sure whether you’re talking to them. Subsequently, they may fall anywhere in category 1-4.

Most of the time, I’ll encounter the ones in the 3rd category. I never mean to mislead them, but I find it hard to burst their bubble. *with the eagerness splashed on their faces, "this foreigner spoke to me! Gya~!"* By now, I’ve acquired a knack to contain the chuckles. However, every so often I’ll submit to it, so seeing me laugh made them laugh as well. The laughs are purely because I find it really sweet that they’re trying their best to help out, sandwiched with the witty antics. I'll bail them out when things go out of control.

And after a long day in KLCC with my sis *we spent half a day at Kinokuniya bookstore*, the ticket man at the LRT gate greeted us with …"Thank you for shopping with us. Do come again!"

Me:: Cool~ Now they’ve started such a practice.
Sis:: I think he only said that to us. Do you think people think we are Indonesian?
Me:: That’s a loaded one.
Sis:: Oh yeah. You get this all the time.

Not so Malaysian after all.
9.59 Malaysian Time

10 comments:

Umm ML said...

LOL I will watch for those categories if insha'Allah I ever get the chance to visit KL!

Hajar Zamzam Ismail said...

LOL! It can be hilarious to try to communicate with people who don't understand the language you are speaking.

Aisyah Mazelan said...

Asslamualaikum. Haha. Teringat masa dekat hentian, ada foreigners dalam kedai, berdiri depan baris asam dan jeruk. Dekat tangan diorang ada 3 peket asam and their faces looked confused. ME and my dada went near them and told them that asam taste sour. After hearing that, they put it all back.

ipv6 said...

Still got mistaken identity eh?perhaps you should wear name tags that spell; I'm Malaysian in cap size 16 hahaha.

oh Btw speaking about tag, you have been officially tagged. ;o]D
Well I dont fancy this tag tig kinda stuff but somebody tag me, okay then after landing on your page I change target at the eleventh hour, and a tad minute latter you're on the list..;p

Ms.Unique said...

Looool .... dats soooo funny .... :)

Hajar Alwi said...

Erin :: Do keep a lookout for them! :)

Hajar :: All the more hilarious when they actually do but are just unaware. :P

Miss Ash :: Wa'alaikumussalam. Sah sah diorang ingat gula-gula. Once I asked how durian belanda *soursop* tastes like, the vendor was "Macam mana nak cakap masam? - how do I say it's sour". I understood him but because I asked in English, his reply was "It is good but ..." on top of making a sour face. Kelakar sangat. LoL.

ipv6 :: Interesting. Speaking from experiences? :P

Should I feel honoured? I would love to prove you wrong by not acceding to it, but I'm feeling nice so in due time.

Ms.Unique :: ^^

-----
hajar

ipv6 said...

Speaking from experiences?

uh-huh, I don't mistaken people,indeed I can read people well I guess, so much so that some do feeling odd if not scared ;p..but tht in the good old days, guess it does happen once in a while still..

Hajar Alwi said...

Which can't possibly be bad thing ... :)

Rambling Rachel said...

What a funny post! You get to experience life as an outsider in your own home. Very nice.

Hajar Alwi said...

It's funnier when I'm overseas ... :)