The thing about being from a country that’s not particularly famous is that when you move overseas, you’ll often find yourself explaining just what a [insert nationality] is. This experience is amplified all the more if the country you’re moving to is quite insular. And doesn’t share the same language as you.
Case in point, Japan. It is the perfect example of such a country, not just in terms of the citizens but the foreigners there as well. I find that the vast majority of foreigners there come from monolingual and or homogeneous countries. In other words, countries that are the direct opposite of Malaysia.
Ironically, though, I have more trouble explaining what a Malaysian is to foreigners than the Japanese–possibly due to the Japanese’ increased interest in living in Malaysia. Funny, right?
I’m not slighting anyone by any means. This post is simply a compilation of my experiences here thus far as a Malaysian. It is, in a way, a humbling one.
In any case, let’s move on. I’m planning to keep this post on the shorter and lighter side, because honestly, with all of the insanity going on in the world lately, I (and I bet you do too) need it.
Malaysian? What is that? Is that food?
The moment I mention that I’m a Malaysian, I’m usually greeted with a blank look. A look that clearly says, “What the heck is that?”
It is as though a hole exists right between Singapore and Thailand.
I kid, of course, but that is the vibe that I generally get after saying that I’m a Malaysian. Not that I blame them, because really, our government doesn’t do much to boost tourism in our country. So yeah, unsurprisingly, people usually don’t know what a Malaysian is or where the country itself is located. It’s just a huge unknown.
Hint hint. After this entire fiasco is over, maybe the government should consider boosting tourism to Malaysia. For, you know, reasons.
What is your culture like?
Our teachers usually make us speak about our countries and cultures as a form of culture exchange and language practice. This sort of thing is not a problem for the rest of the students–until they get to me. Here is a snippet of what happened in class the other day:
“Melissa, can you tell us what a Malaysian wedding is like?” my teacher asked me.
How am I supposed to answer that? I wracked my brains for an acceptable answer to give. I couldn’t find any, so I asked, “Which one?”
“What do you mean which one?”
I proceeded to explain that Malaysia is a multiracial and multicultural country, so there is no easy way to answer that. I guess the fact that I was born in Sabah, which is far more diverse than West Malaysia, made my answer a lot more complicated.
If I’m being truthful, though, it’s not like I’m a wedding expert either–simply because I don’t have to be. Most of the people in my circle have yet to marry, so till then, like most people, I don’t need to look up any wedding traditions until I have to go to one.
Race and religion is a mystery
For Malaysians, race and religion are things that we are acutely aware of from birth. It’s just the way our society works. Since there are so many different people from different backgrounds living with us, we have learned things about one another in order to live harmoniously. We are equipped with a sort of cultural radar, so to speak.
Want to invite a Muslim out to eat? We instantly know that we need to go to a halal restaurant. Going to a Chinese wedding? Alright, we know certain colours are frowned upon for certain events, so we look it up just to be sure. Speaking to a Sabahan? For the love of God, do not refer to them by their last name.
While we’re used to this sort of awareness, we can’t really expect the same when we go overseas. I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve had to explain why I do or do not do certain things. I’ve also lost count of the number of times I’ve had to explain that a Malaysian isn’t a race, and that Malaysia has many different races in it.
You speak English?
The majority of students at my Japanese language school are non-English speaking Asians. Basically Chinese, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Thai, Korean, etc. If they do know any English, it’s usually very minimal.
And I guess because there is the mentality that only white people speak English, they are always shocked to meet a non-white person who is able to speak it. At times, my Japanese teachers themselves would be surprised by this as well.
“I’m sorry, but we only have this in English…” my teacher once said apologetically in Japanese as she handed a grammar sheet to me. “No Malay, sorry…”
“Thank you. It’s okay, I prefer English anyway.”
To which I was responded with a look that is the definition of, “Huh?”
Why so many languages?
This revelation in turn leads to many questions from the people around me. Why can you speak English? How did you study English? Did you learn English when you studied in Australia? Do other Malaysians know how to speak English? And so on and so forth.
Such a conversation usually looks like this:
- Classmate: What language does Malaysia use?
- Me: Uhh… Malay, English, Chinese, Tamil… [lists off a few, including a couple from Sabah because hey, that’s where I’m from] Malay people can also read Arabic writing.
- Classmate: ??? What??
- Me: Yes.
- Classmate: [is incredibly confused] Then… What is Malaysia’s national language?
- Me: Malay, but English is an active second language.
- Classmate: ??
- Me: It means that almost everyone can speak English and Malay. [At this point, I can see my classmate’s confusion grow even further. If speech bubbles exist in reality, theirs probably say, “How does that weird country even function?”]
- Classmate: Then… Is your first language Malay?
- Me: No. It’s English.
- Classmate: ???
And that bewilderment grows all the more whenever I go on to explain that everyone has a different first language in Malaysia. Yes, just about all Malaysians can speak Malay, and English is a very close second, but that doesn’t necessarily make either one of those their first languages. For example, if the person is from a Chinese family that actively uses Chinese, then Chinese might be their first language, etc etc etc. You get the picture.
I understand, though, that Malaysian culture might be difficult for a non-Malaysian to understand–so I do try to explain it to the best of my ability without oversimplifying it. It might seem simple to us, but that is only because we were brought up in it.
Behind it all is a long, complicated history that I will not even begin to delve into, at least not for now.
Anyway, I hope this post was at least mildly entertaining, and that it helped to shed some light on Malaysian culture, even if it’s just a little.
Till next time, guys. Stay safe!
