On Laushu's post about everyone knowing Mandarin in Singapore, it is a phenomenon here in local unis as well (as mentioned I think quite a number of times on this blog :-P). Adakah ini bentuk penjajahan baru?
One of the questions I've been asking myself is, where are all the English/Cantonese-speaking Chinese? And then the answer that I think best satisfies it is threefold:
1) Strewn all over Malaysia (one Valerie in UPM, one Fiona in UKM, etc etc)
2) Overseas (yeah, a LOT of Victorians)
3) Private Colleges/Universities
4) Present in small number in my Residential College (henceforth called 'College'), but labelled 'Banana'
Truth be told, we Bananas actually understand and speak a variety of dialects e.g. Hokkien, Cantonese etc, and some even listen to Chinese songs. We are also capable of swearing and scolding people in Mandarin. The only difference is that:
1) We don't speak Mandarin as our first or preferred language
2) We can't read or write Chinese
Regarding the second point, some of the Chinese-educated people here actually wonder why we didn't attend Chinese primary school. Some feel that the sekolah-sekolah kebangsaan are full of Malays.
And this is not true! I've been in sekolah kebangsaan all my life and there are is a considerable Chinese population. For that matter, there wasn't a single Malay student in L6/U6BF 05/06!
Of course, not as many Chinese as in Chinese schools lah, but still not as bad as some people think.
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Good news: I didn't cirit-birit yesterday because of the weird drinks I had the night before. Langsung tak ada perut sakit.
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VI's Speech Day is this Saturday. Those of you who got CGPA 3.5 and above (I think) should have received invitations. If not, do call up the school and check. I'm not sure what their cut-off point is, but no harm checking.
If you feel you might be receiving some other kind of award (like Pelajar Terlucu Tingkatan Enam Atas etc), do check with the school also. The same goes for subject awards, although I think this category has been mostly 'sapu-ed' by Mr Hanson and Miss Pruedence.
Well for those of us still in the Klang Valley, I think it'll be quite an interesting mini-reunion. So just in case you missed it,
VI's Speech Day
Saturday
28 July
8.00 a.m.
in school (where else?)
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