Before I start, here's a video to David Choi's 'Missing Piece'...
Well, it was just an introduction to this blog post. Nothing really.
It's a missing part in me.
I am studying in a private university which majority of the students are Chinese and Indians, with international students too.
I was educated in the Malaysian education system (the UPSR, PMR, SPM and STPM thing). What can I say from it...? Well... I'm blessed, I guess. Imagine all classmates from different racial backgrounds mingle together in a classroom, from strangers to friends. That was the miracle part of human interaction, cross-culturally. I am thankful my parents send me to the study in the Malaysian system, making me a Malaysian in heart. Proud being one.
13 years in Malaysian system (I had an extra two years because I took STPM as my pre-u. No college life for me after SPM). It had became a big significant and shaped the person I am now. A wannabe journalist/writer who can write and converse fairly enough in BM, English and Chinese.
I learned many things from people I grew up with, school friends and teachers. I picked up English through learning, reading (Harry Potter throughout my childhood!) and speaking with my friends. Same goes as BM too. Just that I rarely read Malay books except the KOMSAS ones our teachers told us to read.
Back then I had this feeling that my Malay was much better than my English. It was because most subjects I did in school like history, geography, arts, moral, living skills, accounting, economics were in Malay, obviously except maths and science.
Come on! Obviously a person can improve their language skills if they use it frequently...
Yes. I really learned a lot from all my Malay friends I met throughout school.
I had a number of Malay friends back in school. Looking back, it made me realised how much I missed the best times I had with them. Some, I still stay in contact. It's just a small number...
Actually it was the lessons I learned from them that were valuable.
Back then, I can't speak Malay as well as I was in school. I guess it was my Chinese background. Imagine me as a 10 year old girl speaking in Malay, in some 'Ah Moi' accent. I wasn't teased frankly speaking... It was just not impressive.
After coming to secondary school I met more Malay friends. There, throughout the daily interactions I tried to improve the way I speak. Less 'Ah Moi'-ish, more clear in pronunciation. I don't have problems in writing though. See... There's this thing, "you can write well but not necessary you can also speak well or inversely, you can speak well, but not necessary you can write well". Believe me I knew people who write well but can't speak well and vice versa.
Speaking needs a lot of practice so does writing. Someone, if you are about to come out to work in the corporate world, you'll need to speak and write a lot.
I had become less 'Ah Moi'-ish thanks to the guidance of my Malay friends.
Upon coming to uni, the environment took a 180 degree swift. I studied everything (ALMOST) in Malay. What?! Now it's in English?! I never have so much English subjects back in school and Form 6. Ironically the only English subject I did in Form 6 was MUET. Others all in BM. And now English in higher education. I was thinking, "why wouldn't we get more subjects in English?! How am I suppose to cope?!". The environment was complete different too. Majority of the students are Chinese and Indians with international students and a small amount of Malay. I was taken aback when I first set foot into uni. A big 'what' was held up in my head. I thought there should be equal...
I am going through my 2 years in uni until this group of MRSM students came to study American degree. Their arrival added more variety of colours to the community. I happened to know some of them. Not as close as I was with my classmates and friends back in school but we did get along well.
It was only yesterday I attended the Malay Cultural Society's gathering night and saw more of the MRSM students I had yet seen and some familiar faces I knew since they first came. I rarely go to clubs' gatherings in uni. I only go to those that I think it's worth going...
I was the only non-Malay local student (there was another non-Malay guest at the gathering, Rahul, a friend from India) guest there. No. I didn't feel awkward at all being with people from different cultural backgrounds. I was bought up, studied with people from different backgrounds in school.
Going to their gathering gave me this old sentimental feeling in school. Joking loudly with each other in Malay and boys chasing one another... Those were the similar scenarios I used witness. With them, I can reminisce the voices of from the good old days...
With the friends I knew from MRSM, I tried to speak as much Malay as I can with them.
Come on! 13 years of using the language and putting it to waste later in life?
Also I speak in their language to make them feel comfortable with me.
Yesterday, I was talking to the club's advisor and my friend, Siti about their progress in the program. She told me that they are going to take their SATs soon and some of them did it last week. The current club committee are stepping down.
Zawier, club's chairperson and also a friend of mine told me the next semester would be their last before going to the US.
Writers' notes: So much of the recollection and fun from the gathering. Incidentally next semester would be my last too... For studying. The short semester is for final year project before going off to my internship in August next year. From the bottom of my heart, I will try to go as many gatherings I can in my final study semester including Mass Comm which I hardly show up.
Time flies. It is 2 years since I first came to uni and in about 10 months time I'm leaving my studies and I will be working in the society, for the people (well, I like to put it this way).
I should put studies as life collection. Not doing masters or anything in the future. Tired of studying, honestly...
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