✸ Malaysia ✮ England ♥

Hello from Kelantan, Malaysia!

Being an international student has blessed me with being open minded and understanding of many different cultures around me. Although I am Malaysian, I am also half English, and I got the chance to go and visit my family in London too.

A lot of people back home in Malaysia ask me how can two cultures coexist together. Also, which one do I call home?  Well, Malaysia being the country I grew up and was raised in for a good 13 years of my life, I  call Malaysia home.

Although being a culture hybrid, there are some things I’d like to share about language and culture. First of all, is language barriers. I’m sure everybody get them. The capital state in Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur, however for a bit of my summer I’m staying in Kelantan, my mother’s hometown, in which the people here have a very thick slang and accent compared to the city. Growing up with my mother and aunts who are native kelatanese, I have been exposed to Kelantanese at a very young age, so until this day, I still understand Kelantanese. However I don’t know how to speak it, because I only practice classical Malay. 

This is obviously extremely frustrating. Growing up away from my home for literally only 4 years (this year being my 5^th) of my life, I have not forgotten my own country’s language. How could I? 

I do not feel in any way distant from my country. However being half of a different culture has its consequences. Sometimes I will try to speak Malay to the cashier lady/man, or one of those market stall sellers, and they respond to be in English…and theyre Malaysian. Many people label me as a “Matsalleh” (cockasian) which in my opinion is a complemet, but it feel really embarrsing because your taking me for somebody I’m not. Like my identity is two different things, but they coexist.

Next, I made my way down to London, England and stayed with my family. I haven’t been back for so long, and to just be around British citizens and hear the slang that they use is very different compared to the ones I use. They would talk about the weather often, (well, at least my family did) and talk about going down  to London and eating crisps and not chips, and eating chips and not fries.

The humour in England is also very different to what I’m normally used to! Surprizingly, its amazing what words and their connotations can be so lost in translation, even in English! (Seriously, their humour is not the same) Their daily life seems to different compared to mine, even just by their language. Its interesting to see that. I wouldn’t know how to use this terminology even if I tried!

All in all, sometimes I try to learn a completely different language. As a way of separating myself from my culture and race. Isn’t that funny? To remotely “try” to adopt a language and culture that you’re not supposed to be a part of? Strange.

Although there are struggles with language,and being able to see it very clearly,  at the end of the day, I can only be who I am.