Friday, September 01, 2006

Today's entry is a special one. Interesting things are going to happen in this space so for all you readers out there, I hope you'll enjoy the journey....

"ironi irina" is having a collacoration with "odisi odah" blog, so pls visit odisi odah for the response to this article. We're starting a journey in search of our beloved country Malaysia and all the lovely people in it. Hope you like it!

ASAL MANE???
(my iranian friend sarvi says in persian asal mane means (honey, my honey)

I get asked this question a lot and every time I have difficulty in answering. I dont know whether the question means where I was born, where my kampung is, where I grew up n went to school, where did my parents come from or where I live?

I'm sure I'm not the only one but for every one of those questions I have a different answer. I was born in Sibu, Sarawak. My mom is a Sarawakian. For raye, we balik kampung to Skudai, JB. That's where my dad comes from. I grew up in Sarawak for 5 years (with nenek), then I moved to Subang Jaya, after 6 years we moved to Melawati (bt I went to school in Seremban) and stayed for 5 years and now its been near 7 years my family is staying in Bkt Sentosa Rawang (bt I stayed in Shah Alam during Uni years).

See, if I answer Sarawak ( which is cool coz they're totally different n unique), I cant speak the dialect though I understand (cos my mom speaks it) n I hardly remember anything frm Sarawak (to small). I would like to say Johor cos a lot of cool people hail frm Johor like Yasmin Ahmad n Ali Muhammad ( otak diorang ni 'lain' sket care pemikiran die. C'monla baju melayu die pun lain!). And their Laksa Johor is the best (Lodeh, soto.... mmm yummmy)!!! Bt I dont know much about Johore either cos we only go back once a year and plus my kampung is not exactly a kampung hse in the traditional sense ( its a brick house in a city). Subang Jaya? When i lived there, USJ was still an oil palm plantation! Cant claim I'm frm melawati either cos for the most time I'm in Seremban in boarding school. Rawang, if you ask me where's this and that I cant answer. ( The pasar malam's really good though mmm piza psr malam...) During that time I'm mostly in Shah Alam.

SO WHERE DO I COME FROM?????

I do know I am a Malay, kot. Well actually I'm part Chinese n Melanau frm my mother's side and part Minang and Bugis frm my Bapak's side. I dont think there are any more 'purebloods' in Malaysia except probably if you count the Orang Asli. Read Yasmin's entry on this matter in her blog if you wanna kno more.

I learnt in uni that the definition of Malay is someone who speaks Malay, lives a Malay way of life n is a Muslim. That is the Malaysian definition. I'm not sure I fit that desription. I speak Malay bt I'm more comfortable with English (ala Sharifah Amani) coz that is the language of the voice in my head. I'm even worse when writing in BM. Bt thats just how my surroundings were. I grew up singing to nursery rhymes n my playmates were indian (visithra, those were great times ) n chinese (stella, if u ever read this, thanks for the memories). Malay way of life? how is it different frm any other way of life? in the now context, my lifestyle is much the same as any may lin n rani living in M'sia. We're all rojak after all. I am a muslim, yes. Bt in indonesia there are malays who are non muslims. Huh????

So, what's the big deal? Why is it so important to know? How do I answer the "Asal Mane?" question? What do people really want to know when they ask "asal mane?"

Where do I come from? aku pun tak tahu....