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....

6 comments:

sharkpitt said...

the way i see it where do i exactly come from...in betwe....from my mother's tummy at sambhi's maternity clinic off jalan medan pasar.ke medan tuanku?hhmmpp....its opposite bangunan mara/pertama complex.so i'm sure i'm from kl.grew up partly in tmn permata which counts as kl,then off to seri gombak,then off to gombak tambahan finally subang.sekolah menengah kat jitra kedah.bapak got some siamese blood and mama ada bau bau bacang dalah cinee inside.yup basically that is my deal.my story!taraaa

ikanbilis said...

i have bugis blood on my father's side. he has jawa blood from his mother as well. he is really "panas baran" type fo that runs in the bugis blood according to my aunt. my mum has arab blood on her mother's side and unknown blood on her dad's. probably malay, mixed with chinese and mamak (south indian i think)
basicly i'm just a penang rojak! haha

Anonymous said...

aku lahir kat port dickson, pastu family pindah dok melawati saampaila skarang.tapi parents dua-dua org kelantan.so slalunye aku jawab..parents asal org kelantan tapi skarang dok kl..

Anonymous said...

aku selalu cakap aku orang johor. ntah kenapa.bapak aku orang batu pahat, mak aku orang negeri sembilan. kat rumah, mak aku masak lomak cili api (ns) + sambal goreng (johor). i spent 5 years in seremban and another 5 in jb.but i identify myself more as a johorean.kenapa ek?

Anonymous said...

hahahah. frankly speaking..the asal mana question usually (to me) is a reference point to where we live. So timbang tara lah most of ur lifetime kat mana. as for most ppl are 'rojak' now days...kalau nak tgk salahsilah..mmg tak leh pakai. I'd end up saying I'm from Kenya then kalau macam tu. But heck. maybe it would be easier to answer the asal mana tu wif "saye lahir di...."...truth be told.I hav etrouble answering that asal mana question myself. Now I just say KL cause I was born in KL. Forget the Sabah or Kelantan or Kenya or Seremban.So when ppl get to know me more..and they find out more stuff about me..baru la saye bagi full answer to their question. :D

Anonymous said...

this is a good one.i wana have my say. i'd love telling ppl that i'm a johorean but only 9 years of my life i was really there. i was born in klang. i was in klang for several months, then to malacca several years, then johore.my parents are both from malacca but they do reside in johore.my greatgrandpa was a persian, my grandma was acehnese.my greatgrandma of mum is a minang, but somehow, it makes me a johorean now.
but i'm like 12 years off from johore. from kedah, to pj and now the smelly surroundings of sri kembangan.

hell, guess i'm just from everywhere.but in the meantime, i'll stick with 'i'm from johore' theme. haha