I just realised, I didn't do a Merdeka post! D: I am a horrible Malaysian.
Happy belated birthday Malaysia! :D I know I am a few weeks too late but it's the thought that counts!
I know this is a terrible cliche, but being overseas has really taught me to appreciate Malaysia more. Of course, the weather here isn't burning hot like Malaysia but it can get a bit too cold sometimes, especially during the winter. And it gets dark too early during the winter! When I first started out, it would be like 8 pm dark when I finished classes, which is around 5.30pm. And it really depresses you, it really will. In fact it is possible for people to get depressed because of that, it's called SAD, Seasonal something Depression! So patients like that have to sit in front of a light box as treatment. No kidding, I read that in some mental health leaflet. Of course, during the summer and all it is less depressing cos you get daylight until maybe 10 pm or later! 8 pm is like 5 pm bright, it's the other way round during the summer. 8)
And of course, the food. Maybe it's just Cambridge, but it's so damn hard to find Malaysian food here. Sure there are Malaysian restaurants, in Chinatown, which is in LONDON, which is ONE HOUR TRAIN'S RIDE AWAY. The closest we have to Malaysian food here in Cambridge is Golden House, which is owned by a Chinese but she has some Malaysian dishes as well. Like this thing called Mamak Chicken, which I find okay but the guys love it so much they overrate it and I'm like, -.- it's nice but it's overrated! And I'm not even sure why it's called Mamak Chicken. Doesn't look anything like Mamak to me. :/ And they do have Malaysian fried rice as well. 4 pound isn't so bad for a big bowl of rice (and I mean, BIG bowl, I always have to tell the lady to give me less rice cos I'd get too full and fall asleep in class) and some meat and vegetables, but it's RM 20 so yeah. You can get food like that for so much cheaper in Malaysia. Especially in Penang, oh Penang, everyone's food heaven.
And believe it or not, the Malay language is really useful here! The great thing about this language is that only Malaysians can understand it, Singaporeans probably know a bit as well. We can just talk about a person who's not Malaysian in front of him/her like, openly. For example,
*Walking past a smoking China girl*
"Eeeh, rokok!"
And, we can always use it to test if a person is Malaysian or not! Like during the recent start of year barbecue, we heard about this new Malaysian girl who's coming to Lower Sixth but we don't know who she is, and Ng had his suspicions on this girl, so when we thought she walked past Jiann Lee decided to test her by saying, "Oi, bodoh! Babi!" to no one in particular, but she didn't respond and turns out it wasn't the one Ng was referring to. The girl Ng was talking about turned out to be Singaporean, because while walking past her I heard her speak the distinctive Malaysian/Singaporean accent and Jaycee went and asked her if she was the Malaysian. We found out that the Malaysian girl hasn't arrived yet, but oh well, no harm trying.
Also, we have successfully spread our culture to the Chinese of Abbey College!
A Malaysian and a Chinese walk past each other in the streets.
Malaysian: Eh, Sha Bi! (Sha Bi is China's equivalent to noob)
Chinese: Eh, So Hai!
So I dare say that the Malaysians are quite influential here. ;) Though they haven't done that in months now. :/ I miss that happening.
And, I miss shopping in Malaysia! Not only I have to multiply everything by five here (Okay, it all ends up being the same price anyway, for example a shirt which costs 20 pounds here maybe sold at Malaysia for 100 bucks if they are of the same brand), but shops close so damn early at around 5 or 6! Ang mohs don't know how to do business, seriously. Don't they know that people go shopping after work or during the weekends? On Sundays it seems that the law allows shops to open for only 6 hours, so they'd open late and close early, like around 11 am to 5 pm. I mean of course, people wanna sleep in on Sundays but hello, shoppers are the least busy during the weekends. And I can't like, go buy books or anything after school cos I finish at 5.30 and shops would already be closed by then! The latest they'd go is 8 pm on Wednesdays, and at the Grand Arcade you see the sign "Late Night Shopping on Wednesdays until 8pm!" Pfft, Malaysia's 'late night' would probably be what, 12 am? It gets quite inconvenient sometimes.
So yeah, that's all I can think of for now. But Malaysia is home, I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else. Sure we have shit politics, but I think as the younger generation we can change that in maybe 20 years time? Pfft, and the adults accuse us of being ignorant, as if they have the best ideas ever to rule the country. Didn't they see us during Bersih? And the Harimau Malaya and Singapore match? And the Chong Wei - Lin Dan match?
Happy 54th Malaysia. :)
Suet Tyng
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