Boss!

If you ever go to Sabah, or just happen to stumble upon a gathering of Sabahans, chances are you'll hear everyone (especially among the men; sometimes even among the women) greet each other as "boss."

This doesn't mean one of them is actually the other's real boss, although sometimes they really are.

I'm not sure if "term of endearment" is the right phrase to use to describe this.

Sure, friends call each other that but when it comes to strangers, or simply people whose name you forgot, the term "boss" really does come in handy to break the ice. I guess you can sort of compare it with "bang" (as in short for abang, which means brother for you non-Bahasa Malaysia speaking folks) in the peninsula.

One of the first things I was told by my friend (who is a Petaling Jaya boy) when I set foot here four years ago is that in the peninsula, you address people like security guards, bus drivers and conductors, taxi drivers and other strangers whose names you do not know as "bang", pretty much the same way we use "boss" in Sabah.

Of course, that doesn't mean Peninsular Malaysians don't use the term "boss" as well. They do. I've noticed people calling the waiter at the mamak restaurant "boss" as well so now it's starting to become a grey area.

I guess the obvious difference now is the frequency in which Sabahans use the term "boss".

Then again, there's also another Sabahan meaning of "boss".

In Sabah, "boss"also means father.

So if you hear school-going teenagers ask each other, "macam mana boss kau?"they're actually referring to their their dads.

In some circles, the term "beliau" is also used to refer to fathers.

eg. "Beliau kau sihat?"

For mothers, it's "ma'am."

eg. "Ma'am kau yang hantar kau kah?"

I'm not sure whether this is restricted to just Kota Kinabalu or what so if anyone from another part of Sabah can confirm it, just email me or leave a comment. =)

Anyway, before I stray from the "boss" topic completely, I just wanna share this little story about my high school biology teacher, who was a firm believer and advocate of science (a bit of an ultra if you ask me... heheh... )

Anyway, one day, she decided to tell the whole class about how she hated it when people called her boss.

The reason is simple: the scientific name for gaurs (a large, dark-coated ox of South Asia and South-East Asia) is Bos gaurus.

She just refused to be referred to as an ox that looks like this (snapped this pic in Zoo Negara):

But judging by her own size, I think most of my classmates thinks she's a cow anyway.

If I ever bump into her, I should just call her "boss"... just to smite her....

Hehehe...

KL = Peninsular Malaysia

My girlfriend, who is from the peninsula, suggested that I be fair and write about the stereotypes of Sabahans that are actually true too.

Well, it's only fair so here goes...

A lot of Sabahan have the idea that KL and Peninsular Malaysia are one and the same. That means if you tell them you're from somewhere like Perak or Malacca or Penang, chances are they'll call you orang KL anyway.

I don't know why it's like this. Heck even my mother has the same misconception sometimes and I usually have to correct her.

I have a theory about why this is so though...

Maybe a lot of Sabahans take it for granted and assume that the peninsula is one giant state too.

I mean think about it. The peninsula is around the size of Sarawak. Sabah itself is bigger than any other states in West Malaysia.

(actually speaking of sizes of the states, this is another topic altogether which I'll probably blog about in future)

So that could be the reason why.

Oh, and I didn't make the whole KL = Peninsular Malaysia equation up. In fact, it was a Punjabi colleague of mine (who happens to have a Sabahan wife) who told me about his experience with this.

Y'see, this colleague of mine is from Penang, and when he went to his wife's hometown in Tawau and he told them where he was from, they replied "Oh... jadi kau orang KL lah ni?"

Hehehe....

Excuse me, are you from Indonesia?

I met up with two Sabahan friends of mine just now. One of them has been working here in KL for quite a bit while the other was in town for a few weeks for this course he was taking.

We spoke a mixture of Bahasa Malaysia and English throughout our conversation and our BM "accent" seems to have caught the attention of the waiter, who appeared to be an ethnic Malay (actually it doesn't matter what race they are, they always mistake our accents as long as they're not born in Sabah).

Anyway, just as we asked for the bill, our curious waiter tried to be smart and asked my visiting friend: "excuse me sir, where are you from ya? Are you from Indonesia?"

I corrected him immediately and said "That's a Sabahan accent."

Sure, I probably sounded defensive but then, I'm not about to let him get away with that. It's like mistaking Spanish for Italian, or something to that effect.

The point is, peninsular Malaysians tend to be unable to tell the difference between a Sabahan accent and an Indonesian accent. (Heck I think they make fun of Sarawakian accents too but then, this blog is about Sabahans so no hard feelings ya my good neighbours).

I remember when I first got here to the peninsula, there was this kid who also remarked that Sabahans speak like Indonesians.

And just the other day, a colleague of mine seemed rather surprised that I was from Sabah and even had the cheek to ask me why I don't speak like other Sabahans.

I don't know whether that was an insult or a compliment but excuse me, do we sound funny now?

Granted, it could be our geographical proximity with Indonesia and the Philippines that influenced the way we talk but no sireee, we do NOT sound Indonesian or Filipino for that.

We sound Sabahan. Full stop.

Now that just reminded me of another one of my colleague who seemed stunned when I started speaking Bahasa Malaysia over the phone, Sabah accent and all.

She thought it was a foreign language.

Sigh...

Episode One

Welcome to a spot "a little to the east."

Your first question would probably be "a little to the east of WHERE?"

That answer is simple, at least to this writer it is.

A little to the east of where he is currently based;

A place where he was born, where he grew up and where he spent most of his life.

A little place where, he has learned, those who from places "further west" tend to stereotype (a lot of times negatively) because of either a lack of understanding or just sheer ignorance.

A little place called home.

A place called North Borneo by some, but officially, this place is called Sabah, the Land Below The Wind.

Welcome to a corner of cyberspace dedicated to simply explaining what Sabah and its people (the Sabahans) are all about, correcting the misconceptions, and simply dispelling all the negative perceptions that a lot of non-Sabahans tend to have about this "foreign land" thanks to a few ignorant and irresponsible fools who simply can't help but mess things up for the rest of us.

Let's hope this Sabahan can shed some light into the mysteries surrounding his land and its people, along with some help from fellow Sabahans out there of course.