I'm Chinese... or am I?

To the people in the peninsula, I'm just about as Chinese as Chinese can be.... appearance-wise that is...

I can speak a bit of Cantonese, a bit of Mandarin and then there's Hakka, which is widely spoken back home in KK.

Some people even think I'm Chinese educated... which I am NOT! I'm a pretty much a banana - yellow on the outside, white on the inside.

(Actually have a friend who's completely the opposite - speaks fluent English with an American accent, even speaks Chinese with a bit of "gwai lou" accent, only to turn out to be VERY Chinese educated.)

Then I tell them I'm from Sabah... AND PEOPLE START DOUBTING WHETHER I ACTUALLY AM CHINESE!

No matter what race they are, be they Malay, Chinese or Indian, they will start asking me if I'm a Kadazan or Dusun or something.

The more ignorant ones will actually ask if any part of me is Iban (for the misinformed lot, Ibans are found in Sarawak, our neighbours, not in Sabah).

That despite knowing that I have a Chinese name.

Ah well, I guess that's the beauty of Sabah.

You can never tell for sure what we are.

We're that Muhibbah bah....

;-)

Distance... to a West Malaysian

Okay, this is gonna be one of those "bash them West Malaysians" entry so those of you who can't stomach it, you have been warned!

Whenever someone ask me where I'm from, I usually ask them to guess, giving them the hint that it's very far.

I did this again last week, and this guy just started guessing: Kedah?

I told him it was further.

His next guesses were: "Perlis? Kelantan?"

Then I said even further.

Of all places, he answered Johor (is Johor further from KL than Perlis really?).

Only when I said the furthest state from here (KL) did he finally answer: "Sabah?"

Sah lah. Sabah (and Sarawak) are the forgotten states of Malaysia.

OH... and this friend of mine from Johor was so defensive that day when he read that helicopters were needed for General Election at his state, which kinda lumped it up together with Sabah and Sarawak.

Sheesh man... what's wrong with being put in the same league as Sabah and Sarawak? You should feel honoured, friend.

Beaufort - is it "bow"-fert or beew-fort?

Okay,

quiz time.

Is it bow-fert or beew-fort?

The typical Sabahan will say "bow-fort" but I think the right pronunciation is bow-fert coz beau on it's own is pronounced "bow."

But then, some insist it's beew-fort ("beau" pronounced as in beautiful)

So which is it?

In the mean time, maybe I should go sing... You're bow-tiful......... you're bow-tiful........ you're bow-tiful, it's true... (sung to the tune of that oh-so-annoying James Blunt song...)

We're not Singaporeans!!!

If you see a Licence plate that goes SAA 2222 D, SK 2222, SD 2222, SS 2222, ST 2222, SU 2222 or SB 2222, please keep this in mind: IT'S NOT A SINGAPOREAN CAR!!!

It's a Sabah-registered plate.

And the second alphabet actually refers to particular region in Sabah too:

SAA (or SA if it's an older car.... they ran out of numbers so they had to add another A to the original SA): Kota Kinabalu.

SK: Kudat

SD: Lahad Datu

SS: Sandakan

ST: Tawau

SU: Keningau

SB: Beaufort

(SL / LA refers to Labuan registered cars but Labuan is a Federal Territory, no longer Sabah land; SL are the older plates. LA are the newer plates; actually I think there are LB and LC plates from Labuan around too)

I think Singaporean plates are all SFF, SGF, etc.... (starts with S... three letters... I think the older plates are like SAF 2222 or something like that)

When it doubt, just look at the size of the fonts on the licence plate. They're bigger if they're from Singapore...

Sooooooooo.... the next time you see a licence plate that starts with "S", remember, it probably isn't a Singaporean car!!!

A Place of Punishment?

Is East Malaysia a place of punishment? Is it a place where someone is transferred to when he or she is being put into cold storage?

Judging by the responses of most Peninsula Malaysians when it comes to transfers and university entries, that answer is yes.

A few days ago, I had a chat with some friends of mine about the fate of L/Kpl Rohaniza Roslan, the ex-girlfriend of one of the accused in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial.

We were debating how much trouble she was in after she told the court that she was put under all sorts of pressure by her comrades in the police force into giving a statement against her then boyfriend C/Insp Azilah. (for more info on Rohaniza's testimony, please go to any one of the Malaysian news sites with coverage on this trial)

Anyway, I was just saying how she'd probably lose her job after this case since she painted the police force (in particular the D9 - serious crimes division) in such a bad light.

However, one of my friends suggested that it probably won't be that easy to fire her as there was probably all sorts of bureaucracy that the force had to go through before being able to do that.

My other friend (a KL-ite / PJ resident) then said maybe it was easier to just transfer her to Sabah or Sarawak.

Hmmm.... does that mean if you want to punish someone, all you gotta do is send him or her to Sabah or Sarawak?

Is East Malaysia that bad, seriously?

Judging by comments like these, maybe Sabah and Sarawak really does seem nightmarish for the average West Malaysian.

Just read the papers whenever university entries are announced. Oh, and don't forget the postings of schoolteachers.

A LOT (I say a lot because there might be some, just SOME, who actually want to go to East Malaysia voluntarily) of Peninsula Malaysians dread the thought of being sent to Sabah or Sarawak.

And as I understand it, distance is not really the reason.

Probably because many still think Borneoans still live in trees over there.

(okay, that's stretching it too much, but you get my drift - the East is not as "developed").

Well, to all those who still feel that way about my home state, I humbly invite you to come visit the Land Below The Wind to be the judge yourself.

Many West Malaysians I've met who have gone to Sabah either to work or for vacation seems to think it's a great place to be.

Some even describe it as Paradise.

I call it home.