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....
;-)
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We're that Muhibbah bah....
And I'm proud of it
I hate it when I explain that my dad is chinese and my mum is kadazan and they would say "aiya you chinese lah"
so irritating.
I feel your pain. But for me, Good thing abt looking chinese I get to improve my cantonese as well. I still have to use the "Saya bukan Cina" card when they start blabbering in dialect and I start not to understand...kikiki.. *sheepish grin* I get the "at-least-you-tried grin" from them most of the time.... ;P
Kau pun sino-Kadazan mcm si Yuri kah Sopok?
No la...Kadazan bah. Although we have heard about a chinese ancestor somewhere
Hehehe... sorry ah... that question was before I knew who you were Sopok...
Sabahans rule above all. I'm Sino-Dusun Banjarese... whatever the hell that is. Love your blog, buds, keep on posting!
A Sino-Dusun Banjarese? Wow... that is quite a mouthful... I even need to google up the Banjarese part (no offence!) Thanks for the approval Naz and do pop by once in a while. I'll try to update as often as I can... :-)
i think our future generations will have a trouble filling in the "bangsa" part of forms with all the mixed marriages...
i vote for bangsa malaysia :)
I vote for a day when there is no necessity to have to fill in what "race" a person is in forms... where nationality is the only thing needed... I won't hold my breath waiting for that day though...
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