*I hope nobody will be offended (and I'm sorry if there's any) with what I will write*
Sometimes, I think us Sabahans are the ones who are racists.
We thought the West Malaysians still assume we're living in a tree house or something. We thought they still assume we're using boats as main transport or something. Then you will quickly recriminate them of living inside the coconut shell, of not knowing how it really is in Sabah.
Honestly, I haven't met anyone (the West Malaysians) like that (not that I could remember anyway) - and God I hope I will never met someone like that. Hence, sometimes, I wonder, if we're the ones who have been living inside the coconut shell, for thinking that other people still thought about us like that.
You are defensive when they made fun of our dialect, yet, you made fun of their dialects too. So, really, who's being racist here?
Do you get what I'm trying to say?
Maybe, once upon a time, the West Malaysians did think of Sabah like that. But remember, once upon a time, internet is a privilege. Nowadays, everything is within our fingertip. So ask yourself again, is it possible for any West Malaysian to have that kind of mindset about Sabah?
But when you think back, the development of Sabah is not constant. There are still parts of Sabah which are underdeveloped (and maybe do not receive sufficient basic necessities, such as clean water and electricity? I'm not sure and I couldn't be bothered to google it now). So technically, even if there are people who still thought of Sabah like that, they are not entirely wrong either. (refer to the print screens I've attached at the end of this post)
Anyway, now that we're on this topic, I feel the must to write about the dialect.
Sabahan dialect (I'm NOT talking about a specific ethnic's language) is pretty easy (or maybe I'm just biased), compared to Sarawak or Kelantan. I admit, there are certain words that might sound foreign to you, and heck, even I don't know the meaning of some of those words - we said 'tapuk' instead of 'sorok/sembunyi', 'limpas' instead of 'lalu' (update: just knew that 'limpas' is actually a standard Malay word) etc etc (just a quick example). Of course, the dialect differ slightly, depending on one's ethnic and region (but I don't know much about this so I won't elaborate on it).
The pronunciation makes sense too. We spell 'saya' as s.a.y.a and we pronounce it as sa-ya. Not sa-ye (again, just a quick example). And if you watched P. Ramlee's movies, all of the actors speak in standard Malay (saya instead of saye etc etc). This makes me wonder, how did the pronunciation (in West Malaysia) evolve from there to today? Any linguist out there care to explain?
Oh, I don't know if there are still people out there who thought Sabahan dialect is the same as Indonesian dialect. If there is any, let me clear that for you. No, it's not the same. Heck, I can't speak and I don't understand Indonesian dialect. When I was in IIUM (that's International Islamic University Malaysia, or commonly known as UIA, if you don't know that already), my classmates used to talk to me in Indonesian dialect (it was their tone), and the first thing I would say to them was "No, we do not speak like that. That's Indonesian."
Ah, it's 2.30 in the morning and nothing else comes in mind. So I guess I will stop here.
Till next post :)
P/s: Share with us if you have faced such situation
Pp/s: This is kinda what I meant. Read the comments. Here are some snapshots if you are too lazy to click on the link.
Sometimes, I think us Sabahans are the ones who are racists.
We thought the West Malaysians still assume we're living in a tree house or something. We thought they still assume we're using boats as main transport or something. Then you will quickly recriminate them of living inside the coconut shell, of not knowing how it really is in Sabah.
Honestly, I haven't met anyone (the West Malaysians) like that (not that I could remember anyway) - and God I hope I will never met someone like that. Hence, sometimes, I wonder, if we're the ones who have been living inside the coconut shell, for thinking that other people still thought about us like that.
You are defensive when they made fun of our dialect, yet, you made fun of their dialects too. So, really, who's being racist here?
Do you get what I'm trying to say?
Maybe, once upon a time, the West Malaysians did think of Sabah like that. But remember, once upon a time, internet is a privilege. Nowadays, everything is within our fingertip. So ask yourself again, is it possible for any West Malaysian to have that kind of mindset about Sabah?
But when you think back, the development of Sabah is not constant. There are still parts of Sabah which are underdeveloped (and maybe do not receive sufficient basic necessities, such as clean water and electricity? I'm not sure and I couldn't be bothered to google it now). So technically, even if there are people who still thought of Sabah like that, they are not entirely wrong either. (refer to the print screens I've attached at the end of this post)
Anyway, now that we're on this topic, I feel the must to write about the dialect.
Sabahan dialect (I'm NOT talking about a specific ethnic's language) is pretty easy (or maybe I'm just biased), compared to Sarawak or Kelantan. I admit, there are certain words that might sound foreign to you, and heck, even I don't know the meaning of some of those words - we said 'tapuk' instead of 'sorok/sembunyi', 'limpas' instead of 'lalu' (update: just knew that 'limpas' is actually a standard Malay word) etc etc (just a quick example). Of course, the dialect differ slightly, depending on one's ethnic and region (but I don't know much about this so I won't elaborate on it).
The pronunciation makes sense too. We spell 'saya' as s.a.y.a and we pronounce it as sa-ya. Not sa-ye (again, just a quick example). And if you watched P. Ramlee's movies, all of the actors speak in standard Malay (saya instead of saye etc etc). This makes me wonder, how did the pronunciation (in West Malaysia) evolve from there to today? Any linguist out there care to explain?
Oh, I don't know if there are still people out there who thought Sabahan dialect is the same as Indonesian dialect. If there is any, let me clear that for you. No, it's not the same. Heck, I can't speak and I don't understand Indonesian dialect. When I was in IIUM (that's International Islamic University Malaysia, or commonly known as UIA, if you don't know that already), my classmates used to talk to me in Indonesian dialect (it was their tone), and the first thing I would say to them was "No, we do not speak like that. That's Indonesian."
Ah, it's 2.30 in the morning and nothing else comes in mind. So I guess I will stop here.
Till next post :)
P/s: Share with us if you have faced such situation
Pp/s: This is kinda what I meant. Read the comments. Here are some snapshots if you are too lazy to click on the link.
You're correct in elaborating every point except 'limpas'. Dr Faisal Tehrani used it in his novel and it is in Malay's standard dictionary.
ReplyDeleteP/S: I beg your apology, dear thinker. I had promised a header and I didn't manage to come up with one.
Oh didn't know that. Will correct it soon. Thanks for the info :)
ReplyDeleteNah, no worries. I'm just afraid I won't use your header in the end, so don't bother yourself :P
i undoubtedly agree at some points here but to answer "So ask yourself again, is it possible for any West Malaysian to have that kind of mindset about Sabah?" - yes, it is. maybe u just lucky to never meet one, but wut can u say bout other sabahan like me, who face that scenario being asked question like "do u live at the mountain.?" "how do u come to Malaysia(do they just said sabah is not in Malaysia?)" or someone being sarcastic at u "wow, u know how to eat using spoon and fork!" when u use the former and the latter to eat. u never face that situation so u dont know the feeling. back then, the silly questions can be accepted but as u pointed earlier, nowadays, everything is within our fingertip, so whaiiiii, why still they ask questions as silly.? u pointed out that development in sabah is not constant, but do u ever know kota kinabalu is one of most developed city in malaysia.? logically, we sabahan is the one who shud ask the silly questions to say, ppl from perlis or kedah.? maybe i lost the track a bit, but my actual point is, no one is so-called racist actually. the west malaysians (not all, but who still thnk bout sabah as in the 1st pic u posted) just too lazy to google or should i say being ignorant.? while sabahan is just adapting to a new environment and the role as minority.
ReplyDeletehaha.. aku bawa puding roti masa makan2 taun lepas, then kena tanya " ulat ka ni? "...=.='''
ReplyDeletei felt insulted a little bit. but, u know.. kdg2 they don't mean to insult pun, just their mindset since tak bnyk pendedahan about sabah.
To be fair,not all, just some. whether its racism/joking/insulting/betul2 tak tahu. Tuhan sja yg tahu.
@anon:
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
"wow, u know how to eat using spoon and fork!"
Lol that's a new one.
Do you mind if I ask, who are these people asking you such questions? 'Educated' people with an easy access to the internet, or pakcik-makcik who barely know how to use the computer? Perhaps we could give an exception if it's the latter? If it's the former...then I could only facepalm.
Honestly, I don't really know about KK being one of the most developed city in Malaysia. Thanks for enlightening me :)
(BTW, I'm not sure either if reverse racism - or simply racism - is the correct term for such situation, but I've been wanting to use that word and it seemed to fit this post :P)
@Lady CNA:
HAHA. Have they never eaten bread pudding before?
But what you said is true. With (little of) what the media has chosen to show the Malaysians, it's no wonder there are still people (who I hope is the minority) having misconceptions about East Malaysia (and Sabah, specifically).
i'll give em a break if they come from the latter category. unfortunately, they are in the former category. so, yeah, facepalm urself~
ReplyDeletecheck it out yourself, dear administrator... https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151083341506940&set=a.336611771939.154962.330360741939&type=3
ReplyDelete