Came across this article written by a Malaysian (or Sabahan?) in the Jakarta Post. All of us have an identity we are more or less comfortable to be identified or associated with; it depends on our childhood, upbringing, education, schooling, events in our lives. So, who are you to you?
Myself, I was born, and schooled in Singapore, served NS, associate with the culture and norms (somewhat), and am familiar with Singapore ways, but do not feel settled. So this article did poke my mind a little. I do not think about where I belong and just go along with what I have to do, and adjust to where I end up. Maybe I should give this some consideration, so far, been going where the wind has blown me.
Cheers!
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/05/10/sabahan-first-then-a-malaysian.html
Sabahan first, then a Malaysian
Philip Golingai, The Star/ANN, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia | Opinion | Sun, May 10 2015, 6:31 PM –
I am a Sabahan first, then a Malaysian.I’ve lived in Klang Valley longer than in Kota Kinabalu, but I don’t consider myself as a Selangorian or a KLite.You can take me out of Sabah but you can’t take Sabah out of me. I’m not sure why. Is it the ngiu chap (beef noodle) I ate when growing up in Kota Kinabalu?Is it because 90 per cent of my relatives live in Penampang (a Kada¬zandusun-dominated district near Kota Kinabalu)?I don’t even know the lyrics of the Selangor state anthem even though I’ve lived in Klang Valley for more than two decades. I know by heart Sabah Tanah Airku, the anthem of my homeland.I’ll get excited when El Hadji Diouf, the Senegal footballer, plays for Sabah. However, I wouldn’t if Selangor were to sign him.I don’t even vote in Subang Jaya where I live and where my kid goes to school. I vote in Penampang.I do love living in Klang Valley as it is more developed – the aisle of the supermarkets here is wider than those in Sabah and they have better steak selection – whereas Sabah can be like a third world country with its frequent “earth hour” (euphemism for blackout), schools without walls and gravel road “highways”.However, I see Klang Valley as a place where I work and Sabah as the place I will eventually return to when I retire.Actually, what I am first depends on where I am. If I’m outside of Malaysia, I will be Malaysian first, then Sabahan.What is a Malaysian? When I was packing my bags to study in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the United States in the early 1990s, I included items such as Lat cartoons, Sheila Majid and Headwind CDs, and photographs of iconic Malaysian sites. (I had to pack these items as when I studied overseas, it was before the age of Google.)For me, these items defined me as a Malaysian. If Americans asked me what was Malaysia, I would let them read Lat cartoon books, listen to Sheila Majid and Headwind, and show a photograph of Mount Kinabalu.Who I am (Kadazandusun, Sabahan, journalist, Golingai, Catholic or heterosexual) also depends on who I’m with.For example, just say that I’m discussing the 16-year-old conversion case of a Christian in Kinarut, Sabah, on WhatsApp with Christians, I would be giving a perspective that might be different if there was a non-Christian in the group.Depending on who is in the group, I might change my perspective that you might think I’m a hypocrite, schizophrenic or a politician.Malaysia is a melting pot (a place where different ethnicities are melted together) and salad bowl (cultures juxtaposed – like salad ingredients – but do not merge into a single homogeneous culture).Through my interaction with other ethnic groups in Malaysia such as Melanau, Murut and Malay, I absorb a little of their culture but my Kadazandusun culture remains.I’m Kadazandusun first, then Malaysian. That’s what makes me typically Malaysian. (***)
Myself, I was born, and schooled in Singapore, served NS, associate with the culture and norms (somewhat), and am familiar with Singapore ways, but do not feel settled. So this article did poke my mind a little. I do not think about where I belong and just go along with what I have to do, and adjust to where I end up. Maybe I should give this some consideration, so far, been going where the wind has blown me.
Cheers!
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/05/10/sabahan-first-then-a-malaysian.html
Sabahan first, then a Malaysian
Philip Golingai, The Star/ANN, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia | Opinion | Sun, May 10 2015, 6:31 PM –
I am a Sabahan first, then a Malaysian.I’ve lived in Klang Valley longer than in Kota Kinabalu, but I don’t consider myself as a Selangorian or a KLite.You can take me out of Sabah but you can’t take Sabah out of me. I’m not sure why. Is it the ngiu chap (beef noodle) I ate when growing up in Kota Kinabalu?Is it because 90 per cent of my relatives live in Penampang (a Kada¬zandusun-dominated district near Kota Kinabalu)?I don’t even know the lyrics of the Selangor state anthem even though I’ve lived in Klang Valley for more than two decades. I know by heart Sabah Tanah Airku, the anthem of my homeland.I’ll get excited when El Hadji Diouf, the Senegal footballer, plays for Sabah. However, I wouldn’t if Selangor were to sign him.I don’t even vote in Subang Jaya where I live and where my kid goes to school. I vote in Penampang.I do love living in Klang Valley as it is more developed – the aisle of the supermarkets here is wider than those in Sabah and they have better steak selection – whereas Sabah can be like a third world country with its frequent “earth hour” (euphemism for blackout), schools without walls and gravel road “highways”.However, I see Klang Valley as a place where I work and Sabah as the place I will eventually return to when I retire.Actually, what I am first depends on where I am. If I’m outside of Malaysia, I will be Malaysian first, then Sabahan.What is a Malaysian? When I was packing my bags to study in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the United States in the early 1990s, I included items such as Lat cartoons, Sheila Majid and Headwind CDs, and photographs of iconic Malaysian sites. (I had to pack these items as when I studied overseas, it was before the age of Google.)For me, these items defined me as a Malaysian. If Americans asked me what was Malaysia, I would let them read Lat cartoon books, listen to Sheila Majid and Headwind, and show a photograph of Mount Kinabalu.Who I am (Kadazandusun, Sabahan, journalist, Golingai, Catholic or heterosexual) also depends on who I’m with.For example, just say that I’m discussing the 16-year-old conversion case of a Christian in Kinarut, Sabah, on WhatsApp with Christians, I would be giving a perspective that might be different if there was a non-Christian in the group.Depending on who is in the group, I might change my perspective that you might think I’m a hypocrite, schizophrenic or a politician.Malaysia is a melting pot (a place where different ethnicities are melted together) and salad bowl (cultures juxtaposed – like salad ingredients – but do not merge into a single homogeneous culture).Through my interaction with other ethnic groups in Malaysia such as Melanau, Murut and Malay, I absorb a little of their culture but my Kadazandusun culture remains.I’m Kadazandusun first, then Malaysian. That’s what makes me typically Malaysian. (***)
