Saturday, November 21, 2009
இ Baŋäŋaz இ
Before the rising sun we fly
So many roads to choose
We start our walking
And learn to run
And yes! We've just begun
Yes this is part of the lyric from the song "We've Only Just Begun" by the Carpenters. The "Bridging" has just begun and hope to pick up Chinese/Mandarin with more practice. Bear with my thoughts as they are merely my personal opinion and kindly spare the whip. During my younger days, life can be so complex and confusing as a minority "RARE" Bananaz growing up in a majority 'Chinaman' environment which I often wonder whether I am trapped in the wrong peel or the wrong shell?
Let's begin with me the green fresh Bananaz struggling to reconcile as a minority where Nanyang Siang Pau and Sin Chew Jit Poh occupied the coffee table, neighbors speak Hokkien and Teow Chew, Mama's friends conversed in Cantonese and Mandarin, Papa spoke broken Hokkien30/Hakka70 however English was silent at home and spoken in school only.
Now the Bananaz Blues where the confusion just begun:
Blunder #1 ~ Cannot understand why all Chinese medical shops have the same last name - Chong Choon Tong, Pak Ho Tong or Ho Chin Tong? The 'Tong' kept bugging and tong-ing me each time I passed by the sign prompting to ask myself, "Is this a must to name their children with 'Tong' when they operate a medical shop?" [The Truth: The "Tong" 堂 is actually a Chinese word in Hakka (not related to the Haka of All Blacks) referring to Medical Hall (most of the bosses are Hakka then) and not a name of the person, aiya wrong thoughts for many long years, how wrong could I be].
Blunder #2 ~ Mama used to say Hoklo this Hoklo that, when referring to neighbors which I thought was a nasty word dare not asked for the meaning. [The Truth: Only lately I stumbled over the internet found the real meaning of Hoklo ~ it's the 'Chaozhou' {Mandarin} people 潮州人 aka Teow Chew people.]
Blunder #3 ~ When you think you are Bananaz and can get away with English on old folks right? Nope, we were walking home after primary school with a classmate and approaching right in front of us was a huge lady. My friend spelled out the three letter word in English ~ F.A.T. to me. Seconds later we heard machine guns rattling, got shelling from her left and right.."You 'AngMohSai' think very clever used English thought I cannot understand huh..ta..ta..ta..#%&**)+*!~@&". Oops 'Padan muka betul'! (serve us right).
Posted in: We've Only Just Begun
17 Bunchesஇ:
Lucky thing you didn't get shelled out! Very sensitive, eh?? And, yes, roads do have ears!!!
Keats, yeah very lucky the lady did not shell or peel the two Bananaz alive. Learned a good lesson. haha
yeah, why no english in homes? I been thinking tat for a long time, its not as if we dunno how to speak lol^^
Hello Kelvin, thanks for dropping by, whole family 'YesNoYes' so English was hardly spoken at home. Will mention it in my future "blunders" then you may understand better. :) ക
hmmm, i am teochew but i couldn't get what "Hoklo" means.. hahahaha, never ever try to mention anything a person would most probably be sensitive towards, no matter you think they understand or not - especially these three words FAT, SHORT and UGLY.. :D
SK, 'hoklo' is just another name just like 'hakka' is also known as 'khek'. Yeah once bitten twice shy, agree those are the most sensitive words, at that time think was probably 9 or 10 years old, what they say "calf don't know the tiger yet". lol ക
To be fair, you bananaz do deserve getting an earful from the FAT lady.
Some things are obvious, and best kept to ourselves. ^_^
Haha very true admit its a total blunder, deserved the shelling no doubt about it. Wait till you hear the "code" used which backfired too. What Da Vinci code? OK just peel a bit first, heard of "f" language (not the 4 letter word pls) meaning you replace or add 'f' to the word. Example "I-fi say-fay you-fou can-fan know-fow?". Will mention the blunder in the future. :p ക
Whoa learning bit by bit of Chinese character, I would have thought the same for blunder #1 as Bananaz merely read the English sign and how to know that 'Tong' is not the last name but 'Hall'.:) Thanks
Some say Chinese is the hardest language to learn in this world. I don't think so. I believe difficult is always the case when we try to pick up any new language. One thing for sure is Chinese is a beautiful language. Just look at the long history behind its back. Jia(1) You(2) my friend!
Why are bananas so alluring to women? Oh wait...
Hello Jam, thanks for the encouragemnt definitely "add oil" haha. Xiexie ക
Hello Organic Meatbag, guess bananaz has great appeal..[a peel], thanks for slipping by. ക
CheaHS@n, glad we are learning day by day life is a never ending learning story.. Xiexie ക
Ha ha ha, ang moh sai! LOL!
Hello Pete, thanks for slipping by so presume you are the 'ang moh sai' [bananaz]? ക
I just had a debate with my friend over which is easier to learn - mandarin or cantonese? I say cantonese because I speaks cantonese. He said Mandarin cos he speaks mandarin!
So which is easier to learn? I thought Mandarin is tough cos it has four different tones! Then I learn that Cantonese has more than 7 tones! Gosh! Maybe my friend was right! : )
And maybe that would give me more encouragement to learn Mandarin! Haha!
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