Tuesday, November 03, 2009
இ Baŋäŋaz இ
November 03 2009 a great Bananic day for this maiden post. Don't get me wrong when I refer 'white thoughts..yellow skin' that does not connect me to be a racist just emphasising on the colors of nature. Some brief introduction on "Banana People" or in Mandarin "香蕉人" {xiāngjiāorén} according to the MDBG Chinese-English Dictionary - "banana person (yellow outside, white inside) / mildly pejorative term used by Chinese for assimilated Asian Americans / Westernized person of Asian appearance". Our parents may have their own specific reasons to send us to English schools. Sometimes Bananaz are ridiculed by the acronym of 'OCBC' Bank - 'Orang China Bukan China' meaning "Chinese but not Chinese". There are many criteria to be considered bona fide Chinese, but the most important of all is not to "wàng běn"{忘本} forget your roots. The wise men said, "if you don't speak or write the Chinese language "méiwèntí" {没问题} no problem, can learn and pick up later but most crucial must know how to write your own Chinese name in full." That's easy Bananaz..yoo hoo..!!!For those Bananaz or non Chinese who have all the passion and burning desire to learn how to read, write and speak Mandarin language this is a must weblog for you, click HERE for your online lessons with MeiChun lǎoshī who is committed to share her invaluable experiences.
MeiChun Jones (Jeannie)
This Is It..have to end here and will try to gather what the "names calling" from English educated vs Mandarin educated in my next post. Would like to share this brilliant poem that I found in one of the dormant blog "Short Horse Tales" in which author, LeeMeiEe expressed her Bananaz feelings superbly. Learning is for learning sake and its for one self and nobody can ever take that knowledge away from you. I have to agree to her point we cannot take care of too many things in life moreover I am also SAM - 'Saya Anak Malaysia', even though my beloved mama said I came from a stone most likely I suspected from Jupiter; would be even better if from Krypton then I'll be SuperBananaz.
BANANA PEOPLE
We are named after this beloved fruit
Whose skin outside is yellow to suit,
Whose fruit inside is white as off-white could be,
How? You might wonder, did this stereotype come to be?
Well, we too, sport a yellow skin,
But our tongues wag white, which is not in kin
“If you don’t speak Chinese….,” so they say,
“You are not Chinese enough!” and that’s the way.
Our own kind deem to treat us like weed,
And that hurts very much indeed,
We dream of a nation united, is always the case,
But how could that be, when united we are not as a race?
Call us whatever name you like,
Banana People are strong as a dyke
Within us, there is NO colour divide
Within us, UNITY will reach far and wide
