Cross-Cultural Conversations

Observations by a Malaysian studying in Australia

Maturity

Last Wednesday I fell down on the dry, hardened land while playing lunchtime soccer, and had my knees and palms bleeding. Now, 4 days later, I look at the scarred spots and notice the lavish amount of scabs that have developed since. Scabs are a lot like good wine or cheese; they take time to properly mature. It might take days, weeks, or even months, but as you satisfactorily scrape off those ripe, red scabs to reveal fresh, pink skin, you realise that the wait was well worth it. 

posted by: Tembaga2 at 09:43 | link | comments (2) |

10 Things I Miss Most About The Ramadhan Experience In Malaysia.

1. The intense moment as we all wait for the Penyimpan Mohor Besar Diraja to very slowly announce the first day of Ramadhan.

2. Sitting at the dinner table staring at my food while impatiently waiting for the Azan announcement over RTM 1, signalling that it's finallly Maghrib time for Kuala Lumpur "dan kawasan-kawasan yang sewaktu dengannya".

3. Checking my tummy to see if fasting has done any positive impact on my weight reduction program.

4. Taking a 4 hour long "powernap" and conveniently waking up at 7.12 pm, giving myself a full two minutes to prepare food to break my well-executed fast for the day. This rarely happens, I promise you.

5. Checking out the good Raya advertisements on TV. My all-time favourite would have to be Perodua's ad, where a rich couple in a Mercedes crosses paths with the humble Kancil and refuses to give way, forcing the Kancil to drive to the edge of the road yet still remaining calm and friendly, in the process, making the snobs feel embarrassed by their immature attitude. It should also serve as a reminder to the bad Malaysian drivers to have some courtesy while they're on the road. After all, jalan ni bukan bapak kau yang punya!

6. Jejak Rasul 1, 2, 3 dan 4.

7. My chance to show off my excellent choice of Baju Melayu material and colour, only to be outmatched by my younger brother's apparently better colour and cloth material.

8. Trying to perfect my skill of drinking but not technically "drinking" the water when I take a shower during the day.

9. Those Ramadhan food bazaars in Taman Tun and Bangsar. Oh kuih seri muka cantik berseri di manakah engkau di pasar ini?!?

10. The intense moment as we all wait for the Penyimpan Mohor Besar Diraja to very slowly announce the end of Ramadhan.

posted by: Tembaga2 at 04:36 | link | comments (3) |

Run Boy Run

I arrived in Melbourne from Geelong to get my airline ticket to Kuala Lumpur validated and also to meet up with a friend. Having arrived at 3.35 pm, my first agenda was to go to the Malaysia Airlines office in Nauru House before they close for the day. Being the overconfident person that I am, I didn't bother to note down the address of Nauru House, or bring a map of Melbourne's CBD, relying instead on my memory of visiting the place 6 months ago.

My overconfidence paid off as I found myself in Little Collins St, which means Collins St where Nauru House is situated, must be close by. I instead found myself in William St. No worries, I'm just passing through. The great thing about Melbourne is that, like New York, it's designed in a grid pattern, so a pedestrian like me can simply criss-cross one street to get to the other. As long as I stick with Little Collins St I'll eventually get to Collins St.

I found myself passing through Queen St, Elizabeth St, Swanston St and all the way to Exhibition St, and nowhere nearer to Nauru House, let alone Collins St. This grid system isn't that great after all. I didn't want to criss-cross from one street to the next anymore, I simply want to get to my destination.

Eventually, through pure luck, or perhaps my in-born global navigation sense was finally getting into gear, I found Collins St. I had to choose whether to go left or right, and my instinct told me to go right. Because it was already 4.15 pm, I decided to run. I felt like that red-haired German woman in Run Lola Run, running through the city while others went about doing their mundane daily business, although I like to think I ran faster and more importantly, am considerably handsome.

Having reached the end of Collins St, I was perplexed that Nauru House was still nowhere in sight. I asked a local bloke if he knew where it was. "It's at the other end mate".

posted by: Tembaga2 at 01:36 | link | comments (2) |

Go Ride A Wave

I just came back from an hour of surfing, or more correctly, learning how to surf at Anglesea where we had our Boarders' Camp. Thankfully it was a sunny day, which was unexpected as it's been raining the whole week. The wind, however, was extremely strong, which I think was the reason why I was a total failure at surfing, although it didn't explain why my friends had little difficulty balancing themselves on their surfboards.

What I really liked about the whole learning-how-to-surf experience was that, at the end of it, our surf instructor asked us to clean our sand-filled surfboards. Of course, the manual labour of washing our surfboards is nothing to be excited about, but I like the concept of being responsible for your actions. Too often, we have fun and expect others to clean up the mess we leave behind.

I have always placed a huge emphasis on civic-consciousness, and I really dislike the way some people indiscriminately throw rubbish all over the place. Who do the expect will take that rubbish of theirs and place it in the bin? God? The powerful force of the wind?

They probably expect the garbage collectors and roadside sweepers to pick up the rubbish they throw, after all that's what those people are for aren't they?

posted by: Tembaga2 at 09:36 | link | comments |