I stayed in a dominantly Chinese area with Chinese neighbours on the four fronts. There are so few Malay neighbours, lesser still good Malay neighbour that we can exchange/share family banters/matters. One of the few family friends happened to have a son about the same age as my son. He have many cousins that studied at Sri Inai Primary School, Ulu Klang..
That was how my son(and later my daughter) got enrolled to join Sri Inai Primary school in 1999.
Back then I have two younger sisters in-law staying in our home. Four Trengganu adults with a boy of pre-schooling age and his sister, some four years younger .
A week after my son enrolled to study in Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Inai, I got a surprise telephone call from the headmistress at my office.
“Can I speak to Encik Wan Mohd Sharif, please! ” came a sweet but rather commanding voice.
My heart went dub dub.. who in this neck of wood can be so polite and commanding at the same time..
“Yes, this is Wan Mohd Sharif speaking, can I know who is on the line please!”.
“ I am Cikgu Xxxxxx , the Headmistress for Sekolah Sri Inai” came a reply.
“ OH! has my son been up to no good “ I blurted my innermost fear..
“No! not that bad!.. his behaviour has been exemplary”
“Ah good! that was a relief of sort. May I know if I can be of help” I braved myself thinking that the worst was definitely over..
“You see, Encik Wan, this is an English school, we encourage pupils to speak English”.
‘Oh, oh!.. I think I am guilty there as I do not spend too much time speaking English at home, since nobody else is too comfortable to speak English there”.
“We do not mind if new pupil speak bahasa at time” the Headmistress continued, brushing aside my “I am guilty comment”.
“You mean my son spoke bahasa all the time!” I was pretending to be at loss then ;)
“That would not be too bad.. HE SPOKE IN TRENGGANU DIALECT ALL THE TIME!.. and no body can understand much of what he said ” came an astounding reply.
“Oops!” I blurted out. “Maybe exposure to four Trengganu adults do not augur well for my son’s English” I said in resigning mode.
The conversations that followed was the normal counselling of me by the headmistress.. ;((
As a continuation of buka puasa food, we have fried cempedak and fried poh pia.. (oily oily food to satisfy our non-Trengganu daughter’s taste ;)) for iftar last evening. Not much to show just to add a not so good photo to the posting ;).
Have a nice day..
Ramadhan Kareem and Eid Mubarak..
32 comments:
HAHA!
It's like a Scottish's child's first day at an American school.
Salam Ayoh Wang,
I think the east-coasters are very patriotic when it comes to their dialect...and I mean, everywhere they go and whoever they meet! :D
memang east-coasters very proud of their dialect. they even 'localise' english.. hehehe.. ingat lagi zaman di UK when the kelantanese boys would say 'kito jjuppo di tottene kokrok kor kanabi sterik?' jenuh non-kelantanese nak decipher Tottenham Court Road and Carnaby Street..
back home when i was a child in terengganu, gi tengok wayang "Jess Bong'..favourtie actor pulok Jek Peleng.. hancusss..
That Sri Inai was in Ulu Klang, wasn't it? Is it still in existence ?
I bet you felt like a schoolkid being counselled by the headmistress. LOL. I've been to Tganu twice already and I have to say I love the people there, very hospitable and smile at the ready. :-)
Kah! Kah! Kah!
(Now that is definitely not my normal laughter - I am more the He he he type)
My angelic five year old daughter Ikesha is pelat - to the highest degree. I suppose I can blame our household that speaks in Bahasa Melayu, Bahasa Indonesia, English, sings in French and at times, speak Kelantanese.
The problem is she understands everybody. Oh! Rue the one who fails to understand her 2 to 3 minute commentary of the day.
Anyway, we see the light at the end of the tunnel. After watching the final instalment of Harry Potter, she has finally conquered the words Voldermort, Snape and Slytherin, Harry, Happy, Hello (anything that starts with H), Weaseley. And her favourite - Dumbledore. Ron still gives her problems.
With all her difficulties at forming words, she is the most focused student during her mengaji lessons at Uztazah's house!
So, I can imagine your feelings, Ayoh Wang when you received that phone call!
Ayoh Wang,
Ekseng lah guru besor tu. Budok royak gganu, dialah kena bimbing biar panda kecek inggerih tu, bakpe nok "counselling" yohwang pulok? Bahasa menunjukkan bangsa, kan? That's why we're all home schooled. Imagine ada guru besor telpong ke Mama komplen kata anok2 ni miung aje. purrrr *giggles*
Although I cannot verify your statement.. I believed you are on the dot Sir Pök Déng .. HA HA!..
Wa’alaikumussalam Lili ,
Maybe you are right about the east-coasters being very patriotic when it comes to their dialect. I was out of Trengganu and land up in Tanjong Malim for 5 good years, 3 years in Seremban and another 4 in Penang (Tanjung).. I can campur aduk Perak, Kedah and Penang dialect, well versed in Kelate and Gganu but not at all Negri or Javanese.. hopefully I can still be considered patriotic at country level;))
Puan Hajjah Puteri,
Ah .. the film "Jess Bong' entitled “ de man with de goldeng gung”
Being someone from fisherman village I am more familiar with 'gganu localise' English – such as plewe (flywheel), startar (starter) gohed (go ahead), gostan (go astern), ejus (exhaust) and of late sucksorbar (shocks absorber).
I guess with right company my English can be quite difficult to decipher ;))
Dearest Abang Hassan,
Yes that Sri Inai was in Hulu Klang. It is no longer in existence, the KL branch at least. The school was sold to a group of Saudis, locks stock and barel ??!.. it is now called Saudi School. It has been on the decline with the coming of the new millennium.. the younger “pewaris’ were not too interested in the affair of the school as can be seen from the declining result.. about 80% of my son’s friend quit the school after standard six (2005).. so I guess it make economic sense to sell it to the highest bidder.
I believe the PJ branch may still be there, though.
Coffee Girl dearest.
You were right about me feeling like a school kid being counselled by the headmistress. Somehow I felt very small.. I felt cancelled rather than counselled.. LOL. Glad to know you have been to Tganu twice already and found the people “tres agreeable”...
ninot dearest ,
somehow I always read your blog first (if it is there on my dashboard) after finishing most of new posting on blogs that I followed, then only I read comments to my latest posting.. hence my little confusion when I commented on you Ikesha posting.
Ouch! Her pelat is of highest degree.. now that it is the last phase of Ramadhan maybe we should pray that Allah take away her “pelat” and replace it with moderate fluency.. we do not want her to speak faster than the speedboat.. do we? ;))
Thank you for your understanding.. my feeling on receiving that phone call ;))
Cat-from-Sydney dearest,
Maybe lah that guru besor ekseng sikit.. As a person on the receiving end that “counselling" Ayoh Wang has to go through.. it felt like a “cancelling “ session.. all my interjection during the telecommunication has been quickly cancelled ;))
Your mum has been a super duper home teacher .. with her feline student understanding ‘real mathematic’ and has been advising ayoh wang on many matters. If anyone want to complain maybe they would complain about too much giggles coming from the house.
Ayoh Wang,
I laugh reading all the comments esp the one from kak Kama...Jess Bong! Muahahaha!
I have families in Gganu too...and I remember when my cousin got her SPM results and announced to us: I GOG GREG WANG. =))
Dear Ayoh Wang,
Alhamdullillah. Her pelat is disappearing fast this Ramadan. And it seems because Bik is away, her English is improving. Her sentences start with Because, But or Harry nowadays. And Voldermort. And out of the blue... Bik...
Ha...ha...ha...(mintok maaf gelak dulu) Salam Ayoh Wang, That reminded me of my early years 'keluar dari tempurung' east-coast coming to kay el. Really it took some times to neutralize the 'budu' effect. Some of my fellow Ganukite however suffered the irreversible effect after too much exposure to the 'unbudu' treatment. That was very unfortunate!
Eid mubarak to you and your family. Maaf zahir batin.
Lili dearest,
Yes, We do have other type of Jess Bong in Trengganu of old.. the one who usually goes around “lebong sana sini (talking, full of lies, here and there)
HA HA .. I GOG GREG WANG. .. that’s a good one!
Psst, My friend Ninotaziz told me once “In poets blogsphere, it is said that when fellow poets visit your blog twice, they are true and loyal blog friends... you can see she also visited here twice ;))
Ninot dearest,
Alhamdullillah indeed!. Her pelat is disappearing fast and her English is improving and out of the blue... Bik...
Ohh! she must be missing her Bibik..
Ps..You see I have been talking about you ... in my comment before this one ..(above) hope it is OK with you..
Wa’alaikumussalam DrSam.
My early years 'keluar dari tempurung' east-coast coming to Tanjung Malim..really it took some times to neutralize the 'budu' effect, so thick (pekat) was my “Trengganuspeak” that the seniors gave me a name that only befits an alien ;)). Too much exposure to the 'unbudu' treatment... irreversible?? Eksen lah tu... saggong.... how unfortunate indeed!
I wonder what does one call 3rd time visitors...
Hi Wan Sharif, ha ha, I enjoyed this posting.
And yes, that Trengganu accent like a foreign language.
I used to have real problems when phoning or speaking to the contractors there.
Oh ya, Malaysian children coming to study here too ada problems with their friends, because of the Malaysian accent and their, "yes la, no la", ha ha ha.
Have to tease them "saya ta'faham, you boleh chakap England..."? Ha ha ha.
Have a nice day. Ada senang drop by.
Have a nice day.
Lee.
Dearest Ninot,
Third time visitor in poets blogsphere..if I can suggest "a partner in rhyme" ha ha ha..
in Trengganuspeak the Melayu in me will consider "adik-kakak" or relatives -in -anglais.. no! no, I am pulling you leg..
Definitely you have to ask sherry blue sky for a proper answer. ;))
Brother Lee,
Agree with you that the Trengganu accent is like foreign language to most Malaysian. My personal experience a group of Kedah folk came to visit Trengganu.. the remark from the Kedah folk .."we speak to the Trengganu folk like a chicken speaking to ducks".Luckily I was there to act as interpreter to smooth out the transaction :)
You boleh cakap England?! LOL
Have difficulty to comment at the office.. nanti lepas puasa banyak time sikit nak think of good comment to your posting.. tak senang pun tetap baca blog sifu ninjalogy ;)))
Have a good day Lee..
ada tak kawan you yang sambut idilfitri di sana?
*chuckle* I think my heart even pounded a little in empathy over your phone call from the principal! that food looks good to me, and I've just had breakfast!
Salam Ayoh Wang,
How can I not read this post and the corresponding comments without a smile :-)
Reminds me of the first time I was posted to Dungun many years ago. The first night I went for dinner at a food stall, the pretty young lass who took my order asks, `Nak makang mende?'
My first thought was, mende ke hape? Aduh...
Hi Wan Sharif, here's wishing you and family the very best of hari raya.
Di susun sepuluh jari, meminta maaf zahir dan batin.
Happy holidays!
Selamat hari raya, my friend.
Lee.
Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, mon ami :)
Mmm.. you sure are a sensitive soul Dmarie and thank you so much for that emphatic feel..
Oh that food looks and tasted very good after +14 hours of fasting ;) LOL
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Dearest Oldstock,
Thank you for such a lighthearted comments
MUNG DOK KABBOR KEDIA.. AKU DOK PAHAM STARRANG (sikit haram)
Thank you for the Hari raya wish brother Lee.
May you have a nice and perfect days ahead..
Merci bien Pat.. a bientot peut-etre
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