the missing study partner and other stories...

Thursday, 8th May 2008 – 2:14pm Singapore time

It’s the day before the final paper, and I am studying in school, as always… Cheryl Freshie is nowhere in sight… I suspect that she is still bed…

Anyway, I bumped into the cleaning lady who’s super nice and friendly… She asked if I had my lunch, and then she asked me,

“Are you Malay or not?”

I proceeded to tell her that I am a mix….

And Auntie goes,

“Chinese-Malay mix is it?”

And I told her that it was Indian-Chinese….

She then asked if I was Muslim and that if I knew any of the Indian languages… I told her that my grandparents spoke Hindi, but I have no knowledge of the language at all… She was on the verge of spouting a Hindi phrase I think, before she stopped herself and asked me,

“You don’t even know a little bit of Hindi?”

I told her,

“Sorry, I don’t.”

I smiled and proceeded to the canteen to get my lunch… I still like the cleaning lady very much, but I wish Prof Lionel Wee was there to explain to her the relationship between one’s language and one’s identity… ;p