My “Story behind a picture” series contains posts, where I present one photo only, and a commentary to explain the context and what is happening there. All of these mini stories are either interesting, shocking, nice, extraordinary, or perhaps typical for a given community or place, but strange for visitors from elsewhere. Or they are simply interesting from some other point of view. Anyway, I will try to keep them short. (And sweet? – we will see.)
These are some of the books I got from my Malay language teacher to practice Malay grammar. But look closely: besides Malay, there is writing on them in another language: Chinese.
Yes, my Malay teacher is Mr. Lee, who is a nice Chinese young man. He teaches Malay as a foreign language in one of the Chinese primary schools in Ipoh. Yes, there are a lot of Chinese people in Malaysia, and they have their own schools, where most of the subjects are taught in Chinese (Mandarin). Some others are taught in Malay, and Malay language is also compulsory. The children must also learn (and use) Mandarin Chinese – and of course English, because that is obviously necessary. A good mix of languages, eh?
But the children don’t speak Mandarin at home. Their mother tongue here in Ipoh is Cantonese, which is of course Chinese, but very different from standard Mandarin. Mr Lee tells me, that if any of the children are caught speaking Cantonese rather than Mandarin at school, they will be beaten. Yes, they beat the children here with a stick: for speaking Cantonese, for not learning well, for failing to do their homework, or for behaving improperly.
Mr Lee also told me that although the school is Chinese, there are a lot of Malay and Indian students, too. I was surprised to hear this, but Mr Lee said: “but why, of course they send their children here for the Mandarin language. Because they understand that in just a few years’ time, the whole world will speak Chinese.”
To be honest, I took this info with a pinch of salt. A little bit of exaggeration, I said to myself, is always forgivable.
And then I talked to an Indian man, who said: “I, of course, send my children to a Chinese school, because you know, they should be able to get somewhere in life.” What do you mean? – I asked. “Well, first of all,” he said, “they will learn Chinese. And this is a big thing, because in a few years’ time, the whole world will speak Chinese”.
Check out some more of my Story Behind the Picture posts:
The grass is greener on the other side of the fence
How to avoid electoral fraud – with ink
Always remember the face of those you depend on
Waiter in Laos shares his food with me
The Kindness of Indonesian people
