How to Call Malays, Chinese and Indians (and Others) in Malaysia

These days there has been a few cases of politicians fling mud at each other, using ethnically sensitive words.

I dunno, back when I was a kid, referring to someone of a different race was quite easy. Everybody used it and anybody understood it.

For example, if you wanted to call a Malay guy (but do not know him), you just say, ”Oi, Mat!” or “eh, Ahmad”.

Similar, if a Malay dude wants to get the attention of a Chinese guy, he’ll probably say, “Eh, Ah Chong!”

And so it goes. I’ve made a table for the major races and for male and female:

I’ve no idea how this convention came about. Usually in our Primary One textbooks, when they describe a group of kids, they always use “Ali, Ah Kau dan Raju” or “Aminah, Ah Mei dan Leela”. Confusing.

For older folks, please use this table below:

Anyway, for men, when in doubt, always use ‘Uncle’. For women, using Auntie on a wrong lady can get you a scolding. So, just use ‘pletty ger’.

Puasa Blues: It’s the Fasting Month Again

It’s going to the fasting month again, in a day or two. First off, I’m not fasting, but I just completed (about) 40 days of partial fast leading up to the National Day in July-August as part of the nationwide campaign by NECF. Heheh, I didn’t complete the 40 days, neither was a total fast, so it can’t compare to Ramadan…

Back when I was a kid, the first day of fasting was always a big thing. We would wait patiently after the 8pm news for the announcement by this old man named Zainal (he wore the standard black and white government name-tag) who was the Penyimpan Mohor Besar Raja-raja (Keeper of the Ruler’s Seal) or something like that.

He would be dressed in spiffy baju Melayu and speak s-l-o-w-l-y announcing when the first day of fasting would be. Why would a 100% Chinese non-muslim family be so intrigued by the Ramadan? Because it’s PUBLIC HOLIDAY, that’s why. Yep, Awal Ramadan was a non-working non-schooling day, woo-hoo! (It’s a trade-off, we didn’t get Nuzul Quran or New Year’s Day).

When my Malay friends in school asked me, “Engko posa ke?” (“Are you fasting?”)
I would answer either, “Tak cukup umur” (under-age) or “Puasa malam” (night fasting).

These days fasting month means heavy traffic after work and my favourite nasi lemak and kuih stalls would be closed in the morning and lunch. Bleh. But there won’t be the normal crowd at the banana leaf rice shop, either.

Anyways, to all my Muslim pals and colleagues, Selamat Berpuasa, Happy Fasting! And a special shout out to my fellow bloggers Mack, Aizuddin, Din, Silencers and Zyrin (hope I didn’t miss out anyone...)

Some Phrases I Don’t Hear Often Anymore

I don’t really know how to introduce off this post. Here’s some words and phrases that I used to hear when I was a kid, and don’t hear them much nowadays.

“Camel Adventure” – The origin of this term comes from a series of advertisements in the 80’s by Camel clothes, showing these tough men in khaki Camel gear driving off road vehicles through muddy, challenging jungle / river treks. So every time we need to drive through treacherous ground (like I do in construction sites), we always call it “Camel Adventure“.

“Tipp-Ex” – It came in a bottle, with a screw-on cap with a brush attached to it. You used it to correct mistakes in typing and writing. Later, there was “Liquid Paper” (also originally in a bottle & brush) then came Pentel (in the famous red plastic bottle), and now they come in pens.

The term can be used as a verb, like “I need to Tipp-Ex this mistake.”

“Blanco” – This is a wonder stuff your parents used to make their canvas shoes super white. It also comes in a bottle and brush, you have to dilute it with water every time you used it. Then you wipe it on your CLEAN, wet shoes (although we were always lazy and applied it on our dirty shoes). I believe the most common brand was Kiwi.

Can also be used as a verb, as an, “Don’t forget to Blanco your shoes.”

“Jaws” – name given to anyone wearing braces or teeth plates. I’m not sure about this, but I think the origin of it from one of the James Bond movies, where the bad guy had a giant henchman, and he had silver capped teeth, and his nickname was ‘Jaws’. Ergo, the called anyone with braces that name. Maybe it could be from the movie ‘Jaws’, too, I’m not to sure.

Curry-puff hair – my mother-in-law still uses this term. For guys (back in the old days), after slicking back your hair with Brylcreem (everybody used it back then), some times they come the hair across the top of their head again, making front bob of hair (‘jambul’) which looks like that famous Malaysian pastry, the curry puff.

“Harga Bata (Bata price)” – Every small town in Malaysia had at least one Bata shoe shop. And they were the first to pioneer the concept of prices like “$3.99” and “$19.99”. It’s psychological, its $20, but you THINK it’s less than $20. Sneaky. And, yes, back then were used the “$” symbol instead of MYR and RM. So since then, when shops like Carrefour and Giant use prices like that, we always refer to it as ‘harga Bata’.