A Foreigner Reading Our Papers

Published by simon on November 17, 2005

About 10 years ago, I met this guy, a foreigner from another continent, who had just arrived in Malaysia to pursue a post-graduate degree here. One day over breakfast, he asked me this question:

Friend: Hey Simon, I’ve been reading your local newspapers recently, and there’s a few words I don’t understand.

Me: Don’t read the Malay papers or Chinese papers of you don’t understand la.

Friend: No, no. It was the English papers.

Me: Really? Were they swear words?

Friend: I don’t think so.

Me: What words?

Friend: One of them I keep reading in the front few pages everyday. I think it’s some national concept or something. ‘Kelantan’.

Me: Eheheh… It’s not a national concept, my friend. It’s one of the states in the East Coast.

Friend: Really? Why is it always mentioned in the national news?

Me: I dunno. Probably because its one of the few states in Malaysia ruled by an opposition government.

Friend: Oh I see. Then there’s this other word I can’t figure out. It’s always mentioned in the papers – ‘rakyat’. What on earth does it mean?

Me: That’s easy. It’s Bahasa Malaysia for ‘the people’ or the citizens.

Friend: So why don’t they use the word ‘people’? Does it have a deeper meaning?

Me: No, it means pretty much the same. I suppose some people like to use the word ‘rakyat’ to show that they are connected to the grassroots. I dunno.

Friend: I see. And also this Dr. Mahathir I keep reading, he’s the Prime Minister right? (Bear in mind this was about 10 years ago…)

Me: Yes. He’s quite famous internationally. Haven’t you read about him back home in your country?

Friend: I don’t know. I hardly follow international news back then. But I notice my lecturers always mention this guy ‘Anwar’. He seems like a political hotshot.

Me: Oh, him? Yeah, the media are really playing him up. He’s the DPM, the papers say he will most likely to succeed Dr. Mahathir when he retires.
(Again, bear in mind this was about 10 years ago…)

Friend: Really, how do you spell his name?

Me: ‘A-N-W-A-R’. Same way you spell Anwar Saddat’s name.

Friend: Hmmm… Must remember this guy. He seems like he’s going to big news.

Me: Yeah, I suppose.

Anyway, I suddenly remembered this conversation recently. I’ve lost contact with this pal of mine after he went home, I wonder if he remembers about Anwar after all that had happened…

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