HOW I LEARNT CHINESE

One of the books I studied from

When people first meet me, they will most of the time equate that I am Chinese illiterate and that I am what Malaysian Chinese term as "banana" (yellow outside but white inside - meaning born a Chinese but with western mentality). To make matters worse, I am fluent in both written and spoken English since that is my first language. My parents taught me to speak in English first before Cantonese. I was convent educated and studied in the United Kingdom for a couple of years. My maternal grandparents also spoke with me in that language as both were English educated. To be honest, I read, speak, think and even dream in English even until today. That is why when I speak in Cantonese, Hokkien or Mandarin, you'd notice a slight trace of an English language lilt.

But let me set the record straight, I am Chinese literate. When I was in Standards 4 -6, I attended POL (Pupil's Own Language classes) where I learnt Mandarin. When in secondary school, my dad and Aunt May taught me from three Chinese books 三書 (三字經, 千字文, 初學詩) using Cantonese 粵語. After I finished my Form 5, my dad sent me for Mandarin classes at the YMCA. One of my godmothers (I have 3) also spent some time teaching me from the ancient text 古老書. So, how can I not know Chinese?

What I am trying to get at is that people should not have preconceived ideas about anybody? Yes, I may be fluent and proficient in English (my Malay language is not bad either) but I am by no means someone who do not value the language of my ancestors. I am proud to be Chinese and am equally proud of the Chinese language. I love listening to Mandarin songs and watching Chinese shows and many of the people I idolise are also Chinese.

In a nutshell, Chinese, Malay and English - they are all beautiful languages that I know and appreciate. After all, I am Chinese by ancestry, Malaysian by birth and English by outlook.