The Malaysian Identity

this few weeks in oxford has made me more aware of my Malaysian identity than never before. it is because I am surrounded by internationals both at work and at where I am staying now. I am staying at the commonwealth house, which provides accommodation to international visitors to oxford. a typical conversation with people I just met goes like this: I say my name, then I answer the questions where I am from and what I am doing in oxford. then they will enquire about Malaysia, if they vaguely know where the country is or have been for a visit. otherwise, I will feel obliged to tell them something about Malaysia after they have shared about their own countries.

my lab is an incredibly cosmopolitan one. there are 9 of us currently in oxford- the remaining half of the lab is still in London. in the 9, there are 4 british, 1 portuguese, 1 italian, 1 french, 1 new Zealander and 1 malaysian. over our many meals in a day together ( morning coffee, lunch , afternoon tea, and sometimes after-work pub outing… it’s amazing how this lab still publishes papers), the different accents compare how things are in their respective countries, from the weather to scientific practices like wearing labcoats in the lab. during lunch today, we discussed what food to bring for the upcoming lab meeting. it seems expected that we each will be bringing our ‘national dish’. I would have said nasi lemak if i really had to. anyway, it seems like we are going to have the English roast lamb with rosemary and the Portuguese rabbit in port for lunch on the day of the lab meeting. and it seems like we will be having a different type of typically English biscuits for tea each week in the coming weeks because many of us don’t know about them. yesterday, we talked about weddings; the day before we talked about taking driving tests… scientists are ordinary people you see… =)

through the many conversations I have had, I think Malaysians (or Singaporeans for that matter) should not have more difficulty than other Europeans when it comes to settling down in the UK. the continental Europeans are as different from the british as are Asians to the ‘angmohs’. perhaps I am really slow in realizing this. in fact, Malaysians ( and Singaporeans) should be able to adjust more easily because we speak ‘very good english’ and are exposed to much more british culture than we are aware of.

also, I have realized that being Malaysian allows you to identify with people from china, India, and sometimes the middle east as well. for instance, the prc Chinese are often amazed to find that you have a Chinese name and can speak mandarin. since you speak mandarin, they will start inviting you to the social events for Chinese people (which refers to people from china). the Indians I have met have been pleasantly surprised that I could name and describe some of their Indian dishes like the roti canai, which they called prata (so roti prata is the more accurate name for this dough-y thing), and that we have tamil vernacular schools. and the middle easterns all know about petronas.

the malaysian culture is rich and therefore-dare I say- popular. a conversation with an English missionary who was based in KL earlier today set me thinking: what good will it do to the nation, then, if the government still plays by divide-and-conquer tactics. oxford is vibrant because it welcomes internationals. what makes Malaysia if it alienates ethnics who are but Malaysians?