one thing im disappointed abt in uni is how its more a mandarin speaking community than it is an english speaking one.. i dunno if this is the case only in ntu, but its still rather discomforting nonetheless.

tho im quite accustomed to it, due partly to being in commonwealth sec, it still irks me sometimes..

its not like im saying tt ppl shud speak in english all the time... its not like im saying i dun understand wat they're saying.. its not like im saying a mandarin speaking community doesn't cut it for me..

i mean, if everyone involved in the conversation are well-versed in mandarin, fine... go ahead, knock urselves out..

all im saying is that its common courtesy to acknowledge the presence of someone non-mandarin speaking in the group and use a language tt everyone understands.. so tt these ppl (read: strong reference to writer herself) wont miss out on wtv was said..

instead, these ppl go yakking on and on moving on to complex sentences tt the writer has not mastered... YET.

sigh.

put urself in these shoes.. how wud u feel if i plonked u down in the middle of a mat gang sitting at the void-deck?

i tell u, besides hokkien obscenities which may b used sporadically, the rest of the conversations wud just sound like sounds to u. fact is, a tongue which is not a native tongue is a foreign tongue. a foreign language. an alien language. mandarin is foreign to me. malay is foreign to u. unless u're indonesian or malaysian chinese who's comfortable with both tongues.. my salute goes to u man.

not tt i wanna judge and/or stereotype, but i notice tt this "problem" is more pertinent with guys. especially LOCAL GUYS. i am not sure if its bcoz of NS or genetics or the fact tt they're just insensitive, thoughtless and uncaring. nevertheless, it's still not a very nice thing to do. being in a minority group already poses certain inferiority complex issues.. i dun see the need to underscore, bold and highlight them further.

again, not typecasting, but i do realise tt my girl frens and female group mates usually go out of their way to accomodate me and my so-called "shortcomings".

i m not trying to escape the reality of the awakening giant tt is China, i AM trying to learn the language and culture. BUT, this is a seperate matter altogether.


ok.lets put it this way...
i follow project superstar a lil' bit, and i can giv u names of 20 channel 8 and channel u celebs.. but do u even know anything abt vasantham star or anugerah? do u even know they exist?

the question is, should u care?

if not, why should i?

its sad tt time and time again, i have to remind ppl tt we live in SINGAPORE.


im not trying to be demanding. neither am i preaching.

im just hoping tt some ppl would begin to understand..






ps: fyi, its not called the "mari kita", its "Majulah Singapura".