i refer to yant's recent post.. the one with the nerdy lab shots (geez. thk god i dont hav lab sessions)..

nah.. im nt gonna comment on her photos.... it'll jus make her more of a narcissist...

its her views on the melayus tt i want to extend.. the so-called "educated" melayus..

in her post, miss lalala asserted that "malays, the smarter they are, the more they dun wan to be into their culture. either they dun wan to or they r not exposed much to the malay world. perhaps that's y their smart cos they're not realli into being a malay "

ok. lets break her assertions down.. one by one.

1) Malays, the smarter they are, the more they dun wan to be into their culture.

By culture im assuming that miss lalala is referring more towards the arts.. or wat is known as "seni". This includes malay dance, dikir barat, silat, dondang sayang, berpuisi, bersajak etc..

Yes, i agree tt there seems to be a correlation between academic intellectuals and interest in seni(or in this case, lack thereof). Here, i'd like to offer a few explanations to support this point of view.

i) these so-called "intellects" might think tt seni is a waste of time and is for the mats and minahs of the community. IOW, they think they're too good for it.

ii) they have not exposed to seni from young.. more used to staring at books or playing chess for hours at length. as a result, they don't know how to appreciate seni.

iii) they're not used to speaking malay(bcoz of the startlingly minute number of mlys in jcs n unis). hence, even if they're interested, they figure that they wont be able to fit in with the seni crowd who they deem "very the melayu".

iv) CBB (Cant Be Botherd) Attitude.

v) certain associations with religion which i dont like to talk about coz it just gets me pissed and worked up. and also, i dun think im of enough knowledge and/or stature to air my point of view without getting slammed or slandered.


2) They r not exposed much to the malay world. Perhaps that's y their smart cos they're not realli into being a malay

pfft. where do i begin? hmmm.. lets just say that in my humble opinion, miss lalala wasnt reali thinking when she wrote this sentence.. For one, there's a huge grammatical error (hee hee) .. and two, its biased.

i think miss lalala was trying to establish that most "smart malays" were not brought up in the typical, or should i say, the more traditional malay family. What i mean by this is that most "smart malays" are raised in english speaking families or more liberal minded families OR families which just simply do not have the (i hate using this word) 'typical' melayu mentality. Less restriction translates to more freedom which when channeled correctly, may produce an individual with an open and thus, more receptive mind. So generally this is y they might become smarter.

But, i guess the point of contention in this statement is the phrase "not into being a malay".

for this, i have to ask.. wat does 'being a malay' constitute of?

Lets assume that 'being a malay' refers to being into malay related stuff like culture, language, etc.

By saying that ppl are smart because they're not into being a malay, then how do we explain cikgu ariff ahmad? dr yaacob ibrahim? mr maidin packer mohd?

these ppl are definitely into being a malay.. but can u dare say tt they are not smart?

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this.. dilution of culture issue seems to have been an age old debate.. and it seems to always be argued together with the westernization of the east.

is it a valid issue?

yes, very much so.

is mly culture reali suffering?

im afraid so..

is it onli applicable to us?

unfortunately no....

look around, better yet, ask around.. im sure u'll find some chinese friends who can tell u of chinese ppl who diss mandarin.. i used to know someone like tt.. it was very sad to see.. i'm also quite sure u can find indian friends who choose to forgo certain traditions.. for various reasons..

i do agree tt sometimes, certain traditions, superstitions and taboos should be forgone.. bcoz, like it or nt, it may hinder us from moving along in this fast paced digital age. but there also needs to be a balance.. and a point where we draw the line. we must learn to appreciate our customs, art and traditions. we must develop a passion for it.. bcoz no one else is going to....

or else, one day, all tts left of our culture will be history.




teringat akan dialog terakhir SAM: "ini kisah tentang manusia, yang kebetulannya bernama Melayu"

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