What did he say ?

Hey all

I wonder if any of you still blog or reads this. But whatever I'll write anyway...

Just came back from Genting Malaysia and had a great holiday with my family. Genting was fun and a great tourist spot. Although Malaysia isn't far from Singapore the default language used in Malaysia is malay rather than english in Singapore.

I am a Singaporean who sadly cannot count to ten in malay. It caused me many inconveniences when everyone you meet and buy something from always tells you the price in malay. It is rather awkward to have to say "pardon me?" and then try to converse with them in english.

Perhaps it is because they assumed i was a malaysian which by default would have received training in the language. I was fortunate that malaysians speak english, if not i would probably have to resort to non verbal cues.

To conclude, language and words are vital in communication. It is always good to learn at least the basics of the language of your neighbouring country or the country you are going to travel to and that would give you a huge convenience. For singaporean chinese who can't speak a word of malay, i suggest you at least learn the bare minimum to get you by.(this is not hard if you have malay or malaysian friends)

A side reason perhaps is because Singaporean and Malaysians have so much in common and we look so similar that in Malaysia it is inevitable that people initiate conversations with you in Malay. Being able to understand will really bring about lots of convenience.

Cheers