Over the past two weeks, I have continued to work on the expression of emotions in Malay and linking this back to other concepts I have learned in the past to build upon them. In addition, I have had the interactive children's nursery rhyme songbook and have been using that to record my voice and practice my pronunciation of Malay words as well as my rhythm. Singing can be one of the best ways to improve these skills, and it is also a lighthearted and fun way of practicing and sharing my experience with my language partner, Melisa. One of the most fun meetings with Melisa was this past Friday morning before our SDLC105 class meeting. She made kuih (tiny snacks) and coffee, and provided traditional Malay attire for me and Mehreen (who joined us that day) to wear. We then watched three very interesting Indie films in Malay that discussed problems facing Malaysia today.
The first film involved two travelers meeting on a northbound train and turned into a discussion of the Malaysia outside of Kuala Lumpur and the importance of preservation of the national language of Bahasa Melayu (very timely with our SDLC105 concurrent discussions). English or "Manglish" is more and more influential and widely spoken in Kuala Lumpur and West Malaysia more broadly, and some fear that this has negatively impacted the country and Malaysian people. This also raised the concern that teachers of the national language were less common or appreciated, which was an interesting insight. It was filmed in the very beautiful landscape of Northern Malaysia on the border with Thailand, where Bahasa Melayu is still widely spoken, albeit with a distinct regional accent. The second film focused on the issue of substance addiction and how it is handled or seen in certain communities. The film introduced a group of young Muslim men living together under the direction of a peer who was studying the Quran and seemingly wanted to become an Imam. One of the men was an alcoholic, and the film offered a perspective that, instead of lambasting or ostracizing him on religious grounds for something he may not be able to control or stop right away, there should be a little more open-mindedness about him and his situation by the religious leader. This is of course controversial in the country, as Muslims there are not permitted to drink alcohol, and raises very interesting points on society over the medium of film. The last film we watched centered upon a biracial boy who was half Chinese and half Malay. The boy struggled to understand his identity alongside his peers, who were either all Chinese or all Malay (though there is of course more diversity in Malaysia than this). Seeing the issue of defining race and subsequently adopting certain identities related to this through the eyes of a child was an effective way of raising the issue - and in the end he made friends as well! This issue is of course not limited to Malaysia, though it is interesting to parallel it to the situation in the United States and see where commonalities and differences occur.
All in all, each of the three films offered a perspective on issues society is grappling with in Malaysia and ultimately improved my understanding of the country and its culture more than I had initially expected.
Comments
What a cool experience! The fact that you got to share in the food, entertainment, and clothing all in one morning is pretty unique! I hope to delve into another language and culture sometime soon to get new experiences with food, entertainment, and clothing since with my target language this year most of the culture that I experience is native to me.
Reading your post made me extremely happy! In one of the SDLC150 classes I remember you mentioning that your previous language learning experience (I think with Mandarin, I’m sorry if I’m remembering it wrong) was extremely intense, so learning that you can also learn a new language in a more relaxed manner made you feel good. Hence, when I read that you were using singing as a lighthearted and fun way of practicing Malay, I feel happy for you.