my pride and prejudice

The first book on the left- Life The Malaysian Style. i give this book 41/2 out of 5

The second book on my right-General Principles of Malaysian Law. i can't give my verdict on this one as i have yet to progress from reading its cover.hehe

i got the first book out of many tantrums to go to MPH.seriously, Penang lacks bookstores, and from where i'm staying now, i have a lot more to say than book reading facilities.

so off i went to Sunway Carnival Mall, where there's only Popular around.not that i mind so much, but it just goes to show how true my earlier words are.*penang. ohh. where can thy find a book to peace thy mind.*

i had a list i wanted to get, but considering the amount of money i had in my wallet, its only enough for two books.there was A Thousand Splendid Suns, two or three of John Grisham's (yes, there is no legal blood out there who does not fancy his books), the silver embroided book in hard cover bound by Cecilia Ahern, i don't know whats it called, but i have been collecting off Cecilia's for ages now, Elivabeth Gilbert's on Eat Pray Love (i have strong reviews and recommendations from Oprah show on this one) and just exceptionally many, MANY others.

i have to be strong hearted to choose Khaled's over the others, and just for the sake of it, i bought Life The Malaysian Style. at once, i was so condemned on running back to Popular and buy John Grisham's instead. i was afraid this book from Pelanduk Publications will not meet my taste.

MY TASTE?

i dislike romance novels and chick flicks book based.i'm no good in imagining romantic figure unless it dances in front of my eyes.and believe me, being me, i can count just how many exex from high school can turn everythig around in the future and sweep his ex-girlfriend off her feet for prom night's mistake.no,i read on fictions mostly. Harry Potter as you all might have already known, Lord of The Rings (i started abandoning the book when i realised i have no keen interest to indulge in medieval literature), Narnia. i enjoyed Jodi Piccoult too because her books are rich and real and she's very knowledgeable.my personal fave were My Sister's Keeper and The Tenth Circle, both on remarkable family ties that (trust me), you've never seen before. i enjoyed Cecilia Ahern because its not all about Romeo and Juliet or Jack and Rose in Titanic, it teaches me that somethimes the world needs someone as resilient as Sandy Short to make it a better place( A Place Called Here).

okay, back to the book.

well, Life The Malaysian Style is mainly a book on short stories, all of them collected form the author's life experience.it made me laugh, it made me think i'm a dull because i'm malaysian and there is so much i didn't know of my own country and people, it awed me, and it struck me. again, i'm hooked and rooted.

things i didn't know:

1. i didn't know that like the Hokkien dialect in Penang is different from that of Kuala Lumpur.it is described as not-so-subtle, it got me thinking of how Penang dialect spoken by Malays are different from ones in Kuala Lumpur.

2. i didn't know some malay words are actually originated form chinese, for example, Pokai that we used to say as an excuse for money shortage is actually a chinese word in the same meaning.

3. chinese feng shui and their superstitions-that got me amazed.

this book is not just about the three races, its about Malaysian at large.its about our lifestyle-our believes in arranged marriage, doctors and engineers as the elite jobs,our spicy and sweet tongue, our fuzziness and the way we pry on our neighbours and friends' lives, the on-going politics, our Yang di- Pertuan Agong as a sign of democratical monarchy, about roti canai and teh tarik,about selendangs and saris, about what makes us US.

personally, i can say that i am prod of my roots, with the dreams to go the distance.i'm on my way to reach my goals now, but sometimes bits of life, or as Mun likes to call them "the series of unfortunate events" often pass by.

i once read in one of my friend of a friend's blog, that she has this one other friend(okay, it's confusing slight) that, despite of being born and fed off Malaysia, manages to say this:

that friend: oh, so u would be taking *so and so* course?where?

my friend's friend: oh, in U..(somewhere in Malaysia)

that friend: oh, ur going to do it locally?(with snickers and sarcasm in the words) x jadilah i nak mintak tolong u ble u dah keje nanti. i ingat u buat kat oversea.

my friend's friend: huh?what's that suppose to mean? (obviously la marah kan?)

that friend: chill lah..when u have a broken car nanti, obviously u want to go for the best kan? not to some torn-down mechanics.

so that friend, with all the malay blood running down her or his veins, was proud to compare Malaysians graduate from Malaysia to a torn down mechanic.so much for being civilised and liberal right?

i knew, and i know more than i should know, that this beloved country has given me more opportunity than i could ask for.my country has never encountered segregrations of any form.not like in United States where whites and coloured were separated.not like in Afghanistans were women were not seen as equals, not like in China were women, again, were married young.my country, my Malaysia, has lived through intellectual and spirited prime ministers solved issues through speeches, discussions, debates, let people see through them, let people know that fighting is not the answer, let our people be freed from any sort of terrorizations,from then until now, from Independance to the Wawasan 2020. so that the generation now, can walk the streets they walk, befriend with other races, go to school as kids and graduate as adults from university, work to support families and prune our country's economy.i'm not saying we're the best, i'm saying we're grateful enough that our children are learning ABCs instead of putting up bombs and guns.we have so much to thank for, our country that has presevere so much to provide and nurture the children, into blossoming adults, maybe more than that friend can be.

i am a Malaysian born, Malaysian educated and i will serve my country.

thank you, Peggy Tan, author of Life The Malaysian Style.