As Good As It Gets

Our country,Malaysia, consists of different cultures, ethic groups, and traditions. To my friends in Peninsular Malaysia, when mention about diversity of races, I mean it is not only Malay, Chinese and Indian.

Remember, our country consists of minority groups particularly in the East side of Malaysia. There are Iban, Kenyah, Kayan, Kelabit, Melanau etc. From what I know, there are also minority groups in Peninsular Malaysia there such as Orang Asli, Siamese, etc.

I come from a minority group called Kayan.We are from a larger community called Orang Ulu. We have our own distinct culture, language and lifestyle.

I was just browsing the website, and I found out that Kayan people has a total population of 27,000 people in Malaysia.Malaysia has a total population of 27 million. That makes us consist of 0.001 percent of total Malaysia population!

Hmmm…0.001 percent,small percentage.

Advantage of being a Kayan boy.

Only 0.001 percent of the total population can speak Kayan, so if I go to KL and start to swear foul language randomly on the street,no one will understand me.Hahahah.

I can use a secret password for my friendster, Yahoo mail etc, without worrying that a non-technical person will crack my password.Yahoo!

I am EXOTIC.Haha.I am like a rare white tiger, elusive and hard to track.At least that is how I look at myself when I compare myself to my friends.

I can pretend to be a tourist,when the circumstance needs me to pretend to be one.For instance, one time,I was lost inside a building somewhere in KL.So, I unintentionally entered a room which I was not supposed to be in.Then, the stout and fierce security guard who was there confronted me. He asked me "Hey,buat apa sini?Mana boleh masuk!". So, I spoke to him in BM intertwined with Kayan. He gave me a blank stare and I explained to him that I was a tourist and got lost in the building. He asked me "Are you Thai?". Without hesitation, I answered "Yeah,sawa dee kap". So, he let me go, and I was spared from taken to the head security. Huhu.

Disadvantage

People give a sharp, blank stare when ever I tell someone my ethnicity.

I have to work 3 X harder compared to everyone in anything I do.Well, I do not know how to properly explain it here, but being a minority is not easy, a lot of you out there would not understand the feeling of being dejected, racism issues, double standard etc.

If you are a Sarawakian, you know that Kayan people is being stereotyped as jungle people, primitive, reject the wave of development and do not speak English.No, I know many Kayans who are very successful in their own field, without government assistant.Despite our status as bumi, but it does not help a lot.We work hard to achieve our goal in life,because being a Kayan is not easy especially in Malaysia.

I know some Kayan relatives who were physically abused just because who they are.Its really sad.

Hmmm…well, I am a human.No matter what is the background,there are problems in life.Life gotta go on! Chiaow!!!

This entry was posted on Friday, June 20th, 2008 at 5:09 am and is filed under General Post. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.