Kecinaan Tercabar

Another long overdue post.

I took a train from Krakow to Warsaw with 14 other Malaysians last Saturday to attend not one, but two Raya open houses! Open houses equals food, and I lurve food. I like seeing my friends in Warsaw too, but hey, good Malaysian food two days in a row? Absolutely fantabulous.

We did take some time off to go sightseeing in Warsaw. They have an Old Town which doesn’t look old. The reason? Feel free to read on your own here. It’s a very short article, so no excuses for not reading it, unless you already know the history of Warsaw’s Old Town.

I’ll let the pictures do the talking now (more pictures on Facebook). And yes, I’ll explain the cabaran my kecinaan faced when the right photo appears. I have several recordings that I thought of editing and uploading, but I’m far too lazy to do that. We’ll see if the hardworking bug kicks bites any time soon.

My compartment buddies for the ride there.

The view from the train on the way to Warsaw.

Touch-down in Warsaw!

The first open house we attended. Oh, Nasi Lemak!

All the Malaysians from my batch who made it to Poland.

The Palace of Culture and Science. A gift from the Soviet Union to Poland. It was quite a sight in the midst of all the modern high-rise buildings. Read more about it here.

FREE HUGS! No, I didn’t get one.

Warsaw Old Town

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the stadium for the upcoming Euro Cup!

This dog’s owner walked into the shop to get something and the dog faithfully waited outside till its master came out. Then it obediently trotted along behind its master.

See the angmoh fella in that blue windbreaker? See the excited face of my friend at the side of the photo? That’s because the angmoh. Speaks. Mandarin. Fluently. He could hold a proper conversation in Mandarin, albeit with a funny accent. Very frankly, it made me feel less of a Chinese than I am. Hence, my kecinaan was challenged.

Second Open House at the Ambassador of Malaysia’s official residence

The very delish satay style chicken. Yum.

All in all I had a good time. I’ll probably be visiting Warsaw several times during my time here in Poland, so then maybe I’ll get bored of it.

Warsaw’s a nice place, definitely more modern than Krakow in terms of architecture and infrastructure. Not that I’m complaining. I like Krakow more because I didn’t come this far to live in a place which looks too much like a small developing town in Malaysia, albeit with blonde haired people and a difficult foreign language. On the upside, the people in Warsaw speak more English than the Krakowians, which would definitely make life a lot easier for non-native Polish speakers like Yours Truly.

Anywho, I’d still choose Krakow over Warsaw.

Of Nasi Lemak & Gwai Loh’s

Before I was a JPA scholar, before I signed a legally binding contract which basically requires me to be a government servant for a minimum of 10 years, people used to tell me that I should get a good education in [insert name of illustrious nation] and then proceed to secure a good job there and settle down there.

Now that I’m a JPA scholar, and I’m pretty much legally-bound to fulfil my duties as a government servant for 10 years when the time comes, people don’t tell me that anymore. They ask me which country I’m headed to, and then pause for a moment to give me strange looks of pity which almost scream ‘too bad the scholarship comes with a bond’. Some have proceeded to put those looks into words and voiced them to me.

It puzzles me. It makes me wonder if they really think that the younger generation will have a brighter future in a gwai loh’s* land, and if their thoughts hold water.

But then I think further, and I realize that none of that should really matter. True, things aren’t always rosy on home soil, but this is the land of good Nasi Lemak (and a whole host of other amazing non-food-related things which you should know without me mentioning). Nasi Lemak in another country probably wouldn’t have that Malaysian zing to it, unless we bring the makcik who is responsible for the good Nasi Lemak we savour wherever we go.

Nasi Lemak aside, this is the land where we were born and bred. If all we’re willing to do is sit and gripe and complain and finally migrate to so-called greener pastures, then who on earth is going to make Malaysia truly ours? Who’s going to be the change maker if all the capable youths of my generation decide to heed the words of our uncles and aunts to “go to [insert name of illustrious nation], find a gwai loh, get married and stay there”?

Perhaps every person who has ever migrated from Malaysia had a very valid reason to do so, and perhaps it might not be worthwhile to question their decision. But neither should we decide to follow their footsteps based solely on their reasons, without turning it over and over again in our heads, verbally, on paper, etc..

At present, I am not the most patriotic person you’ll find in Malaysia, neither am I very capable of making mountain toppling changes which actually make sense, but I do hope that I won’t reach a point where I’d find a solid enough reason for me to move out, too. Because the idealistic me would like to believe that somehow, for every glitch that there is, we’ll find a cure. For every cloud, there’s a silver lining. And for every bad, there is at least one good.

Maybe I’m just a bit too naive and unrealistic, maybe my current perception will change with time, and maybe I’ll find the gwai loh’s land more breath-taking and charming, but as of now, I do hope that I am not alone in wanting to stand with this nation, give back where I can, change what I am able to, and actually learn to love Malaysia, flaws included. Even if the Internet speed here does give me headaches and import tax makes things so expensive (oh, my overpriced novels!).

In the words of Carrie Underwood:

Don’t listen to them when they say “You’re just a fool, just a fool to believe you can change the world.” The smallest thing can make all the difference. Love is alive.

from Change by Carrie Underwood

 

*gwai loh = quite literally, white person