An old Chinese man got onto the bus I was on. He was carrying a heavy bag and was struggling to get on. Immediately, 2 ladies, 1 Indian and 1 Chinese, got up to give him their seat. Since the Indian lady was in front, the old Chinese man looked at her and asked, "Mau turun, ah?" (meaning "You're getting off?" in the Malay language). Since her back was facing me, I didn't see the reaction of the Indian lady, but she got off at the next stop, a short distance away.
This scenario is common in multi-racial, multi-cultural and multilingual Singapore. The old man speaks no English or Tamil (the common Indian language in Singapore). The Indian lady speaks no Chinese. But between the two of them, they both speak and understand some basic Malay, which is the national language. So, while the old man and the Indian lady are worlds apart in culture, there is a common tie that binds - the Malay language.
In the early beginnings of colonial Singapore (before independence in 1965), migrants from China and India came to Singapore to find work. The Malay people are the original residents of this land. Since everyone spoke a different language, the migrants took it upon themselves to learn the local language, Malay, to communicate with the locals, and as a result, with one another, across cultures and languages.
New immigrants to Singapore today are very different. While their reason for coming to Singapore is largely the same - search for work - their approach to living here is not.
Today, the newspaper regularly carries articles and letters citing both positive and negative examples of new immigrants. Many of them expect us locals to learn their language to communicate with them, instead of the other way around. While I enjoy learning their language, I don't necessarily agree with their attitude. But, I'm not here to say who is right or wrong. Let me first set the example by being friendly and a student of their language and culture.
Let's be students of other languages and cultures!
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I seen these examples before ; one which I remember is an exchange between a Sikh lady and a Chinese bus driver who spoke to each other in Malay. Being a Malay-speaker myself, I found that to be something extra-ordinarily beautiful.
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