Monday, June 25, 2012

talk of the town

Through a school connection, I got invited to make a speech/presentation at the 'Bahagian Kabinet dan Dasar Jabatan Ketua Menteri.' The most I can tell you about them is that it's government related and has something to do with the Chief Ministries Office. I perhaps should know more but I was initially invited to do this presentation through a text message so... that's how that goes.

Anyway, later on, after the text message, I got a fancy letterhead-ed invitation to make this presentation to as many as 20 people who are from the Kabinet dan Dasar portion of the office. I was asked to talk about my experiences in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, or any other places in the world I've been. It was a random opportunity but a pretty legitimate one. They just wanted to know about cultural differences and the way I've seen them. Part of me has an inkling that they also wanted to hear about how great their country is. And it definitely is. I showed my fancy invitation to some staff here at school, partly to brag but also because it was entirely in formal bahasa malaysia so I could understand all of 10% of it.  I ended up asking more questions after I'd show someone the letter, "so what am I supposed to talk about? does it say in there? does it say what to wear? is someone important going to be there? can I make my presentation in english?" The staff helped me out and helped me to feel a little less stressed about the whole thing. The text message invites continually said not to worry that this would be an "informal talk" so when I told the staff it was "informal" they said, "oh so it's formal? you should be in formal wear?" ha, and that's exactly what informal doesn't mean. My mother and my intuition told me that I couldn't just show up to this government office in jeans and a tshirt, even if the shirt is a polo. I tried to look as nicely as I could. And thanks to the Baju Kurung that Seri Mengasih gave me in November for their 30th anniversary dinner, I was rocking the formal wear, Malaysian-style.



I spent some time making a slideshow of the best photos I have so far or the most 'cultural,' simply for the viewing pleasure of the staff in the office I was giving my life presentation to. It didn't take long for everyone to know I could speak malay. I heard them talking/whispering in malay saying, "how old is she?" or "where is she from? UK?" and I would turn and smile and answer them, in malay. This led to more questions and chit chat before my presentation officially started. I was giggling saying, "I'm going to talk about all of that in just a few minutes here!" To say I impressed them with my malay is an understatement. They laughed at the funny phrases I knew and the way I could understand any of their questions. I introduced myself and the YAGM program along with Seri Mengasih but after that it was an open conversation with a lot of questions. Thankfully, they could understand me if/when I answered in English. It's so much easier to answer questions and answer them quickly in your own/first language.  But still, they appreciated my dedication to Sabah and the Sabahan malay I was speaking. It was great because this was something I was stressing out over for 4 days that turned into a playful conversation and celebrity paparazzi party. I got to get some practice talking about this place that I have grown to love so much and the school where I work and my life in Kota Kinabalu for the last 10 months. I also have a 'best of' slideshow made already, so that might come in handy someday. On top of that, I have another story to go along with my "don't say 'no' to an invitation" mentality while I've been in Malaysia.




Immediately following the presentation there was a farewell luncheon for myself and another staff member (but the other staff member who is leaving this week couldn't make it so it was... as if it was just for me). I came back to school still wearing my Baju Kurung and I giggled to myself more thinking about how everyone probably thought I dressed up nicely for them and the farewell lunch. We can pretend I did. It was called my farewell lunch but it didn't feel like it. I mean, it's not over yet. I'm still here. There will be more lunches here and amongst this staff in the weeks to come. It felt really early, mostly because it was really early but also because I'm in denial. Having something like this earlier on is good too, especially for the staff because my last day might be on my mind but it's not on everyone's calendar. They'll need to adjust to life without me, at least a little bit. I've been sadder lately because staff come up to me or are around me and say "Allisun mahu pulang sudah ni.." [Allisun wants to go home already] but, having studied the language extensively (sarcasm), I've found that mahu [want] is similar to when Texans say "fixin' ta" so... given that justifiable fact... people aren't saying that I actually want to leave them, but that it is going to happen soon. It's funnier that way, to imagine malaysians saying, "Allisun is fixin' ta go home" and it's true.




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