Chocolate - Welcome to Malaysia

In memory of Yasmin Ahmad.

Kenangan abadi di hatiku.

Evaluating Intercultural Behaviour - This Happened a Long Time Ago

Once, while wandering around, I met a mother and her son at an empty basketball court. She looked very young, shy and gentle. Her son was probably around 5 years old, wearing miniature sleeveless sports attire, complete with tiny sports shoes, and he carried a basketball as big as his body. With deep concentration, he would fling the ball over his head, backwards, behind him, somehow scoring.

Suddenly, he approached me. Grabbing my hand, he dragged me toward the ball, talking non-stop. I didn’t understand a word.

Am I being challenged? I took a shot, but he shook his head in annoyance. He took the ball from me and did it again his way. This kid was teaching me ‘how it’s done’, and we were communicating with gestures, facial expressions, and noises.

Taking a break, I spoke to his mother. An Indonesian, she had married a local. She said that her son liked playing here. She giggled when I praised her son’s skills.

Around this time, 2 older Chinese children (around age 8-10) came to play basketball too. I felt compelled to mediate the situation, especially when the mother worriedly called her son back.

The older boys didn't want to play with him because....  he was “Malay.... and too young anyway”. Hearing this stung my heart. Too young, yes, I could understand, but apparently, the first thing that came into their minds was that this kid was ‘different’.

The little kid went crying to his mum. The 2 older boys ignored them. The mother was reluctant to defend her son. Was it just shyness?

Even if we can't understand a word each other is saying, sometimes you can communicate with something else. When you don't understand someone else, is it because you can't or because you don't try to?