English, anyone?

Last weekend, big brother's son, Khalid (or better known as Abang) came over to the house to spend his weekend with us as his Ayah and Mama were celebrating their ... ahem! 13th anniversary at Redang Island. Now, darlings, the first language at our home is always English. Babah made it a rule to speak only English in the house to encourage his children as well as the grandkids to master the language. Abang is a very bright 9-year old and he can read, speak and write in English much better than kids at his own age (not that I'm bragging, darlings). However, when his parents dropped him off that Friday night, he was conversing with us in Malay, for the first time ever. It was like "ayam dengan itik bercakap" kinda thing. We said something in English and he'd replied back with Malay.

Babah: You want to play Scrabble with me and Nenek?
Abang: Nak! Nak!
Arif: I want to play, too
Abang: Kita main Scrabble bahasa melayu ok Atok?

And Babah was silent for a second or two.

Babah: Why do you want to play Scrabble in Malay?
Abang: Sebab asyik main Scrabble English je..... (head down)
Babah: But I thought you like to play Scrabble, in English?
Abang: Hm......

Mama immediately noticed something is definitely wrong with her grandson so she took his arm and led him to sit beside her.

Mama: Do you have something to tell us, Abang?
Abang: Tak ade......
Mama: It's ok, you can tell Nenek and Atok and Ayah Arif and Mama Siti (yes, my name starts with Siti, dearies). We won't get angry or anything
Abang: Kawan Abang kate......
Mama: Yes, dear. Go on
Abang: Kawan Abang kate sape pandai English tu pondan!

Imagine our surprise, darlings! Arif almost fell off from the sofa.

Babah: Why did your friend say that?

And Abang proceeded to tell us that in his class, besides him and a few Chinese and Indian boys, only girls excelled in English language. Meaning, he is the only Malay boy who gets the high marks for the subject. His English teacher always sung him praises. And he told us other Malay boys in his class refused to be friend with him because he is good with the language and they even teased him about it by calling him "Pondan". Arif cursed as Babah winced while I patted the rather depressed Abang on his shoulder. Poor boy.

He was alienated by his friends just because he is English-proficient (did I get that correct?). That's very sad, don't you think so, darlings? The kids are taking peer-pressure to another level nowadays, I tell you. Instead of looking up to him, they are mocking him and calling him name. Is it Abang's fault that he could master the language well even though he is only 9? I know that sometimes people thought an English-speaking 9-year old is a snob, but Abang is a really sweet child. He will converse in Malay with other people and converse in English when he really need to because he said that "Not everyone can understand English".

I personally believe that it is rather important for a child to master English because nowadays, English is THE language if you want to move forward. Not that I'm degrading our very own mother language, darlings, but it is a fact that English is very important. Even Maths and Science are taught in English in schools! Babah has done a wonderful job in incorporating the "English only" rule at home as all his children and his grandkids are rather good at the language. We are not allowed to laugh or scold when people make mistakes in pronunciation or grammar or whatever when it comes to mastering the language, instead we are to correct the mistakes for the person gently.

Nevertheless, I thought Babah handled the situation pretty well. Well, of course, darlings! He had his hands full with 4 boys and 2 girls to brought up once upon time. Now, he has his little baby girl (ahem!) and her twin brother to look after, because they simply refuse to leave the house.

Babah: Then you will never speak English again?
Abang: I want to... (hooray! He's back to English)
Babah: Are you afraid of your friends?
Abang: No. It's just that I don't like it when they call me "Pondan"
Babah: I speak English. Ayah Arif speaks English. Even your father speaks English. We are "Pondan" as well?
Abang: NO! (horrified!)
Babah: There are a lot of people out there who can speak English and they do speak English every time. Tun speaks English as well, and the Angkasawan. They are not "Pondan". They are very successful, aren't they?
Abang: Yes. They are my heroes! They are not "Pondan"!
Babah: There you go, son. Tell that to your friends the next time they call you "Pondan"
Arif: And remember, Abang, you have to fight for us boys, you know. You can't let the girls win every time
Abang: Sure can, Ayah Arif! We're going to beat the girls!
Arif: Now that's my boy

Arif shot me a very smug smile, a smile that said "We boys are the best". Yes, Arif, whatever. And I heard Mama said to Babah "Khalid is going to conquer the world one day". Indeed, Mama.