I don't know why but some people think that Cantonese IS Chinese and if you can't speak or understand Cantonese then you are not Chinese! I must admit as a Chinese I don't speak nor write Chinese and certainly don't speak Cantonese either even though Terese is Cantonese but we always converse in English with a few Cantonese words thrown in every now and then.Lemme tell you a true story that happened to me years ago when I went shopping in a Chinese grocery shop. I was looking for a particular product but I didn't know how to say it so I asked the tauke-nio in English. That kurang ajar tauke-nio couldn't speak English but had the audacity to tell her friend "Tong yang m-sih gong tong yua" meaning Chinese can't speak Chinese! Or another time when the tauke said to me; " You not Chinese ah?" That's the kind of mentality some people have, all Chinese are Cantonese and if you're not then you're something else!
This ain't the only time I got treatment lidat, it happens quite often for people like me like today when I went to buy some 'pau' from this food court in Box Hill. The stewpig bugger got annoyed that I wouldn't speak Cantonese to him! I told him to smile coz I'm the blardy customer and he's the one who has to be patient with me and not the other way around. He just kept quiet so I didn't continue further. It's people like these that give the Chinese a bad reputation, no wonder some Mat Sallehs look at us with distrust.
OKlah, finish rant liao, I'm happy now!
23 comments:
The Chinese love hitting out at their own. I don't know why. Must be a masochistic streak or that strange sense of honour. In KL cantonese = chinese. Odd. I'm bloody Hokkien lang you don't expect me to be speaking cantonese right?! *rolls eyes*
**console WC **
You cannot please everyone. Dun learn Canto lar.. learn Mandarin. I had a similar experience in Penang when i spoke Canto. THe bus lady slammed me... "Come Penang cannot speak Hokkien ar?"
Aiya, that's why I'm picking up chinese by using the dictionary and sms-ing my Mum in Chinese la.
Kkekeke...
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Aiseh. Sad. But don't worry, you're not alone!
Psst: How they know u are Chinese in the first place?
Wuching, I can understand u 101% on this issue.
Aiya, not only people from H.K, Taiwan looks down on us Malaysian. People from W. Malaysia also looks down on us Sarawakian. They thought we all lives in tree !
When I was working in K.L, it is the Chinese bitch that despise me for not able to converse in Malay, in fact the Malay 'moi' taught me to talk some simple Malay. And when I was very active in one malaysian forum, again a K.L Chinese bitch hatam me that I don't understand the Malay articles that were posted. All these bitches forget that Sarawakian got independent later and many of us who were older did not even have the chance to learn English then and compounding on the fact we went oversea early for education make it even worst.
So, I tell u wuching, there are discrimination everywhere !
This is so true! My husband also can't read or write chinese, but he can speak simple cantonese and understand some mandarin. He also kena a lot of craps from the Chinese people.
p/s: Been to Box Hill twice when we were visiting my husband's sister in Melbourne. That place is like a Chinese market. Totally can't tell you're in a western country when you're in there.
ppffft ppffft ppffft ppffft ppffft ppffft ppffft
I know what you mean. I only speak Hokkien which is not even recognise in other states other than kedah and penang. So, Chinese always give me one kind look.
hahahahaah
why so like that???
i also don speak canton!...eh..even if shopping in kl once the shopkeepers open mouth they will also converse in cantonese...apalah!
Wuch...next time tell the tauke nio you do speak canto...the "tiu!" word very well.
Hahaha!!!
my case is not discrimination..been living in european town for 3 years and suddenly one day a chinese tauke-nio accused me of spying for other chinese shops while am shopping for shoes :p she started by walking near me and raising her voice with me..bla bla ..geez! so humiliating
Wah... that's quite an eye-opener... this Chinese-Chinese thingy...
Nice book cover by the way. I thought it was another PPP. LOL!
ya lah, some people so aksi...never think that they don't know how to speak english already inferior sikit, say people inferior pula. nevermind lah, bring your money elsewhere lohhhh. you are the one with the money to spend mah, not them.
Hi Wuching...just dropping by here to spot check your blog...just joking. I'm quite new in the blogosphere and would like to know more from experienced bloggers like you. So here I am :P
I think they thought you are a Vietnamese kua...what I know from my god bro in Australia is that the Vietnamese there are rather notorious. The Aussies or even the local Chinese will think you are one if you can't speak Canto or Mandarin.
Even my cousin's hubby, an Englishman who migrated there moved back England after a year or so. Is the discrimination problem down in Australia really that bad?
Kesian Wuching Sith. Just take out your lightsaber and do your thing. ;)
Me couldn't speak mandarin and write...so when ppl talk to me in mandarin I say excuse me could you please speak English, Cantonese or Hokkien? Haha
My Cantonese and Mandarin are awful.
I don't even know what language my Chinese cousins speak [because I haven't met them in person]. At least i know my Vietnamese cousin only speaks English, because I've met her in person. [Admittedly it was when I was 16 ... so she might have learnt a few languages since then].
Of course, I'd have a terrible time if I had to learn all the languages of every nationality in our family ... I'd have to know Danish, Dutch, Celtic, possibly Narrandjeri ... the list goes on.
paris: nolah, some ppl are just plain rude!
helen: *console helen back* tell me who slammed u & i'll go fix her up!
pelf: can, can..gawd knows i want a domain of my own!
narrowband: they must know i'm chinese coz my face cina ahpek wan mah!
kayatan: sarawakians unite!
cc: yes indeed boxhill is like a chinese village now but i still wanna go there for foods & shops...what to do?
5xmom: then u should come to sarawak where hokkien is the defacto chinese dialect spoken there!
pink cotton: watch out if u shop in kl & dun speak cantonese, they'll slaughter u kau kau!
cocka: yes i should, seems like everyone knows the bad words to every languages first! hehehe
k: oh, then u should sue her for slandering your good name! hahahaha
jonzz: nolah, the book cover looks good becoz u drew the picture mah!
me: yes i know i should talk loud with my money but they got nice pau there wor...what to do?
criz lai: welcome! not all vietnamese are bad, i know heaps of them & none are bad but i know what u mean but if u live with them u will not think they're notorious anymore, just like veryone else.
che-cheh: yes i think i will use my red lightsaber next time they piss me off! hahahahahaha
dabido: thats why its best to just speak english coz we're all living in australia so no need to converse in any other language but english!
Mat Sellahs don't find Chinese trust worthy. Oh well I don't find Mat Sellahs trustworthy. ;)
Kind of sad you get that treatment. Especially when you are a paying customer.
Thought I commented yesteday... was just trying to say I got the same thing all the time for not able to speak with perfect Mandarin.
Ah, but my Chinese cousins are in London, Beijing and Hong Kong ... so, coul dbe English, Mandarin and Cantonese that they speak ... or all three. :-)
use foochow!
SA: yes, consumers unite!
beer brat: u get discriminated in singapore hor!
dabido: aiya then they're too far away for u to worry lah!
clement: only in sibu!
Wah,the tauke-nio got a shop in AUSTRALIA and she cannot speak English?
How to survive like that?
When I went to Barcelona, all the immigrants there have learnt to speak both Catalan & Castilian Spanish.. want to survive must be willing to adapt!
nyx: lots of ppl here cannot speak english coz its too easy to migrate here with family sponsor
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