It’s ours lah!

Professor Tan Sri Dato' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
My View - The Sun Daily
March 4, 2015

WHEN Indonesian President Jokowi visited Malaysia recently, he wanted to bridge the gap between two close neighbours. And rightly so since both countries despite having numerous commonalities being "satu rumpun" or that of the Nusantara, it is the differences that seem to dominate the day. Ranging from the issue of maids to that of Pati (illegal immigrants), bilateral relations seem to fluctuate like a yo-yo at times.

So it is understandable that the newly-elected president chose to visit his Malaysian counterpart as his inaugural state visit abroad. And we thought the meeting had ironed out many important issues until the word "popia" popped up. Judging from the reactions from both sides, it was rather obvious that food was not high in the menu during the visit. Neither was Jokowi served the delicious local dish. Local, you say? How dare! No one really expected that an innocent piece of "spring roll" could trigger such a violent reaction among friendly nations of similar cultural heritage.

The Indonesians wasted no time to stake a claim on Lumpia Semarang as soon as the issue broke in the country's media. Even Chef Wan, Datuk Redzuawan Ismail, could not help but be drawn in. Given his envious culinary expertise and experience he seemed to be the voice of reason noting that many similar dishes existed in different parts of the world – even as far away as Mexico – under different names and varieties, for a long time. After all, how much more can one do with food rolled up or wrapped as they say nowadays? Steamed, grilled or fried.

That's food for thought. Cultures in practice tend to interact with one another and seldom remain "pure" especially when they come from one so-called "rumpun". What more when it comes to food which crosses boundaries as often as humans do. At times, the opposite happens: forgotten in the country of origin, but vibrant in its new home. We see many examples in Malaysia highlighting the beauty of being diverse rather than monolithic. Mee Bandung or ais Bandung is common in Malaysia but unheard of in the Indonesian city of Bandung. No protests either.

In any case, it is not the first time. At one point, it was a dance called Pendet, a Balinese variety, that Malaysia was accused of claiming. So what is new?

Malaysians would rather share their cultural heritage as per the peranakan or the chitty traditions. Bahasa Malaysia is a classical example at the expense of Bahasa Melayu. Unfortunately, we do not hear enough Malaysians speaking it. And speak it well as a national language unlike Bahasa Indonesia. On the other hand, many of Malaysia's food and fruits are being "borrowed" by its neighbours – think of the laksa or the rambutan, to name a couple. No big deal – glad to share as it were since cultural sharing is always enriching. Prosper thy neighbour as Malaysia used to advocate.

Indeed, much to our surprise the all-time popular Malaysian "lah" has been dubiously assigned by Oxford English Dictionary as a "Singapore slang"! This is despite the country's determination to disown it. The city-state coincidentally launched a campaign aimed at wiping out "Singlish", according to Barry Porter.

Reportedly, the first online version of the Oxford English Dictionary – which was officially launched last month – includes "two popular Singlish words" among its 60 million entries – "lah" and "sinseh", incorporating them into ordinary everyday English-language usage. While the latter has been defined as a traditional Chinese physician or herbalist, which is more Chinese than Singlish, the former has been put down as "a particle used with various kinds of pitch to convey the mood and attitude of the speaker." For example, "Don't play-play, lah" to denote impatience, or "Noooo, lah!" to emphatically negate a suggestion.

It is as much Manglish as it is Singlish, in fact much more than the latter I would assert, it being of Malay(sian) in origin! But I will not hold my breath, since the southern neighbour is always socio-culturally and historically part of the peninsula no matter how Raffles wanted to cut it. The attitude then is more to that of marriage – rather than losing a daughter or a son, it is more like gaining a daughter- or a son-in-law.

So in that sense, I would sum up: "Never mind laah!" So long as the other neighbours are not protesting. "Luckily, bah." Bah? – oh, that is another story. It will have to wait until Oxford Dictionary picks it up. Hopefully getting it right this time!

With some four decades of experience in education locally and internationally, the writer believes that "another world is possible". Comments: letters@thesundaily.com