barrier

i had an interesting (perhaps 'frustrating' would be a better word) conversation this past weekend, much to the amusement of my chinese-speaking friends. here's how it went:



i was sitting by myself at kl sentral's lrt station with my headphones on. i was waiting for a friend, who was arriving on the next train. from the corner of my eye, i noticed a middle aged chinese lady hurrying towards me and looking at me with a somewhat expectant and hopeful expression on her face. suspecting what was coming, i took off my headphones somewhat reluctantly.

as i'd anticipated, she was asking me something in mandarin. i expected this because looking around me, i'd noticed i was the only chinese person sitting there. unfortunately for both of us, i did not understand a word. i told her in english, that i was sorry and i did not understand mandarin. she looked at me blankly. i repeated the sentence, but this time in mandarin, which is, i'm sorry to say, the only sentence i can speak.

a look of comprehension dawned upon her face. she pointed towards the direction of which the train would travel and asked me, 'gombak?'. that, i understood. i told her, 'yes, gombak is that way', relieved that i could be assistance to her after all.

amazingly (and much to my chagrin), she proceeded to strike up a conversation, still in mandarin. she asked me if i was malay. i groaned inwardly. couldn't she give it a rest already? since she didnt seem to understand english, i answered her in cantonese this time, telling her that i am chinese but that i was born in england. hey, maybe she'd think i was a tourist. she didnt have to know how long exactly i'd been living in malaysia.

i realized belatedly, however, that she'd then assume i was fluent in cantonese. oh boy, what a predicament. apologetically, i told her the only other phrase i knew. 'sorry, i dont really speak cantonese'. (well, i do know other phrases but i couldnt exactly call her a 'sei pat por' or go 'honey, i'm home!')

finally she realized what a lost cause i was. she sat beside me, looking somewhat stumped. and me feeling somewhat embarrassed and stupid. thankfully, the train arrived within the next few seconds. she asked me again, 'gombak?'. i said 'yes, gombak'.

phew.