Salvaged hopes - and a controversial issue

I was hoping and praying that soon my family and I would be able to go travelling somewhere. I am too sick of just staying at home doing nothing. And today, my mother came up to my room and told me that we'll be going to Kuala Lumpur to visit my uncle because my aunt called us to go for a barbecue during Christmas Eve. My father accepted the invitation, so we'll be going down to KL this Sunday!

Things seem to be getting better for me now. After this KL trip, I shall be going to Johor Bahru on Tuesday. The weather conditions in Johor have improved and the flood in Johor Bahru has also subsided long ago. The sun shone for a few hours today before it became dark again in the evening. However, until now, Ipoh has experienced very little rain.

Just as hopes seem to be gone, God answered my prayers. Praise God indeed!

I just had a conversation with another university mate of mine in Google Talk. I told him about my plans to go to Johor Bahru and I brought up the following point, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." In Johor Bahru, the main medium of communication is Mandarin among the Chinese. I told him that it is rather fortunate of me to be able to at least converse in fluent Mandarin although I came from an English school. I am not so good in writing in Mandarin but my conversed Mandarin is quite good.

Such a scenario made me think. Some parents send their children to Chinese schools for their primary education and let them continue into their secondary schools; some send their children to Chinese primary schools first, and then transferring them into a national secondary school, and there are, of course, those who send their kids to national schools for their primary and secondary education (but in certain schools, they provide Pupils Own Language lessons for those who want to take up Mandarin or Tamil).

In the end, what happens to our Chinese society? We have those who can speak and write in good Mandarin, or those who can only speak in Mandarin but is unable or could only write a little bit of Mandarin and also those who could neither read nor converse in the language. As a result, many people start to categorise the Chinese as A class, C class and E class Chinese.

Those who could speak and write well in both English and Chinese are categorised as A class (which is not many), C class Chinese are those who are totally Chinese educated and their English is weaker compared to those in A class or E class; E class Chinese are those who can neither read nor converse in Mandarin but are very good in English, or in other words, English educated.

Which category am I in? I am not in class C, but I'm like in the middle of classes A and E, for I speak in good English and Mandarin but could only write well for the former; writing in the latter is quite a task for me.

Still, I see such categorisation as stereotyping and rather unfair to the Chinese society especially, because by categorising us into three classes, it is as if they are dividing us into three different "ethnic groups". Why should we divided when we should be united in the first place?

The trouble is this: some Chinese people look negatively at the others. Some would label E class Chinese as "bananas" while E class Chinese would label C class Chinese as "Chinaman".

I don't wish to continue commenting about this topic, but let me conclude this. I don't care whether you are an A class, C class or E class Chinese, but read this! We are one, and we should stay united as one. As concerning the language, if you are a Chinese, try and pick up at least some Mandarin! It's our own mother tongue. Don't take Mandarin for granted. Learning an extra language can be an extra advantage in the future.

With that, I open to the "floor" for comments.