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Can someone please explain to me why Malaysians like to address strangers as "dear"—more in text, but I think even in person? Like, even someone who I'm pretty sure is at least ten years younger than me is texting me as "dear" when I'm ordering something from her...
Coming from older people, men or women, I often find it sounds patronising, even though in most cases I'm sure it's not meant as such. But I don't know what to make of it coming from someone much younger?! 😆
Forgot to share.
(Mangkuk literally means bowl, but somehow in slang it's come to mean dumbass 🤣. Of course a bigger dumbass is mangkuk hayun... Which is, uh, a bowl in flight. As in a bowl in the air. As in... idek man. Malay speakers tend to not curse with actual curse words so plus the sarcasm just about any noun becomes an invective if we believe in it hard enough lol)
Speaking of which: currently, the Temoq of Kampung Berengoi Mesau in the state of Pahang, peninsular #Malaysia, are waging a legal battle against a palm oil plantation for encroaching upon their #indigenous lands. More info here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m1NthgMqS28B5eX3tnBliZOuZ1blFPqKE0Zo91wIZqc/edit?fbclid=IwAR0cU7l180F554iej9-M5lvLu97xWHm5QbKLLiHrgdNHBCkk7pWlgE1E60U
And they need funds!
To help, you can #donate to the Center for #OrangAsli Concerns (COAC), which has long been a champion for indigenous rights in peninsular Malaysia, headed by Dr Colin Nicholas.
Bank info here: http://bit.ly/temoqfunds
*UPDATE as at 3/9/2023* We’re at 78% of our target! If you would like to donate, the donation form can be accessed here at bit.ly/temoqfunds. To view donations received to date please go to bit.ly/temoqfundstracker. Thank you for your support. About the case In 2021, Macaranga reported on a pro...
For further reading, this great—and detailed—Rest of World story by Malaysian journalist Liani MK digs deep into how #indigenous communities in the state of #Sarawak are using #mapping technology to fight the expansion of palm oil plantations into their lands: https://restofworld.org/2023/indigenous-land-map-tech/
Increasingly, to prevent land grabs, Malaysia’s #indigenous communities are mapping their lands and compiling a “profile” of their communities to stake their rightful claim. This is one of a fun series of videos I stumbled upon recently that explains what all that involves:
& Yes, I clearly only do binge updates 😅
I don't how to carve out bits of time daily for social media! I'm more like, okay, I haven't posted in a while. Today I'm going to take the afternoon to update all my social accounts, publishing one post after another—which probably means most of my posts are missed, haha.
In a way, it's almost more like a tool for me to keep track of myself...?
The pacing feels a little slack at times and it's not as plot-driven as you might expect, but it's otherwise engrossing and the writing is a pleasure to read! Have made an order online for the first book in the trilogy, The Silence of the Girls, already. Can't wait.
P.S. I also recently spied another recently published retelling called A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes. If you've read it, do tell if it's any good? Thanks!
Speaking of the escapist, I've been digging back into the retelling of classic #mythology having enjoyed Madeline Miller's Circe when it first came out. (I was reminded of her recently when I read her essay about how long Covid has impacted her life and her writing: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/09/madeline-miller-long-covid-post-pandemic/.)
I picked up this novel by Pat Barker not realising it's the second in her trilogy reimagining the Trojan War through the eyes of the women....
I read #Wool a loooooong time ago and realised recently that it had been adapted into an Apple TV series called #Silo. I've quite forgotten how the book went, so watching the series was itself an adventure and at the end of it I still have so many questions! So I might go back to the book, and then read the other two in the trilogy—titled Shift and Dust—even if it might spoil me for Season 2... If you're looking for something escapist away from work, this is great :)
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