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@cendawanita @Munkao Haha true, this makes sense! It's so second-nature for us to call someone by friendly indicators in Malay—and in Mandarin too I guess.
In one or two circumstances I've found "dear" used somewhat patronisingly, like the time I interviewed a source for a story and they seemed to think that they had done such a great job at explaining something that it needed no additional contextual explanation, and so were impatient with with additional questions for more detail 😅
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:
Dendan Setia (Nins)
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