i was sweeping the floor when i suddenly recall part of a conversation i had with a chinese friend. he was asking me why is there a need to differentiate chinese and sino* in sabah, as if it's entirely 2 different race. isn't it much easier to just categorize everyone as chinese? well, he was not the first to question that, and probably isn't gonna be the last one either. in fact i get similar question from time to time, from non sabahan mostly (chinese and non chinese alike)
*sino: (product of mix marriage between a chinese and local indigenous, generally kadazan/dusun and sometimes murut. rare cases includes other indigenous group as well)
well, in my opinion (correct me if i'm wrong), sabah has the most chinese marrying the local** (ie. kadazan / dusun, murut etc) in malaysia. to make things easier (coz i'm getting confuse now), let me talk from my point of view as a sino kadazan, also from personal experience, and sharing from other kadazan friends as well. before i talk about the reasons, let me demonstrate some common situation that i (and some of my friends, too) have been experiencing all this while.
**local: i'm not saying the chinese are not local (i'm one of them too) and am not trying to be bias here. as far as i am concern, in sabah (or at least my area) chinese are considered local nowadays. i'm only using the word local because it sounds more civilised that indigenous. the word indigenous gives some people the impression that we still live in the cave or on the tree. yeah, and we have internet =) if you get what i mean
* * * * * * * * *
SCENE 1:
one fine day, i'm having a conversation with a chinese girl in english/malay. suddenly, i make a remark in mandarin.
me: *ching chong in mandarin*
girl: *look at me with suprised wide eyes. the slanted typical chinese eyes suddenly turn bright and round* ei?妳会讲华语 meh? (ei? you can speak chinese meh?)
me: 会。 我是华人 mah (can.. i'm chinese mah)
girl: 妳不像华人啊。。。/看不出妳是华人 (you dont look chinese... / i cant tell you are chinese)
this normally happens when i'm having a conversation with non sabahan chinese.
SCENE 2:
mom and I enter some random chinese shop, ie cloth boutique. chinese sales girl/ laubanniang (lady boss) will approach us.
laoban: *smiles* 妳好！ 在找什么？ 我们今天有special offer, 30% off...(hi, what are you looking for? we have special offer today, 30% off)
mum: *smile with an ammused look. she's not confuse, because she's used to it and can guess what the salesgirl is trying to say)
laoban: 还有这里有买1送1 (and here we have buy 1 free 1)
mum: brapa ni? (how much is this? --in malay)
laoban: oh! itu lima puluh ringgit.. saya pikir kamu cina oh tadi (oh! its RM 50.. i thought you are chinese just now.. ) --> typical chinese-sabahan slang when speaking in malay
this happens all the time to my mum when she's shopping for clothes in KK.
SCENE 3:
a pure kadazan and chinese met somewhere..
chinese: are you chinese?
kadazan: no, i'm pure kadazan, but i can speak chinese.
chinese: really? you look chinese la!!
this is not exactly common, but it DOES happen. on rare occasion. but this remark will only be heard from a sabahan chinese
SCENE 4 - a bit similar to scene 1, but here it's a pure kadazan, not sino talking
a pure kadazan and pure chinese met somewhere.. i.e. college
kadazan: *speaks mandarin to chinese*
chinese: are u chinese?
kadazan: no, i'm pure kadazan
chinese: ei? how come you can speak mandarin de??
nowadays, the local send their children to chinese medium school. so, it's common if the local younger generation can communicate in mandarin ( and sometimes other chinese dialect they pick up from friends (i.e hakka) or tv (i.e cantonese) as well )
SCENE 5 - kinda similar to scene 2
a chinese talks to a typical chinese looking sino with typical 3 syllable chinese name, sometimes with a western name as well (i.e. lily lee mei li)
in case you are lost: lily (western name) lee (surname/family name) mei li (chinese name)
sino: hi, i'm lily lee mei li
chinese: *say some thing in chinese*
sino: huh??
chinese: *repeat what she just said a moment ago*
sino: er.. i dont understand chinese..
chinese: really? i thought you are chinese? how come you got chinese name de? and you look very chinese?
well, just because a sino have fringe/ bangs and rebonded hair, plus dress like chinese, also the chinese name.. that doesn't necessarily mean they can understand chinese.
SCENE 6 - opposite of scene 3
2 chinese friends spoke to chinese looking sino who can speak chinese
chinese 1: *speaks malay to sino*
sino: *reply in malay, somewhat confuse and wondering why is the chinese speaking to her in malay* *sino assume that chinese1 n chinese 2 are those chinese who cant speak chinese*
chinese 1: *speaks mandarin to chinese 2*
sino: *monologue: dont i look chinese? !@#$?*
some chinese cant tell is another person has chinese blood running in them, even though it's so damn obvious
SCENE 7 - do i look really chinese?
well, i never knew i have chinese look from some people's point of view back then.
i blog about it 1.5 year ago. and i dont want to repeat the story here
* * * * * * * * *
well, those are some random scenes that i've come across. and some of the above story were shared by friends (but i simplify them la)
so here are the summary on why we should differentiate chinese, sino and kadazan from each other.
REASON 1: our race doesn't determine our mother tongue. (at home)
take my family for example, we speak english at home. reason being
1. dad barely speaks malay. he speaks hokkien and a bit of mandarin
2. mum is a sino who doesn't really speak chinese (though she can make out the meaning of words from different dialects)
3. it's not like my mum can communicate with dad in kadazan!
REASON 2: what language we speak doesn't determine who we are
just like in scene 4
REASON 3: the way we look or dress doesn't determine who we are
as shown in scene2, 3, 5 and 6
REASON 4: our friends' race doesn't determine who we are
non sabahan generally doesn't know i have chinese blood (mind you its 75%) running in me because i hang out more with the sino (whom from their point of view ain't chinese), the kadazan and other local. my mandarin sucks, kinda feel intimidated being around fluent speaking chinese friends..hehe
REASON 5: our dialect doesn't determine who we are
chinese have various dialect. i have hokkien blood in me but i barely understand hokkien. i dont have cantonese or hakka or mandarin blood running in me but i can at least understand these dialect and give some basic reply.
some of my dusun friends can speak fluent kadazan. (there's a slight difference between this 2, in terms of vocab and spelling, but it's enough to make me confuse)
REASON 6: our daily practices and custom doesn't determine who we are
dont be surprise if you come across a 'pure' kadazan who actually celebrate 清明节 (chinese ghost festival- correct me if i'm wrong). it's a chinese version of all souls' day. well, somewhere up the family tree, someone must be chinese. it's just that the chinese family name carried by the women died when they married the kadazan, hence people thought their children are 'pure' kadazan
REASON 7: our name doesn't determine who we are
as in scene 5. in fact i have a chinese lecturer who clarify with me weather i'm chinese or not, just because i have a middle name and dont carry a chinese name. but at least she noticed my surname
REASON 8: people are just so confuse of our identity (esp sino)
well, since sino are mix blood, we tend to have a fusion and mixture of culture and value, and of cause our look, fashion etc. we are not typical chinese nor typical kadazan/ dusun etc.. when we tell others we are sino, and define to them the term 'sino', they tend to stop questioning about why are we so 'mix' and 'different' and why are we not typical.
sino is somewhat similar to peninsula malaysia's nyonya baba (chinese + malay), but i think sino is more complicated as the culture and value practice differs from one family to another, ie mother tongue.
as for scene 3 where a kadazan might look like chinese, there's some theory explaining that. it's in the next post: kadazan/dusun (sabah) and bunun (taiwan), are we from the same ancestry?
*sino: (product of mix marriage between a chinese and local indigenous, generally kadazan/dusun and sometimes murut. rare cases includes other indigenous group as well)
well, in my opinion (correct me if i'm wrong), sabah has the most chinese marrying the local** (ie. kadazan / dusun, murut etc) in malaysia. to make things easier (coz i'm getting confuse now), let me talk from my point of view as a sino kadazan, also from personal experience, and sharing from other kadazan friends as well. before i talk about the reasons, let me demonstrate some common situation that i (and some of my friends, too) have been experiencing all this while.
**local: i'm not saying the chinese are not local (i'm one of them too) and am not trying to be bias here. as far as i am concern, in sabah (or at least my area) chinese are considered local nowadays. i'm only using the word local because it sounds more civilised that indigenous. the word indigenous gives some people the impression that we still live in the cave or on the tree. yeah, and we have internet =) if you get what i mean
* * * * * * * * *
SCENE 1:
one fine day, i'm having a conversation with a chinese girl in english/malay. suddenly, i make a remark in mandarin.
me: *ching chong in mandarin*
girl: *look at me with suprised wide eyes. the slanted typical chinese eyes suddenly turn bright and round* ei?妳会讲华语 meh? (ei? you can speak chinese meh?)
me: 会。 我是华人 mah (can.. i'm chinese mah)
girl: 妳不像华人啊。。。/看不出妳是华人 (you dont look chinese... / i cant tell you are chinese)
this normally happens when i'm having a conversation with non sabahan chinese.
SCENE 2:
mom and I enter some random chinese shop, ie cloth boutique. chinese sales girl/ laubanniang (lady boss) will approach us.
laoban: *smiles* 妳好！ 在找什么？ 我们今天有special offer, 30% off...(hi, what are you looking for? we have special offer today, 30% off)
mum: *smile with an ammused look. she's not confuse, because she's used to it and can guess what the salesgirl is trying to say)
laoban: 还有这里有买1送1 (and here we have buy 1 free 1)
mum: brapa ni? (how much is this? --in malay)
laoban: oh! itu lima puluh ringgit.. saya pikir kamu cina oh tadi (oh! its RM 50.. i thought you are chinese just now.. ) --> typical chinese-sabahan slang when speaking in malay
this happens all the time to my mum when she's shopping for clothes in KK.
SCENE 3:
a pure kadazan and chinese met somewhere..
chinese: are you chinese?
kadazan: no, i'm pure kadazan, but i can speak chinese.
chinese: really? you look chinese la!!
this is not exactly common, but it DOES happen. on rare occasion. but this remark will only be heard from a sabahan chinese
SCENE 4 - a bit similar to scene 1, but here it's a pure kadazan, not sino talking
a pure kadazan and pure chinese met somewhere.. i.e. college
kadazan: *speaks mandarin to chinese*
chinese: are u chinese?
kadazan: no, i'm pure kadazan
chinese: ei? how come you can speak mandarin de??
nowadays, the local send their children to chinese medium school. so, it's common if the local younger generation can communicate in mandarin ( and sometimes other chinese dialect they pick up from friends (i.e hakka) or tv (i.e cantonese) as well )
SCENE 5 - kinda similar to scene 2
a chinese talks to a typical chinese looking sino with typical 3 syllable chinese name, sometimes with a western name as well (i.e. lily lee mei li)
in case you are lost: lily (western name) lee (surname/family name) mei li (chinese name)
sino: hi, i'm lily lee mei li
chinese: *say some thing in chinese*
sino: huh??
chinese: *repeat what she just said a moment ago*
sino: er.. i dont understand chinese..
chinese: really? i thought you are chinese? how come you got chinese name de? and you look very chinese?
well, just because a sino have fringe/ bangs and rebonded hair, plus dress like chinese, also the chinese name.. that doesn't necessarily mean they can understand chinese.
SCENE 6 - opposite of scene 3
2 chinese friends spoke to chinese looking sino who can speak chinese
chinese 1: *speaks malay to sino*
sino: *reply in malay, somewhat confuse and wondering why is the chinese speaking to her in malay* *sino assume that chinese1 n chinese 2 are those chinese who cant speak chinese*
chinese 1: *speaks mandarin to chinese 2*
sino: *monologue: dont i look chinese? !@#$?*
some chinese cant tell is another person has chinese blood running in them, even though it's so damn obvious
SCENE 7 - do i look really chinese?
well, i never knew i have chinese look from some people's point of view back then.
i blog about it 1.5 year ago. and i dont want to repeat the story here
* * * * * * * * *
well, those are some random scenes that i've come across. and some of the above story were shared by friends (but i simplify them la)
so here are the summary on why we should differentiate chinese, sino and kadazan from each other.
REASON 1: our race doesn't determine our mother tongue. (at home)
take my family for example, we speak english at home. reason being
1. dad barely speaks malay. he speaks hokkien and a bit of mandarin
2. mum is a sino who doesn't really speak chinese (though she can make out the meaning of words from different dialects)
3. it's not like my mum can communicate with dad in kadazan!
REASON 2: what language we speak doesn't determine who we are
just like in scene 4
REASON 3: the way we look or dress doesn't determine who we are
as shown in scene2, 3, 5 and 6
REASON 4: our friends' race doesn't determine who we are
non sabahan generally doesn't know i have chinese blood (mind you its 75%) running in me because i hang out more with the sino (whom from their point of view ain't chinese), the kadazan and other local. my mandarin sucks, kinda feel intimidated being around fluent speaking chinese friends..hehe
REASON 5: our dialect doesn't determine who we are
chinese have various dialect. i have hokkien blood in me but i barely understand hokkien. i dont have cantonese or hakka or mandarin blood running in me but i can at least understand these dialect and give some basic reply.
some of my dusun friends can speak fluent kadazan. (there's a slight difference between this 2, in terms of vocab and spelling, but it's enough to make me confuse)
REASON 6: our daily practices and custom doesn't determine who we are
dont be surprise if you come across a 'pure' kadazan who actually celebrate 清明节 (chinese ghost festival- correct me if i'm wrong). it's a chinese version of all souls' day. well, somewhere up the family tree, someone must be chinese. it's just that the chinese family name carried by the women died when they married the kadazan, hence people thought their children are 'pure' kadazan
REASON 7: our name doesn't determine who we are
as in scene 5. in fact i have a chinese lecturer who clarify with me weather i'm chinese or not, just because i have a middle name and dont carry a chinese name. but at least she noticed my surname
REASON 8: people are just so confuse of our identity (esp sino)
well, since sino are mix blood, we tend to have a fusion and mixture of culture and value, and of cause our look, fashion etc. we are not typical chinese nor typical kadazan/ dusun etc.. when we tell others we are sino, and define to them the term 'sino', they tend to stop questioning about why are we so 'mix' and 'different' and why are we not typical.
sino is somewhat similar to peninsula malaysia's nyonya baba (chinese + malay), but i think sino is more complicated as the culture and value practice differs from one family to another, ie mother tongue.
as for scene 3 where a kadazan might look like chinese, there's some theory explaining that. it's in the next post: kadazan/dusun (sabah) and bunun (taiwan), are we from the same ancestry?
Tks for linking to my blog. It was for amusement and I'm surprised people take it seriously :P.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, on your post abt Sino. According to some people, the term Sino is a British term. These days, NRD do not recognized the term as they follow the system where your race is dictated by your father's race(there's a term for it but for the life of me, I can't remember what oredi). But as to whether the term was pre-Malaysia or post-Malaysia, it is still not proven conclusively.
Let me bring you to the Constitution of Malaysia. The offspring from a mixed marriage where one of the couple is a native of Sabah & Sarawak, should be considered as native. And this include having one grandparent as native also.
This is unique to Sabah & Sarawak. Perhaps our forefathers were ahead of their time and knew that one day, there will be 1Malaysia.
Problem is, when a native woman marries a chinese man, their offspring will have chinese surname. Perhaps (& I say perhaps until someone can prove otherwise), to overcome confusion as to whether the offspring of such marriage should be treated as native, our administrator came out with the term Sino.
Presently, our NRD has not been able to reconcile their registration process with the Constitution with regard to Sabah and Sarawak's natives' rights as enshrined in the Constitution. Perhaps a lack of understanding to the dynamics of race, ethnic, beliefs and the constitution itself by our West Malaysian administrator. Sinos are either Lain-Lain or Chinese and we have to rely on Sijil Anak Negeri to exercise our rights as guaranteed in the Constitution of Malaysia.
Justin,
ReplyDeletesorry for the very late reply.
thanks for the comment :) actually, i just thought that the kadazan n bunun topic was something interesting and worth sharing, hence i came up with the short post
anyway, about sino.. yeah, i heard about sino being a term coined by the british too from a fellow friend, before.. but i'm not so sure either how did the term came about.. but personally, sino is a term i use to describe myself when people start asking question about my identity, like some of the scenes in my entry.. it pretty much stops the questioning..haha
about NRD and being native or not, that sure give me a headache. i didn't even know i'm registered with NRD as "chinese" until i was almost 18. all the while i thought i'm "sinokadazan". and being "sinokadazan" back then, it gives me a headache when filling e-forms because sinokadazan doesnt exist in the drop down list. sometimes you'll see 'sino-native' in which case i put my race as chinese..
well, i guess you are right, we have to rely on our anak negeri.. but when filling e-forms, anak negeri doesnt come into picture.. so.. well.. jadi useless suda tue anak negeri :( then it becomes a disadvantage..huhu
zun lung @ben dan (why ben dan?!..haha)
ReplyDeleteemail/ fb me :)
and thumbs up to vogok lover! you guys must be close, close enough for you to know the word vogok :p
It is actually wrong to refer Sino/Kadazan-Dusun (written as Sino/Native in MyKad) simply as Sino because the word "sino" itself means China or Chinese. In foreign publications, you'll sometimes come across reporting with the title "Sino-Japanese relationship" or "Sino-Korean relationship" etc. Sino = China/Chinese.
ReplyDeleteScene 1
ReplyDeleteI went to a chinese restaurant
then the waiter come
"mou makan apa"
i replied : "kasi sia nasi guring sasau 1 sama nescepe O"
a few minutes, come the dishes
" ai kanapa tiada taruh sasau"
waiter : ko makan B... ka?
replied : " ya la,sa minta tadikan"
The waiter : oh soli ah , sa ingat ko malayu
(dia ingat sa tida tau apa tu sasau)
begitu lah susah kalau pranakan Kadazan mixed Indian, (+ not muslim,looks like malay)
not only sino's have so much trouble, we are too
hahaha, kesian ko.. ba biasa laba tu klo di sabah.. kadang2 sia p kedai cina yg serve no pork pun pandai takazut klo nampak yg bertudung makan sana.. but well, this is sabah.. susa org mo tau race kita kan..hehe.. klo org putih bilang, exotic look ba kita ni
DeleteI've had the same experience as you, eventhough I am from west Kalimantan (Indonesia) and I'm not from kadazan group.
ReplyDeleteMy mother also looks like chinese and most of my relatives as well, but we are pure dayak darat, every time my mother and I stepped into chinese shop the owner would greet her in Hakka, and luckily she could speak hakka, so sometimes we got significant discount because the owner thought she's chinese.
it is nice to be sino-kadazan because the kadazan people of Sabah are one of the nicest people in the world.
ReplyDeleteMy wife is also kadazan...
ReplyDeleteI'm Sino-Dusun. I don't speak Dusun though. My father doesn't know Chinese, or any other dialect, he once told me because his mother was a Sino too. Because of the language barrier, she speaks Malay (Sabahan) to my grandfather. I'm currently studying in Peninsular Malaysia, and it's so hard to make the people understand that you're not pure Chinese, or doesn't speak Chinese.I can not be in the Chinese community because I don't have Chinese name (obviously because my dad doesn't know Chinese) and I can't have the native rights because I have a Chinese surname. It's hard being in minorities.
ReplyDeleteI'm Sino-Dusun. I don't speak Dusun though. My father doesn't know Chinese, or any other dialect, he once told me because his mother was a Sino too. Because of the language barrier, she speaks Malay (Sabahan) to my grandfather. I'm currently studying in Peninsular Malaysia, and it's so hard to make the people understand that you're not pure Chinese, or doesn't speak Chinese.I can not be in the Chinese community because I don't have Chinese name (obviously because my dad doesn't know Chinese) and I can't have the native rights because I have a Chinese surname. It's hard being in minorities.
ReplyDelete