Crabs later, now for a bit of heritage lesson

I was going to post something about my Pulau Ketam photo trip but the connection was lousy. So instead of that I'm going to talk a bit about ancestry and heritage. Really, a bit only la, because I found a better link to explain the rest. Well, here goes.

Okay, my dad's a Hokkien and mom's a Teochew. That makes me half-half of both and I'm damn proud of that. I hail from Penang. Although I speak predominately Penang Hokkien, I probably'd understand most Hokkien/Teochew related dialect spoken anywhere in this country. If not, I'd guess it to a certain accuracy. Penang itself is a strange place. As you might know, the Hokkiens there (as well as those from the north) speak differently than say those Hokkiens from Central or Malaysia.

Within the state of Penang itself, we have three dominant Chinese dialects: Hokkien, Teochew, and Hakka. In Penang, we have a clear line between Island people and Mainland people. Heck, there's a channel separating them! Islanders are mostly Hokkien speaking, and mainlanders are much Teochew and a mixture of both (or all three). People from the Island, I think, speaks Hokkien strangely. I don't know its the culture or what, but theirs are kind of soft (or what the Cantonese call "la la dei"), almost eloquently manner. Come to mainland, and you'll find alot of us are kind of barbaric. We mix alot normal Hokkien and Teochew and vice versa in our daily life, thanks to mixed heritage or mingling with friends.

As I've said, I'm half-half. I find Teochew people much nicer, although they might appear to not care a fark about you. The men are tough people, but the women are equally tough but loving and kind (my late Granny is one). They mostly come from the kampung and they are damn versatile and damn smart, unlike the town Hokkiens. They have an extrodinary childhood. Ask any Teochew grownup and he or she would tell you all the (mis)adventures they had as a kid: climbing trees, cycling, swimming, mud wars, chasing pigs and anything that moves, running all over the place, maybe breaking a teeth or two, and so much more. They are brats, unlike me. My adventures were limited to the viccinity of the house. I never had the guts to go dirty, but they do, and its fun. Sadly all of this is going away fast.

There's not much nature anymore nowadays to mingle with, and I doubt kids Teochew or otherwise could have had all the fun like their parents used to have. Even in Penang, its all bricks and slabs. Kampung kids are going away fast into the world of shopping malls, fast food, and computers. Once they enter school or college, it's bye bye bicycle and hello Kancil. The point I'm telling this is because I see a very familiar world in Pulau Ketam. The free roaming spirit of kampung kids doing the thing they do best: playing their heart out. Certainly us city slickers don't have this kind of thing anymore. The last time I counted myself as "serious playing" was about 11 or so years ago. Schools condition kids to listen to rules and all sorts of moronistic values. Go into college and capitalism the other ism isms kicks in. Come into work and you either rot or drag yourself along.

Kids are like dogs: they need plenty of imaginative and physical space to roam and play. Then they can be happy. I'm a big kid (I know some of you still are or wants to be) and I'm not afraid to show that side of me once in a while. Go on, roam free if you want. Forget the money, forget the homework, hell, fark the exam. You only live once, reclaim your childhood now or you're going to end up like Micheal Jackson! Period.

P/S: See, a bit only mah. Okay, since Pulau Ketam is predominately Teochew, my guess is most Teochew are involved in fishing/farming business. The Hokkiens are more towards business of wholesale and marketing. That's just my guess lah. And
here's a website dedicated to Teochew people, if any of you are interested in Teochew heritage.