A grandmother was pushing her little grandchild around Wal- Mart in a buggy. Each time she put something in the basket she would say, 'And here's something for you, Diploma.' or 'This will make a cute little outfit for you, Diploma.' and so on.
Eventually a bewildered shopper who'd heard all this finally asked, 'Why do you keep calling your grandchild Diploma?'
The grandmother replied, 'I sent my daughter to Virginia Tech and this is what she came home with!'
I asked two Chinese educated ladies how to say it in Cantonese, Masters and Doctorate. I was told "Pok Si" and "Sek Si" respectively.
A few days ago, I was at a wedding eve dinner and chatted with some women in their fifties, who probably had only primary Chinese education. They told me it should be "Sek Si" then "Pok Si". I have just reconfirmed with someone else that the earlier version was correct! I am confused but would then to agree with the first version.
This confusion reminds me of the surgeons being called "Mister" instead of "Doctor" in UK. To others, they cannot imagine going for further specialization and being reverted to Mr.!
To the layman, the confusion will go on and on. Only those in the profession or in academia would know and appreciate the difference.
Just yesterday at the coffee shop in Pusing, soon after a housewife explained to me, her husband said, "those who study until Sek Si are those who studied until they are "ngong chor"! Almost immediately, the wife asked me what level my daughter is studying and I replied, "ngong chor"! She felt embarrassed at what her husband had just said.
How should we judge a government?
In Malaysia, if you don't watch television or read newspapers, you are uninformed; but if you do, you are misinformed!
"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X
Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience - Mark Twain
Why we should be against censorship in a court of law: Publicity is the very soul of justice … it keeps the judge himself, while trying, under trial. - Jeremy Bentham
"Our government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no
responsibility at the other. " - Ronald Reagan
No comments:
Post a Comment