In This Malay Home Gossips In Tamil Secrets In Mandarin

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Meet the polyglot family: (standing) Syah Putra, Zehairi and wife Tia, Syafiqa, and (sitting) Dian, Sherina and Alfin.PORT DICKSON: Palm sugar kuih kaswi cakes on the table and Quranic verses on the wall indicate that living in this house in Lukut, Negeri Sembilan, is a typical Malay family
And so there is, except that the children trade gossip, plan outings, and argue over the TV remote in Tamil. Or sometimes Mandarin
Zehairi Mohd Ripin and his wife Prasetia Ispati have lived here for 19 years and raised five children
Their neighbours are mostly Indian and Chinese, with a sprinkling of Malay families
Their children have grown up speaking Bahasa Malaysia of course, but also Tamil and Mandarin. So how did that happen
“I used to work in a factory, and my Tamil neighbour looked after my children while I was at work,” Prasetia, or Tia, originally from Surabaya, Indonesia, tells FMT
Amma (pink sari) surrounded by her family and Zehairi’s.That neighbour is Marimuthu Subramaniam, affectionately known to the family as Amma, a Tamil word for mother
Amma habitually spoke Tamil with the children, Syafiqa, Syah Putra, Dian, Alfin and Sherina as they grew and they naturally picked up the language. And not only the language but many aspects of Indian culture
“I was really excited that my children were learning the culture of another race,” grins Tia. “And along the way I learned to speak Tamil too!”The couple sent their children to Chinese schools because they wanted them to learn Mandarin and become familiar with yet another culture
The result is that the children can now get their tongues around several of Malaysia’s languages
Dad Zehairi is the odd one out now, so the kids speak Malay to keep him in the picture. Unless they have their own reasons not to
The dream of not needing to whisper secrets in front of others is a reality for these youngsters
Eldest daughter, Syafiqa, 18, explains that the siblings speak Tamil to each other most of the time, but switch to Mandarin when sharing secrets so their parents won’t catch on
Puteri Noor Syafiqa says learning other languages doesn’t make her less Malay.When Tia is out with the children, they chat together in Tamil, which often raises eyebrows, causing people to enquire about their racial background and how they can speak an “alien” language so well
But the children don’t mind. Syafiqa maintains that mastering different languages opens doors to more opportunities. “This doesn’t make me less Malay but more Malaysian.”Fara, the youngest at 11, chips in, “I’m happy to be able to speak different languages as I get to make friends with children of other races.”Eldest son, 17-year-old Syah Putra, says knowing Tamil enables him to appreciate Tamil music. His father agrees. “At night, you will always hear Tamil songs being sung here.”Mohd Syah Putra enjoys singing Tamil songs.The family also enjoys Tamil movies, and tries to catch at least one every month at the local cinema
Tamil isn’t the only thing they’ve learned from their amma. Tia can now cook curries, dhal and other Indian dishes. “When I first arrived from Indonesia, I had never eaten any of these; now puri is my favourite.”Daughter Dian, 15, says they always celebrate Deepavali with Amma. “We go to her house and clean it, and help her bake traditional biscuits, then we enjoy the day with her.”Tia is happy that her family is close not to just Amma but all of their racially varied neighbours
“Here, everyone knows everyone else”, she says, and this is borne out as two neighbours stroll in to her house unannounced, as if it were their own
Tia has one special wish: that more Malaysians would learn the ‘Malaysian’ languages. “That would be very good for national unity.”But the current climate makes her sad. “These days we see Malays only mixing with Malays, Chinese with Chinese and Indians with Indians.”It seems to her that Malaysians are losing sight of the benefits that flow from the very thing that makes their nation unique and which should be its greatest strength
“What makes our country beautiful is that we are people of different races.” - FMT

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