Christina Wong Syn Hui

Christina Wong Syn Hui

B0301897

Individual Paper One

Cultural Autobiography

I was born in a Chinese background family and enjoyed Chinese education as well. Although my grandparents were from China, I was definitely a pure Malaysian. No doubt, I loved being a Chinese rather than other races in Malaysia. For example, I do not need to wear ‘Tudung’ in a hot day like our Malay female do. I can wear whatever I like, mini-skirt, colorful clothes that are both cool and practical, singlet and so on.

I have our own dialect in my family that is we speak Foochow, one of the dialects in China. I found that Foochow people talk in a loud voice whenever they use Foochow to communicate. This will make other people misunderstand that they are quarrelling with others. Maybe this is not a good manner in people’s eyes, but why don’t we accept it as a unique communication style, perhaps. By the way, I tend to control myself to speak gently when I speak Foochow.

I came from a Christian family as well. I entered Sunday School when I was small. I have been taught of the belief in Jesus Christ. I admitted that I was not a very holly Christian but I did have a deep belief in God somehow. Some of my friends are not Christian, they are Buddhist. They have their own God to believe. I do not know much about their religion so I do not have the right to give any opinion here. What I believe is both the religion wants the followers to have a good manners and do not engage themselves in the crime.

I stayed in a town called Sibu in Sarawak. This is the place where I spent my 20 years there. I had my kindergarten life, primary school life and second nary school life there. All kind of memories I had here. Some are pleasurable while some are painful. Regardless the quality to these memories, they constitute the early experiences of my life and they help to make me the person that I am today. The life here is more to relax able, quiet and with less hesitation. We don’t have the problem of traffic jam during working hours. People sleep early in the night and wake up early in the morning, very healthy. This kind of living has shaped the cultural identity that is those who staying outside late until 12 o’clock something in the morning is considered as bad habit or manner, especially the youth.

I left home to Kuala Lumpur when I finished Form 5 to further my studies. There are some changes to my cultural identity. My lifestyle, the friends I meet with, the way i treat others and my perceptions towards something. I tend to be more independent than what I was in my hometown. I have to do everything by myself, solve the problems by myself, be tough, and study harder to get a better result to fight for my future.

I am a kind of optimistic person. That is the difference with my friends around me. I can be like very stable whenever problem comes whereas my friends are just like going to the end of the world. I usually keep my word. If I find that I am not able to because of extraordinary circumstances, I make it a point to tell the person involved so that he or she will not feel let down. For example, if I were to tell a friend that I will come to her house at 11a.m. but cannot do so, I will make sure I let her know before that time so that she will not have to wait for me in vain. In the other hand, I always go by the saying “say what you mean, and mean what you say”. It seems many people can’t be bothered about saying what they mean and meaning what they say. They just say anything they like and do something else. It is impossible to trust people like this. It is better that we keep away from such people.

As for me, to keep my integrity and honesty are the least for me to survive in this world. This is what I have been taught of by my parents, my teachers and my religious. By this kind of cultural identity, I am able to have more friends and live with a happy life.