Reading this story at thestar.com, I was reminded of two things. First, that old Bollywood song (to which I confess I don’t understand the lyrics) Mera naam chin-chin-chu that my parents must have played on long car rides. Secondly, I was reminded of the movie, Elf.
KUALA LUMPUR: He can speak Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien and Hakka fluently, but Lim Meng Sain was born an Indian.
And this anomaly has sometimes put him in a tight spot.
The contractor was raised as a Chinese after his biological parents gave him up for adoption when he was an infant.
Now 25 years old, Meng Sain is a true product of the community he grew up in.
Oh, I’m sure this isn’t nearly as unique as it would seem, but I still thought it was a cute story, especially when compared to this earlier post about preconceived notions based upon skin color.
Once, while parking a truck behind his house recently, he was stopped by a police officer.
“The officer asked for my identity card and when I gave it to him, he took a good look and asked me if it was a fake,†he said.
“I’ve gotten used to all the puzzled stares. Maybe it’s just God’s way of testing me,†said Meng Sain, who was baptised a Catholic when he was 12.
Oh, I’m sure this isn’t nearly as unique as it would seem
Nope, you’re finally and definitively wrong, it is pretty unique. 😉
What’s unique about it is that Chinese adopted an Indian. It’s not that it doesn’t happen, it’s just not common (like a black family adopting a white kid).
Anyhow, everyone go see Chemman Chaalai (The Gravel Road), it’s about Malaysian Indians (Tamils, to be specific).
that song concomitantly annoys and frightens me. whenever i caught “bollywood/hollywood” on cable a few months ago, i’d scramble for the remote, to change it before the closing credits rolled…gah.
his story about people talking about him in front of his face thinking he doesn’t understand reminded me of something that happened to one of my friend’s fathers.
they were up north in michigan and a very large white woman was sitting at the table next door. so this uncle starts talking smack about her in hindi, until…. this woman’s husband walked over and started talking in hindi to uncle. apparently her husband, who was not visible to uncle from the table, was nepalese and obviously was fluent in hindi.
Pray tell, dear Naeha, how many fathers does your friend have?
Doesn’t this happen to everyone? I was on a train from Madras to Bangalore with my dad (he wanted me to experience the “sights and smells of India.”) We were sitting opposite a grandma and grandson. At the time, I had braces. Grandma told her grandson in Malayalam, “Look at these Americans – they don’t brush their teeth and they have to have them SCREWED INTO THEIR HEAD!”
-D
oh ha bloody ha Basking Shark!!!
i wrote it during con law… i was distracted by our intense discussion of Roe v. Wade so excuse the extra ‘s’ please.
Naeha, You are kindly excused please.
Naeha, if you omit the ‘s’ you get “one of my friend’s father” which equally makes no sense. Perhaps, for the most terse correction, you meant to move the apostrophe so it comes after the ‘s’? “one of my friends’ fathers” makes sense and requires the least motion to your character sequence.
thanks a lot, Abhi, now that bloody Chin-Chin-Chu song is stuck in my head, along with a visual of Ranjit Choudhary in drag…