14. Banana Boy…

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Was chatting with my cuz Jo when the topic of language came out. I was telling her Ethan’s circle of friends at the playground, Malays, Indons, Indians and Chinese… yes… in THAT order!

It’s not that there are no Chinese kids around, there are, but you see, my little Ethan is like me. We speak English and BM… no Chinese dialect. So you can imagine the ‘chicken and duck’ scenario when these Chinese kids are trying to converse with him. Actually, those kids and Ethan can manage really well. Kids being kids, they do understand each other even though they don’t speak the same language. Kids do not choose colours. They mingle well with anyone of any race.

The problem lies within me. I am unable to communicate with these children’s mothers as some of them came from a Chinese educational background and are unable to converse in English. Still, we let our kids play together. It will be so much better if I can have a decent conversation with them instead of our conversing in BM which attracts odd stares from passers-by. (Time and time again I have to explain to people that I am NOT a Vietnamese/Filipino mail-order bride!). Chinese people generally do not accept a Chinese speaking to another Chinese other languages except the Chinese dialect!

My point is, I will not let Ethan grow up to face the problems I faced growing up. He needs to be able to converse in the Chinese dialect (Mandarin being the top priority) as I know the difficulty he will face if he is yet another ‘Banana Boy’….

So here I am, scouting and surveying all the Chinese Schools around. My best bet so far is the one located next to Riana Green Condominium, Tropicana…