For those of you who don't speak Malay very fluently, here's some translations and transliterations of phrases I've come across with lately in this exam season. I'll write them in the form of a dialogue between two students. (translation is T, Transliteration is TL)
Student A: Amacam, dah tengok dah nota tu?
T: So, have you seen the notes?
TL: So, are you studying before everyone else as usual?
Student B: Alah nota tu, jeling pon belum lagi!
T: I haven't even glanced at them!
TL: I'm not telling you but I've actually stored every dot and comma in those notes in my brain.
Student A: Ye ke.. I dah lalu la, sepintas lalu. Tapi ntahlah, macam tak faham jer.
T: I've scanned through them once. But I don't really understand it.
TL: I've read them 3 or 4 times but there's this one part I don't understand. I'm hoping you'll stop lying and tell me you've read the notes and will explain to me now.
Student B: Alah, tak pe you can terrer...
T: It's okay you're smart.
TL: I don't really care, and I just want you to shut up about this, but I hope you're not doing as well as I fear you might be doing.
Student A: Okay,tak pelah. Good luck!
T: It's okay, good luck!
TL: Okay, fine you're not gonna tell me anything. I hope you get screwed over.
Student B: You too, good luck!
TL: Phew, she's gone.
Okay fine maybe it's dramatization. But seriously, there's some level of kiasu-ness (if I understand the word kiasu correctly) that NEEDS to go away. Stop thinking you have a right to interrogate people you barely to talk to in class about how far their studying and for the love of God, if you don't understand something try and go look for it first instead of expecting someone else you think might understand it better to explain it to you as if you are in first grade and NOT get the hint that she doesn't understand it either and doesn't want to explain it to you, really, because it's not all that fun. ESPECIALLY when she hasn't had time to read the notes, and you have, and no she's not some super genius who eats up notes and stores it in her liver for extraction for you or the exam. Give me a break.
3 comments:
OH the politics =) Gone are those days for me. But the people I knew bck then were more of the 'opened for discussion' types or looking to show you how smart they really are so it was more of an 'ask me a question and I will give you a monologue'. Such competition. Of course, I didn't compete. I had a silent agreement with my partner in crime and we telepathically cheat. It was all good and balanced though cause we were (still am =p) both very smart so it was not a parasitic relationship and we need not ask such demonstrated questions.
But we didn't do science so even if you don't read notes so long as you own a good head, you could still word your way around. See, science is COLD. Haha, no, I love science. I was just never good at retaining facts.
I kinda miss exams now. Wait, I think I mean I miss life.
Good luck to all cramming for papers.
hey, i've been thru that too! here would be my replies to em:
A: Amacam, dah tengok dah nota tu?
Me: Dah, siap dah hafal satu buku sekali! kat hujung jari je!
A: Ye ke.. I dah lalu la, sepintas lalu. Tapi ntahlah, macam tak faham jer.
Me: Iye? I tengok sekali dah terus faham.
A: Alah, tak pe you can terrer...
Me: Memang lah i terer, baru tau ke?
i juz luv me sarcasm.mehh.
HAHAH. I wish I could do that Tun. I'd just smile and mumble something incoherent. What do you do when you KNOW some is being insincere? Gosh.
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