The Taboo of Accent (Confession)

MW was one of the few persons I actually confessed my relief on hearing a Londoner's accent to when working for Bagel Nash. It sounded totally random and odd at first but somehow that was justified as the Yorkshire accent has taken an indirect toll on me. *lol!* How? It's a long story to which some of MW's friends have had the agonizing moments of listening to my long story, herself included. I almost forgot to mention that the Yorkshire accent is, IMHO, "too cool" for me to bear. I never despise any accents for any matter. I hold out a very comical stand point of view on the Yorkshire accent and I do not know why. It's just the way it is.

Anyway, the diversities of accent is perhaps one of the many things I love in life. Having said this, it does not, however, means I faked my accent whenever I speak. I cannot begin to tell you how complicated it is for a Malaysian, as with myself, to refuse to admit that we do not have an accent. In one way or another, it does reveal where you are originally from if your ears are sensitive enough to identify. Oddly enough, I didn't know my ears were quite sensitive to people's accents from different parts of the world, or even parts of England or UK. Sometimes when shopping in Leeds city center, I would inadvertently picked up a very familiar accent and know that person is from Malaysia, Singapore, or Indonesia. I always get very curious as to the geographic or demographic origin whenever I hear a new accent from the person I just met, if already different from that locality.

I remember very clearly when I was warned not to entirely change the way I speak before I left for Canada. I guessed the reason for such a warning was to fundamentally maintain an already familiar understanding when speaking. If that was an offense within my family, then I would have been crucified by them. *laughs!* It all came naturally, I GUESS (hoping I'm not wrong)!! And when I came to UK, my dad said, "So, you're gonna come back with an English accent now, huh?". I denied. Boy, how I was so wrong! I remember I used to say "to-may-toes" but I soon caught on to saying "to-ma(h)-toes".

So, here comes the question. Do I have an accent?
Ironically enough, I must say it depends on several things; there's no straight answer to this one. So, the answer is a "yes" and a "no".
Analogically, there is a "linguistic switch" in my head. I could flip it "on" or flip it "off" depending on whom I'm speaking with. I know, it sounds weird. But it's something that, I think, most Malaysians and Singaporeans (born and bred there) would eventually and inevitably develop after having lived outside of Asia for some time. I strived to be understood in the context of that particular locality.

Here's my confession. First, suppose that you are my non-Asian friend. You and I have no trouble understanding each other in speaking or listening. So, if you traveled with me back home you will observe that whenever we (Malaysian and Singaporeans) speak to our family and friends back home, you will NOT have a complete understanding of what was spoken even though we would be speaking in English. Nevermind the colloquials used, as my English would still sound like a completely different language to you. My "switch" would be switched off to avoid being labeled as a social outcast (but not to its full meaning). As crazy as this may already sound, it is a friggin' taboo back home to speak with an "on" switched! People get labeled with all sorts of names--"Cakap macam orang putih!" would probably be the likely candidate out of hundreds of possibilities. That would simply be translated to mean "a snob and a wanna-be" in Malay (the language).

So, for those of you who knows me, here in the UK or in Canada or United States, know that my switch is "on" because you're hearing my standard accent. My accent is nowhere near "arrived". If you imagine flying from Nigeria to London, you know you have arrived London when you landed. So, in terms of my accent, it is somewhere in between Asia and North America, mixed or probably confused with English accents. It is a nice "potpourri" of accents with no identifiable geographic or demographic region. *laughs!!*

So, what happens when I meet my country mates here in UK? Which switch will you be at? The switch is, uhh, faulty! It really depends because there's this whole thing of "taboo" to avoid. If it is worth avoiding raising the taboo issue, then it will definitely be "off", otherwise, it's staying "on".

Are you confused? Some people have got so good in switching back and forth without any problems or confusions. No, I am not confused. *lol!*

If a person spoke English, can you tell if that person is, if Asian, Filipino or Portugese, Japanese or Korean, Chinese or Hongkongese, Filipino or Indonesian, Indonesian or Malaysian? OR if non-Asian, Scottish or English, French or Spanish, English or West European?

Lastly, something not taboo, if you don't already know Russell Peters, I'd definitely recommend you to watch his stand-up comedy shows. They can be found in YouTube.com.