Today is the last day of Chinese New Year. It’s also the Chinese Valentine’s day. In Malaysia, it’s also called “Cap Koh Mei”. It’s translated from Mingnanese, from the sound of it. “Cap koh” means 15. This afternoon I came down from my class and a Malay guy who works at Domino Pizza asked me “ Tomorrow is cap koh mei, huh?”. Firstly, I was a bit stunned cos for a Malay guy, he knew “cap koh mei”, it means that he knows a little bit of Chinese culture. Malaysia is a multi-cultural country, wah!!!  I said to him “ I don’t quite care.” He replied “ You care about money, huh?” Upon hearing this I was a bit pissed. To other races like Malay people in Malaysia, we Chinese strike them as a bunch of money-sucking pigs or something. I told him “ Not Just Chinese. “Masaleh” love money too. “Masaleh” here means “white people”, or “kweilo” called by people of Hong Kong. Are we Chinese really money-sucking? That’s the question.

This Malay friend spoke English to me. You know, it’s rare for Malay people in our country to speak English to anyone. Cos everybody is like…speaking the national language ---- the Malay language. Maybe he knew that I taught English and he was just showing a little “respect”. Ho ho. Hope so. Hee hee.

May all the lovers out there, in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and all around the world, have a sizzling Chinese Valentine’s day. Always remember to “put on something”, eh? Watch out for the world population if you know what I’m saying. Yeehaw!!!