Back in PJ and KL, things are so easy, speak English, beh heau kong? speak Hokkien, mm sek theng? speak Cantonese, lagi ta-la faham? cakap bahasa Melayu... I have 4 choices...well, not that it is that difficult here lah...
Here, first thing, Mandarin! What I normally do is just to let them talk, till the point the I dont get it, I announce my famous line, crisp and clear like I've spoken the language all my life - "Wo pu hui chiang hua yu". And the conversation could turn to English :) almost everyone speaks English here, even the uncles at stations or the aunties mending the stalls.
One thing I actually found interesting the department of languages is that many here speaks Hokkien and more suprisingly, Cantonese! Which is great! Now, I am spoilt for choice. Sometimes, when I want to order food, I take about 2 minutes of observing before deciding in which dialect or language should I order my food at a local hawker stall. But most of the time, I just end up pointing at the picture instead as I get pressured from the hawkers demanding for my answer.
The funniest incident was, a colleague of mine, started talking away to me in Mandarin and I had to stop her halfway. She said," I thought you are chinese". I said "I am, but I cant speak". She asks then, "Oh, I thought you are Singaporean". "Nope, I am a Malaysian", to that, her reply was (in proper intonation)" Saya tak tau berbahasa Malayu". Errr.... we speak England? Can?
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