Of nut and banana

Folks,

Here is an interesting topic about nuts and banana, as opposed to "nuts and bolts".

These nut and banana will be discussed in ethnic context of Malay and Chinese communities, respectively.

And no, this is not a sex talk, but merely a social, unscientific observation of the fabric of society that I am in.

Let's first talk about "nut".

Despite all the nitty-gritty negative connotations; nut or "kacang" in Malaysia is used to describe someone who has forgotten its roots.

There is a specific Malay phrase that goes like this" kacang lupakan kulit, which in English would mean "a nut who has forgotten its shell".

This phrase is regularly intended to describe those -- particularly the Malays -- that have forgotten their own root (culture) such that they pretend not to know the Malay language after coming back overseas, or they decide to disband their parents in achieving worldly pleasure.

So that is about nut, or kacang.

With all due respect, I specifically relate it to the Malays because I feel that they can absorb and feel its meaning best, as compared to other race.

But be careful! Don't blindly use the word kacang.

If you want to describe someone who has forgotten its root, then use the phrase kacang lupakan kulit in full.

If you use kacang alone, it would mean "simple", in the sense that this word is loosely used to describe how simple it is to solve or do something.

And why is kacang used in such context?

Well, probably because it is simpler to throw kacang in your mouth and chew them as foods.

Throwing kacang is an easy act, no?

Next comes banana or pisang, an often a misunderstood fruit.

Banana is a pejorative word used widely within the Chinese community.

Let's look at the anatomy of a banana. It is long (yes, everyone noticed that!), and have a yello colour on the outside and a somewhat white colour on the inside.

The slur is that the yellow outside represents the Chinese skin colour, and the white inside represents the so-called caucassion, or mat salleh as it is known in this country.

What I am trying to say is that, a Chinese is labelled as banana is he or she embrace Western culture such that they forgot their own roots, eapecially their language.

An often-seen situation that could be a good example is if there is a Chinese that does not know how to speak Chinese -- either Mandarin, or Cantonese, or Hokkien, or even Hakka.

Therefore, there you have it.

Nut or kacang for the Malays, and banana or pisang for the Chinese.

The fruits of race-linked pejorative, is how I would term it.