Mikaela's Moon

I want to go back to Malaysia soon. For those who do not know, I lived in Malaysia from 1991 to 1995 with my family. My dad works there, and my mom and I left Batangas City to a new life in a town called Miri in the Sarawak state.

I remember I was almost 10 years old back then. I was about the start Grade 4 when we left. It was indeed a memorable experience for my mom and I. We left the airport early and arrived in Miri at lunch time. Everything seemed new and strange and scary. The next morning, my parents dropped me off to school, and I was scared shit. It was a Shell school, which means the kids who study there have parents working for Shell or Petronas. The headmaster (or principal) was British. There were two "streams": Dutch and English. So I was sent to the English Year 5 class. Inside, I wanted to cry because I didn't wanna be with those foreigners. I had zero confidence in my English, and I kept thinking how the heck am I gonna talk to these people. My classmates were like United Colors of Benetton: British teacher and a whole lot of mixed classmates ( Australian, American-Filipino, American-Singaporean, British, African-English, Spanish, French). Everyone was really nice to me on my first day, but I didn't feel comfortable. I barely spoke to anyone. All the books, notebooks, dictionaries, paper, etc were there in the classroom. I just had to bring myself and my snack.

I managed to survive the first day. On my second year, Year 6, I was more outspoken. Things got nasty when my Spanish classmate got jealous over the new boy in class. His name was Craig Bennett, and he is English-South African. He was designated to sit next to me, and for some reason, little Miss Popular Spaniard got jealous and decided to spread rumors about me. Yeah, I learned the hard way. At first, I didn't mind, but I later learned that Craig didn't invite me to his birthday party because of HER. That bitch. The good thing about it was that I finally realized who my real friends were. I can never forget my friend Zayna Jaafar. She's from the Middle East, and she is very intelligent. She can speak French fluently! She invited me to have lunch in an exclusive club with her mom and siblings. Her family is really nice, and she was my first Muslim friend. I hate it sometimes when people stereotype Muslims as terrorists, because they are not. It is like stereotyping Filipinos as domestic helpers.

Nadine Green was my classmate from Year 5, and we became pretty close. She is American-Singaporean. Her dad is from Texas, and her mom is Singaporean-Chinese. She is a very cheeky girl. The boys love her because she was one of the first to have her period in school at that time. Yeah, stupid I know, but back then my schoolmates thought it was cool that she was already having her period and wearing bras. But she was great to me, and it was fun having her around.

Unfortunately, I've lost contact with them after they left school when we were in Year 6. Only 3 of us made it until the end of the year. Most of my classmates went back their respective countries because their daddies' contract with Shell ended already or they need to go back because the school didn't offer high school. It was sad, but I was excited about it because I would be staying in Miri.

I had to learn how to speak in Bahasa Malaysia because I was going to a private Malaysian school. Why? Because I had nowhere else to go. There were no other schools left for me to choose from. The Malaysian public schools would not accept me because I was not a Malaysian citizen.

When I transferred, I was back in Primary 6 because I was only 11 and cannot go to high school yet. Majority of my classmates (and schoolmates) were Malaysian-Chinese. A small majority were Malay. There were a few Filipinos in that school, one of them named Danette who also hails from Batangas. We had a blast speaking in Tagalog LOUDLY in school because nobody would understand, not even the teachers, so nobody could scold us. Haha. We could swear and curse all we wanted. She was a great athlete and very smart. I was proud of her when she became a prefect when she was in Primary 6. Remember in Harry Potter where they had prefects? Sort of like school officers. Anyways, after Primary 6, I went to high school (secondary school they called it) in the same school. There were like 7 or 8 of us in class. I was the only one who was not Chinese in the class.

I stayed in that school until I was in 2nd year high school. I was known as the loud don't-mess-with-me girl. Discrimination was fierce, and I was called many names. I will never forget a girl named Ting Kaka, who was a year younger than I was. I heard her comment to her friend that I was a "Bosnian girl" because I was so skinny during those days. Unfortunately for her, I heard it and I really let her have it. I left the Philippines as a timid shy girl, and when I studied in Malaysia, I had to learn how to stand up for myself. I've had students telling me to "go back where you came from". I retorted that THEY need to go back to China and that their ancestors arrived in Malaysia as slaves. Ah well, history is very helpful.

I remember that I always had the major roles in plays and dances and other stuff in school because I looked Malay, compared to my Chinese schoolmates. So whenever the school had to perform a traditional dance or Malay play, guess who got the role? Yeah they didn't really have a choice, did they? It was also an advantage that most of my schoolmates could not dance and I could.

My proud moment was when I was named Best Speaker during an English debate when I was in second year. The second years were debating against the frouth years. We won, and I was Best Speaker, and that shut up those freaking jerks in school. It made me feel food that my two other team mates in the debate were the two best students in the entire school, and I got the award. Shniy shiny moment indeed.

I had a reunion with my Malaysian high school classmates two years ago, and it was nice. We still keep in touch. I'd love to go back to Miri and see how things have changed. I want to see Bulatan Park again, and watch the afternoon joggers go around the park. I want to drink Ribena juice, mi kering from Krokok market, eat mi goreng from that small resto in Pujut 3, and drive by my old school and see what's left of it. I heard they no longer have the high school there, because there were very few students.

I learned a lot from my stay there. The most important thing for me was that I had the chance to grow up with my dad in my life. My dad has been working overseas since I was a baby, and living in Malaysia has made me realize we had a lot of things in common.

After my second year in high school, my mom, brother and I went back to Batangas City where I graduated from high school.

Hopefully, I can visit Miri again someday soon.

Have a good weekend to everyone!

Selamat pagi!