Friday, April 4, 2014

English Idioms: Malaysians Banana Skin

Hantu Laut

Hair-splitting, nitpicking and quibbling over nothing has become a remarkable feature of Malaysian society, some worthy of scorn.

The guy who tweeted "the disappearance of Flight MH370 was a blessing in disguise" did so because he noticed one or two things.............. either the incident has brought Malaysians close together, or a revelation of the division between patriotic and unpatriotic Malaysians.

There is nothing wrong in saying "blessing in disguise" if one means something positive came out of it. 

Journalist Ismail Amsyer, who tweeted his thought on the positive outcome of the tragic disappearance of Flight MH370 and agreed empathically by Minister Hishammuddin Hussein in his tweeted response should not have apologised, should have explained and stood by their tweets.

Here, a British tabloid, which has from day one maligned Malaysia on the tragedy, is stirring shit on the journalist and the minister. Shit sells shitty media, I suppose.

Most Malaysians do not understand the versatility of the English language, its idioms, or its "banana skin".The sensitivity arose because most of the younger generation Malaysians are products of an education system not based on English and not intensely schooled in the language. So, don't use it if you don't understand its actual meaning.

Idiom is a phrase where the words put together have meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words, which can make idioms hard for the uninitiated person to understand. Even if you know the meaning of every word in the sentence, you may not understand the idiom because you don't understand the culture behind it.

Idioms are often metaphorical and make the language more colourful.

"My father's death was a blessing in disguise, it has brought the family closer together." Does it literally mean I am happy that my father is dead? 

For the less discerning it may be so and carry a negative connotation. It should not be, the imperative was on the positive outcome.

The lost of Flight MH370 has cast shocking revelation of unpatriotic behaviour among Malaysians living a false-hearted life of perfidious loyalty. People with highly suspect allegiance.

This is the type of Malaysian I am talking about helping foreign media to lambaste leaders of the country.

As I have said before, we can always criticise our government's shortcomings, but when it comes to external aggression, we should rally behind our government no matter how much dislike we harbour against them.

Without any qualm whatsoever, these ingrates furiously condemned their own country for an incident completely beyond the control of the country's leaders. 

It is not often that a plane disappear into thin air without a trace. The incident has baffled the whole world. The mystic and the intellect are still out there looking for answers, which they may never found.

The Malaysian government is saddled with the greatest aviation mystery unprecedented in the history of civil aviation.Even the best of technology from the most powerful nation in the world has not been able to find the plane, or its debris. Looking for "needle in a haystack" seems must easier.

As "time is of the essence" Prime Minister Najib did not allow "the grass to grow under his feet" and after getting confirmation from Inmarsat satellite pings of the flight path of the plane, he announced that Flight MH370 has ended in the Southern Indian Ocean.

One should never "put one's foot in one's mouth"

The disappearance of Flight MH370 did expose the ugly side of Malaysians. 




6 comments:

halimtan said...

Dear HL,
Describing the mystery of MH370 as a blessing in disguise is in bad taste, irrespective of the idiom. Really.

gram.kong said...

Halimtan,

You did not read my writing in the right context, my second last paragraph conclude the message.

Anonymous said...

Is the govt the country? & Disagreeing with govt of the day = being unpatriotic??????? Please la................

Anonymous said...

Leaders can be shit, but it does not make the country shitty too.

Lambasting leaders does not equate to being disloyal to the country.

Where did you learn all the wrong stuff? BTN ka?

Anonymous said...

True. But what is the meaning behind that idiom? I still don't get it.

gram.kong said...

Aisyah,

It means "something which causes or is very likely to cause embarrassing problems"