ya tuan, no tuan

my first association with the word 'tuan' came from listening to servants at the estate calling my uncle that. as the estate manager, they had servants helping out at home and when we visited, or called, they would refer to their manager as tuan. it was a calling of privilege and of status. and to them and to us, it was just that.

where did all these calling of tuans start from? could it be during the colonisation period where we referred to the foreigners as tuans? then it brings the conotation of bowing to a superior race in the country, the controlling power.

the given names of my 2 brothers start with tuans, but do they ever get themselves to be called 'tuan'? i doubt they will ever refer to themselves as that. but of course there had been jokes about that word in their name during their school days.

and i remember we referring to the principal at school as 'tuan pengetua' when we were told to write speeches in bm. in english, there is no 'a very good morning to the sir principal'. but again, is sir equivalent to tuan or is it master?

so what is the big deal nowadays? you wanna be tuan for this and you wanna be tuan for that. why put such heavy emphasis on this word? we are taught that all humans are equal and we are all brothers and sisters in the same country. the chinese will call this comradeship. we talk about unity in a multi-racial society and integrity to strenghten the country. are these all empty vessels?

it is getting sickening reading the news reports on the dailies nowadays. the more you read, the shakier you feel the ground you are standing on is. how do you tell people to work with you and to stand strong? the future does not look bright.