My talented friend AmyHeidi’s thoughts on language, culture, and tradition struck a chord with me. Being a product of mixed parentage, I could relate to her comments on how she never learnt the dusun dialect from her grandmother.
Its so sad isnt it when a tradition or language just fades away over time because its not passed down between generations… I’m equally guilty of this.
I am fortunate enough to be fluent in some dialects of chinese, partly due to my propensity for absorbing languages rather quickly, but largely due to the fact that my maternal grandma lived with us throughout my childhood and she only spoke chinese.
Much as I would love to pass down my chinese heritage to my children, it feels like an uphill battle and the way I’m going, I doubt I will succeed.
It saddens me to think that my chinese heritage will end with me…