National Language Class

Tonight Rohaizad and I went to see the play "National Language Class."

It is the story of the time when when Malaya gained independence from England and for a decade or so, Singapore was a state of Malaysia. Since Malay was the national language of Malaysia, many Singaporeans, especially Chinese, studied Bahasa Malaysia.

The artist Chua Mia Tee painted a picture of a National Language Class. This painting inspired the play.

It was a bittersweet play and I was quite moved, even though I couldn't understand much of what was said. Singapore has an amazing and moving history over the past fifty years!

On top of it all, I had to stand up in front of the audience and say in Malay, "I am from America; I am an American." Mortifying, but a GREAT performance!