I had to run an errand for my mum yesterday. My maid will be going home in a few weeks' time, so I had to go to an agency to get a home leave application. When I entered the agency, I asked for the form, and the person behind the counter asked me where I came from.
I was rather confused by the question, so I said I was getting the form for my mum. She asked for my mum's name and I supplied her, then she gave me the form in an envelope. To which, she then asked, "You speak very good English! Is the form for you? Are you going home?"
I was taken aback for a while. Then I answered, "No, the form is for my maid. I am taking this on behalf of my mother." Hmmm.. I should be used to people mistaking me for another nationality, but still, I still get taken aback and a tad offended when people assume I am of another nationality just because of the way I look!
I always thought people can tell by the way I speak? Although there are those who claim I speak better English than most locals, but it is not as if I have a foreign accent or something. I just speak fluently, like how I was taught and brought up, not the normal pidgin speech as evidenced by so many locals.
So I still get rather amused when people can mistake me for someone from another country, despite hearing how I speak! Yet no one has ever mistaken me for an Australian or American or British, simply because I do not have the accent, although if I want to, I can speak like an Australian or American too!
I was rather confused by the question, so I said I was getting the form for my mum. She asked for my mum's name and I supplied her, then she gave me the form in an envelope. To which, she then asked, "You speak very good English! Is the form for you? Are you going home?"
I was taken aback for a while. Then I answered, "No, the form is for my maid. I am taking this on behalf of my mother." Hmmm.. I should be used to people mistaking me for another nationality, but still, I still get taken aback and a tad offended when people assume I am of another nationality just because of the way I look!
I always thought people can tell by the way I speak? Although there are those who claim I speak better English than most locals, but it is not as if I have a foreign accent or something. I just speak fluently, like how I was taught and brought up, not the normal pidgin speech as evidenced by so many locals.
So I still get rather amused when people can mistake me for someone from another country, despite hearing how I speak! Yet no one has ever mistaken me for an Australian or American or British, simply because I do not have the accent, although if I want to, I can speak like an Australian or American too!
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