what am i ??

it would be a very common questions which Hong Kong-ites had asked me for my 1 month spend there....

(below is a common conversation i almost have everyday in Hong Kong)

christal's answer: I am Chinese. Yes, I can speak Cantonese...

then they will start conversing in Canton with me...

then they realise I can't read Chinese

HK: why you cant read chinese?

me: cause I did not learn them in school. it is not a compulsary subject.

HK: then, "what are you?"

me: I am Malaysian Chinese

(Ma-Lai-Sai-Ngah--Wah Kiu)

What is Malaysian Chinese ?

A Malaysian Chinese is an overseas Chinese who is a citizen or long-term resident of Malaysia. Most are descendants of Chinese who arrived between the fifteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries. Within Malaysia, they are usually simply referred to as "Chinese" in all languages. The term Chinese Malaysian is also sometimes used to refer to this community.

Early Chinese settlers (from the fifteenth century in Malacca; eighteenth century in Penang) form to a sub-group called Peranakan or Straits Chinese, who adopted many Malay customs and to varying extents (limited in Penang, almost complete in Malacca) the Malay language, but retained Chinese religious practices. In contrast, the newer arrivals (nineteenth century and later) who retained Chinese customs were known as sinkheh (新客 - literally "new guests").

The Chinese in Malaysia maintain a distinct communal identity and rarely intermarry with native Muslim Malays for religious and cultural reasons. Most Malaysian Chinese consider their being "Chinese" at once an ethnic, cultural and political identity.

The Malaysian Chinese have traditionally dominated the Malaysian economy, but with the advent of affirmative action policies by the Malaysian government to protect the interests of ethnic Malays, their share has eroded somewhat. On most counts, however, they still make up the majority of the middle and upper income classes. As now, they became the richest ethnic in Malaysia with owned 39 percent of Malaysia's total equity as 2004.

As of 2007, they constitute about a quarter of the Malaysian population.

*source