Cakap bukan-bukan

Other Half has been asking how come so many titles with Bahasa Malaysia... dunno, flavour of the week, I guess... 8) Maybe I should start writing more in BM also. I am after all very at home with it also. 8)

Ever since I wrote the piece on say what you mean, I've been paying more attention to my own words as well as others. And it's been an interesting observation...

Many of us like to 'simply talk' or cakap bukan-bukan. There was this one day when a friend of mine said something she didn't mean... we were talking about dancing as a leisure activity and how it has wrecked many marriages. Anyway, she blurted out something which I know she wouldn't like but said would be okay with her. I took her to task and pushed for what was said and after a while guess what? My friend got annoyed... even in her annoyance, she continued saying it was okay. And it amuses me in the sense that we are often like this. Why do we do it? Say all these things we don't mean? Sometimes we want to show that we are in control or maybe boast a little... reasons abound.

We say (and sometimes do) a lot of bukan-bukan but only for as long it suits us or if we feel we can get away with it. It makes us feel good for various reasons. I see my students getting out of control in classes with many of my colleagues. Many of these start with the cakap-cakap bukan-bukan or merapu but they often get out of control because after a while, the words said take on a life of their own. Even a well-behaved student can get out of control. Simple reasons.. we begin to believe our own words after some time. Our friends believe those words too. Before long you become the words you mouth. Add that to teachers who also don't mean what they say... you have double jeopardy! Students go lagi sesat! I kinda wish we have Mr. Moses Tay's style of disciplining...

I've got watch more on what I say, I realize. It's not what goes into the mouth that defiles us. It's what comes out of it. Like it or not, we are held accountable over what comes out from our mouths. We will be judged by what we say.

In these last couple of weeks, it's become clearer that very often what comes out of our mouths portray us to be people with double standards. Cakap sama bikin... banyak susah!