fundamentals triumphs over superficiality....

I went to hang out with Guan Shin and Chin Kok last night; it was great to be able to finally meet them, especially considering that Chin Kok is going to leave for JB next week after having a 3 months break.

One of the first things they mentioned to me was that I do not have the so-called British accent whenever I speak. To tell the truth, I have no idea how to respond to that statement actually. I think they were comparing me to my other friend - who is supposedly studying in the US - who have acquired a deep and thick American slang only after a few months studying there.

I think some people are more susceptible to acquire such foreign slangs or accents; I am not sure how other people generally views the ability to acquire such accents, but in my opinion, it is not exactly something that I am proud of if I were able to acquire a 'British' accent after 9 months studying in the UK. In fact, I think nothing is more superficial and naive than expecting one to have an accent just because one have been living overseas for an extended periods of time.

Sure, some people might argue that acquiring a foreign accent is an inevitable consequence of living overseas; I know that there is a certain age range when one is able to 'embrace' such foreign influences most effectively, a time where the brain and mind is most adept at absorbing such influences, be it in the way one speaks, customs, lifestyles etc. At least, theoretically that is what I have read and have been told.

But judging from experience, I find that most of my Malaysian friends at Imperial never fully acquire the so-called 'British' accents even though they have been studying in the UK for the past 9 months; in fact, they sound more or less like the first time I met them.

I'm not against anyone acquiring a foreign slang or accent in their daily conversations; I am just puzzled why some people finds it more easier to adopt such things as compared to others.

I think our brain works in such a way that we are given the choice whether to adopt such foreign influences i.e. foreign accents etc. We are able to filter the things we wish to adopt and 'implement' in our lives; our brain is not a sponge, flagrantly absorping everything that comes into contact with it; rather, it is like a semi-permeable membrane, giving it the ability to select the things it wants to pass through. If that is indeed the case, then acquiring a foreign accent (to take an example) is not really as inevitable or inescapable as it initially seemed.

Then, it follows that the whole issue reduces itself to the question of choice; and the question of choice often reveals something about our own self. In short, it means most of us have the choice as to whether to adopt such foreign accents and the choice one makes reveals something about that particular person - his objectives, his personality, his aspirations.

I think that that gives us a deeper and more penetrating insight into a person, far more than the insights one could gain just by seeing whether one have acquired a foreign accent after returning from overseas.

In addition, choosing the view the latter to be more significant than the former also tells a lot about a particular person, often a lot more than one intends to reveal in the first place.