surname Ma

If you speak Cantonese or Mandarin, you will definitely find a comment on Sunday Star's Education pullout rather hilarious. A reader commented on the accuracy of a History book on Let's Hear It: Books should give accurate facts

"The book seems to assume that people with the surname Ma were all Muslims and that the surname Ma derived from Muslim names such as Muhammad."

If you are a Chinese you know what it means. If we do not want Malays know that we are talking about them, we refer them as "sing Ma" (which the word sing means surname) instead of calling them "Malay yan" (Malay people). Those with surname Ma might not be necessarily Muslims in China but in Malaysia, "sing Ma" are definitely Muslims.

If you still do not understand, please don't misunderstand. This is not a joke on the Malays or their religion.

 

2 drop shot(s):

  1. Adam said,

    I am not sure about the accuracy about the Star report but its true that most Chinese muslims, especially from the western parts of China have the surname Ma.

    on 3:10 PM  


  2. hcfoo said,

    The surname Ma is indeed a popular surname in Xinjiang, a Muslim province in China. However, there are chinese with the surname Ma (especially celebrities) and they are not Muslims.

    But in terms of its history, we need to look at referic source.

    on 6:20 PM