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By Jessica Jaganathan
I KNEW I was from a different school of thought when my colleague, with a perplexed look, asked me what the word gatal meant.
I tried my best to put across an explanation in proper English. I told her gatal, literally 'itchy' in Malay, is also slang for being perverted or lewd. Offended that someone had used the word to describe her, she angrily declared she was no such thing.
It was now my turn to be confounded.
Singlish is second nature to me. I went to a neighbourhood school where my classmates and I exchanged jokes that would have probably made little sense to those who hail from the more 'elite' schools. I had assumed everyone else was as well versed in everyday patois.
Which leads me to the elite and non-elite divide, or as I like to call it, the atas versus the non-atas. (That plain enough for you?) In fact, I was oblivious to this distinction until I joined my current company, where the majority of workers are Singaporeans.
One of the first conversation starters was always, 'Which school did you go to?', and never 'What work experience do you have?'. That second question comes only after I reply to the first: Commonwealth Secondary School.
You see, it was an unfamiliar name to the alumni of schools like Raffles Girls', Methodist Girls' and River Valley High. They have, so to speak, brand recognition, sparking an entire debate I did not quite get.
In my previous workplace, a multinational firm, it did not matter if you were from ABC secondary or XYZ college. What my colleagues and employers, mainly foreigners, were interested in was my work experience.
Is it a Singaporean phenomenon then to have an elitist mentality? Would one rather be considered average in an atas school or above average in a neighbourhood school?
According to a Facebook quiz, I belong to Singapore Chinese Girls' School, and like to bake and dream about boarding schools, British aristocrats and American high society. Yeah, right.
The closest I have come to a British aristocrat was walking past Buckingham Palace.
Does it matter which school you went to if the destination is the same? I am doing the same kind of work and trying to meet the same deadlines as my colleagues who have a company scholarship.
In fact, if anything, my neighbourhood school background has given me the social skills to relate to more people on the ground.
Instead of a homogenous environment where everyone speaks the same colloquial English, I come from a school where your mother tongue prevails, whether you are speaking or cursing.
I would never ask someone, 'Which school did you go to?' because, as the atas person would say: 'Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.'
This article was first published in The Straits Times.
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