Wednesday, August 02, 2006
ArWa or JaRab?
My cousin, Ammar who's doing an assignment on Arab Malays approached hubby for some information on his ancestorial history. Hubby being hubby, who couldn't provide a definitive answer of his heritage either, did a search on the internet and found the following ...
"Most Arab Singaporeans are Muslims. Some of Singapore's Arab population has assimilated into the Malay ethnic group through intermarriage. Others have preserved their ethnic lineage.
After Singapore's independence, ethnic Malays enjoyed educational benefits. Some Arabs changed the ethnicity of their children to Malay to receive these benefits. Most Arabs, even the poor, did not. Arabs who changed their children\'s ethnicity continued to maintain their Arab identity in other ways such as marriage to other Arabs. Arabic cultural practices were not abandoned.
Because of intermarriage between Malay men and Arab women, many Malays have Arab ancestry. People of part-Arab descent matrilineally are still not accounted for, as Malay names carry only their father's, not their mother's name."
*taken from Wikipaedia
In short, my kids, because hubby has married me, has become arabised Arabs a.k.a. mixed arab. Well we have another term for it. Since I'm of Javanese heritage and hubby's of Arab heritage, our kids are either known as JaRab or ArWa. Either way, it doesn't sound really good.
When I first knew hubby, I was a bit skeptical of his surname as I have never heard of the name before. The popular arabs I have known are those with surnames such as Alsagoff, Aljunied besides the wellknown Sharifahs and Syeds. Magad?????? Tak pernah dengar pun. However, as I got more involved with hubby, I found out more things about the Magads, especially the Magad I am married to. There is one particularly known Magad which I'm sure those who are living in the Pasir Ris Punggol area knows. A close relation to hubby actually. How he's related to him, I shall let it remain unknown though some close friends already know.
Another thing. Nuqman will have his race reflecting as Arab but he looked the least like an Arab. This boy of mine has a multiracial constitution. Bangsa arab tapi muka macam apek and minat citer mat saleh. Dah lah tu dengar lagu hindustannn .. betul punya rojak.
"Most Arab Singaporeans are Muslims. Some of Singapore's Arab population has assimilated into the Malay ethnic group through intermarriage. Others have preserved their ethnic lineage.
After Singapore's independence, ethnic Malays enjoyed educational benefits. Some Arabs changed the ethnicity of their children to Malay to receive these benefits. Most Arabs, even the poor, did not. Arabs who changed their children\'s ethnicity continued to maintain their Arab identity in other ways such as marriage to other Arabs. Arabic cultural practices were not abandoned.
Because of intermarriage between Malay men and Arab women, many Malays have Arab ancestry. People of part-Arab descent matrilineally are still not accounted for, as Malay names carry only their father's, not their mother's name."
*taken from Wikipaedia
In short, my kids, because hubby has married me, has become arabised Arabs a.k.a. mixed arab. Well we have another term for it. Since I'm of Javanese heritage and hubby's of Arab heritage, our kids are either known as JaRab or ArWa. Either way, it doesn't sound really good.
When I first knew hubby, I was a bit skeptical of his surname as I have never heard of the name before. The popular arabs I have known are those with surnames such as Alsagoff, Aljunied besides the wellknown Sharifahs and Syeds. Magad?????? Tak pernah dengar pun. However, as I got more involved with hubby, I found out more things about the Magads, especially the Magad I am married to. There is one particularly known Magad which I'm sure those who are living in the Pasir Ris Punggol area knows. A close relation to hubby actually. How he's related to him, I shall let it remain unknown though some close friends already know.
Another thing. Nuqman will have his race reflecting as Arab but he looked the least like an Arab. This boy of mine has a multiracial constitution. Bangsa arab tapi muka macam apek and minat citer mat saleh. Dah lah tu dengar lagu hindustannn .. betul punya rojak.
# posted by iDa @ 12:51:00 PM 
