Neelofa’s Sister’s “I’m Not Malay” Statement Riles Some People, But Anger May Have Stemmed From Misunderstanding
Malaysian social media influencer, Ameera Khan, who is also the sister of actress Neelofa, talks about her heritage.
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A person’s heritage is not easily identifiable as looks and names can be confusing, sometimes.
What we assume based on appearance is not always accurate.
This issue has been discussed online lately after a Malaysian social media influencer, Ameera Khan, who is also the sister of actress Neelofa, talked about her heritage.
Ameera recently, during an Instagram live session, told curious netizens that she has no Malay blood in her.
Through the live video recording which was later shared by various social media accounts, Ameera explained that her mother, Noor Kartini and her father, Abdul Halim Khan were of Arab and Pakistani descents, respectively.
“It’s not that I don’t want to identify as a Malay, it is a fact that my parents have no Malay blood in them. So how can I call myself a Malay?” she said.
Fluent in Bahasa Melayu especially the Kelantanese dialect
Even though Ameera doesn’t have Malay blood in her, she admitted and as we can clearly hear, she is fluent in Bahasa Melayu especially in the Kelantanese dialect, as she was born and raised there.
According to her, she knows the story of how her mother was born and settled in Kelantan. However, she no longer remembers it clearly.
Ameera added that she would just tell people she is Malay whenever she is asked about it, in order to avoid being questioned further.
“Usually when people ask if I’m Malay, I just answer yes – I simply answer like that because it’s easier, because people will say I’m delusional if I told them otherwise,” she added.
Misunderstanding?
In her Live video, Ameera spoke in English and effortlessly switched back and forth in the Kelantanese dialect.
This led to her being misquoted.
While she said “It’s not that I don’t want to say I am Malay”, the misunderstanding occurred when what she said in the Kelantanese dialect was translated to “Bukan tak nak cakap Melayu, tapi memang mak bapak aku tak ada darah Melayu.”
Some took this to mean that she refused to speak Malay (Bahasa Melayu), when what she said was “It’s not that I don’t want to say I am Malay”, which has an entirely different meaning.
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