To 'Lah' or not to 'Lah'

Recently, my cousin, who was born and raised in London, returned to Malaysia after 14 years of absence (hes in his 30s). I have close to no memory of him and meeting him when he came back was like meeting him for the first time. Its a weird sense like deja vu, it feels a familiar but at the same time, it feels new.

My family took him out for dinner to commemorate his return to Malaysia and it was during this dinner that a very small event transpired and inspired this post. During our 'catching up' conversations with my cousin, I heard him clearly say the word 'lah' at the end of one of his sentences. This amused me as well as made me think alot about how deep a slang can rest in a person. My cousin had a fully developed British accent, grew up in London and he hasn't been back here for at least 14 or so years and yet, he still has a bit of the Malaysian slang.

Slangs play a very important part in human communication, it shows the true origins of a person who uses it. Another example is my best friend since kindergarten. Right before starting primary school, his family had to move to London because if his dad's job. He was in London for over 10 years and now he has moved back to Malaysia. When I caught uo with him, I realised that he already has a british accent but here and there, I still here 'lahs' and 'mahs'.

In the end, theres no escaping slang. Wherever a person may live, the slang that that person grew up with when young will be with that person till the day s/he is six feet under!