"Bah.....?"

"Give me baaahhh!" That seems to be what Wawa is telling Coco who is merrily chewing a pingpong ball and running off whenever Wawa tries to get near. Sabah is the only state in Malaysia where people use the suffix "bah" to express various feelings. Like "ah" or "oh" the word itself has no meaning. Changing the tone changes the meaning of our sentence to express impatience, placation, affection and much, much more. Some locals say "Bah, bah, bah, bah, bah" when they mean "ok". One word "BAH!" from an angry parent is enough to silence a child. Sabahans (regardless of race and age) cannot speak without using the word "bah" and we often struggle to check ourselves when we speak to non-Sabahans and especially orang putih (whites).......