DIFFERENT TYPES OF RICE

The purpose of writing this composition is to describe about rice. In my native language, there are six words for rice. We use different words to describe where the rice seed is planted, the colour of the harvested rice, and whether or not rice is cooked. For example, ‘padi’ refers to the rice seed. If the rice is planted in a field, we can call it ‘padi sawah’, and if it is planted on a hill, we can call it ‘padi huma’. In my country, farmers who live in the higher regions of Malaysia produce ‘padi huma’, while those who live in the lower elevations produce ‘padi sawah’. We can differentiate these two by their colours. ‘Padi sawah’ is gold, while ‘padi huma’ is reddish brown. Moreover, ‘padi sawah’ needs more water to grow than ‘padi huma’. Both ‘padi huma’ and ‘padi sawah’ only refer to rice grain. We call uncooked rice ‘beras’, and the cooked rice ‘nasi’. For example, my mother tells me to cook the ‘beras’ so that we can have ‘nasi’ for dinner. ‘Pulut’ is another name for ‘nasi’ or cooked rice, the difference between these two ‘pulut’ is starchier compared to ‘nasi’, and it is naturally sweeter when cooked. In conclusion, having more than one word for rice in our language indirectly reflects our culture, because Malaysia, rice is our staple food. We have rice everyday, and maybe that is the reason we have so many words for rice.

by FARHANA BT MOHD SALIM