Growing up in Malaysia, In KL especially, you’d have been to at least 5 different malls by the time you’re 10. Even back in the day when there weren’t that many around, it was already quite saturated. That being said, of course we came up with abbreviations or nicknames for our favourite malls.
With Pavilion, it’s pavi (debatable tbh) and for Mid Valley, it’s MV (this one also). For 1 Utama on the other hand, well, it’s tricky. Is it OU or 1U? I mean, you’d think the answer is obvious, but think again! Yes, it’s one of the lesser known, not quite as important debates among Malaysian millennial’s but seeing as it’s a slow news day, we figured its worth sharing.
So, it all started when one Twitter user posted quite simply:
The neverending debate pic.twitter.com/oPOn9KZz5H
— tengen uzui (@AmaliaPrawira) October 21, 2019
Of course, Twitter being Twitter, everyone joined in on it.
https://twitter.com/dedanyyy/status/1186679476899332101
https://twitter.com/naddiahairon/status/1186659100014215168
Some even brought race into it!
https://twitter.com/naddiahairon/status/1186659100014215168
You get the picture! Inevitably, the Official 1 Utama Twitter account joined in on the debate and you’d think that they’d SHUT IT DOWN with an answer that settles it once and for all. Think again.
https://twitter.com/1UtamaOfficial/status/1186827513034461184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1186827513034461184&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsays.com%2Fmy%2Ffun%2Fnetizens-are-fighting-over-the-abbreviation-of-1-utama-shopping-centre
In yet another chapter of “official social media accounts ruining childhoods“, 1 Utama serves us the madness that is this: The proper abbreviation for 1 Utama is 1U and not OU.
As you can probably tell, I am of the opinion that it has (and always will be) OU, so this news leaves a weird taste in my mouth. Social media is supposed to bridge gaps and build connections, not desecrate the very pillars of your linguistic identity! (a tad overdramatic, I admit).
First it was Uno with the revelation that you cannot stack draw 2 and draw 4 cards..
If someone puts down a +4 card, you must draw 4 and your turn is skipped. You can’t put down a +2 to make the next person Draw 6. We know you’ve tried it. #UNO pic.twitter.com/wOegca4r0h
— UNO (@realUNOgame) May 4, 2019
Then, it was Playstation with an atomic bomb of a tweet where they shut down a debate similar to the 1Utama one with the announcement that the “X” button is and has always been officially called the “cross” button.
https://twitter.com/PlayStationUK/status/1169651442027827200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1169651442027827200&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2Ftldr%2F2019%2F9%2F9%2F20857136%2Fsony-playstation-x-button-apparently-actually-called-cross-button-circle-controller
To this day, this tweet still makes absolutely circle sense to me. Are official accounts intentionally giving us the wrong information in the hopes of breaking the internet?! Maybe my whole life has been a lie. Perhaps dogs don’t go to a farm in Perak when they get old and maybe Pulp Fiction isn’t actually a documentary about oranges.
Pfft, who am I kidding? Of course there’s a big dog farm up in Perak where all the dogs i’ve ever had are at and of course Pulp Fiction is a documentary about oranges. You won’t win this time, social media!
What do YOU guys think the proper abbreviation for 1Utama is?
