Further to the other (African Grey parrot) Sparky stories, old friend Lay Geok’s update says:
Sparky decides Nunung is not an “aunty”.
Sparky asked Nunung, “Nunung, kamu aunty kah? [are you an aunty?]”
Nunung replied, ‘You can call me aunty Nunung.’
Sparky said, “tak mau [don’t want]”, and reasserted, ’Nunung!’
(Singapore, 2024)
PS: In many cultures, calling someone who’s older “aunty / uncle” is a form of respect, not necessarily because the other party is a relation. You know you’re old when you get addressed as “aunty”. I get called that by an Iraqi friend and his family (wife and two young daughters). A regular customer (West Indian) at the pub where I used to work after my redundancy from the university used to call me that. So, it’s a practice that’s adopted by more than just Orientals.
