English BMW

I was with a few friends over mamak for a late night supper the other day when I tried to initiate a conversation with a newcomer to the group.

His friend said he's going back to his himetown, Melaka, the next day for a one week semester break.

We were all speaking BM (Bahasa Malaysia) so I asked him "Area mana rumah awak di Melaka tu?"

His friend quickly told me "Dia lebih biasa dengan English".  I remember he told me that this new guy's BM sounds funny and it makes him uncomfortable and very shy to communicate.

"Oh, tak apa. Kami punya bahasa pun bukan bagus sangat" I told him.

"My English is ok, my BM is W", I joked.

Unfortunately, none of them quite got it and just let out a quick "haha".

One person actually asked me to repeat.

And they repeated the same "haha" after that; probably gave up trying to figure it out.

Is it that difficult to understand? Do I have to actually own a BMW to tell the joke? Should it be told while we are driving around in a BMW?

After all, my English is OK what... hehe...