Rais says too much emphasis on English
Published on: Tuesday, December 09, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malay language was once the "Lingua Franca" of the region. Historical records written in the language stand testament how the language united the region and defined the character of the Malay archipelago populace. In Malaysia, the Malay language is the national language and the nation's forefathers had envisioned the language as the medium to unite Malaysia's plural society. There is now a concern over the emphasise given to English even by the Malays themselves, sidelining the Malay language. "We are too lenient to the extent the Malay language is looked down and sidelined. At times we are the ones who look down at our mother tongue.
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"When there is the word 'kawasan' for area in Malay, the Malaynised English derivative 'presint' is preferred like seen in Putrajaya. And when there is this word 'barangan terpakai' for used items we prefer the term 'sekenhend' like seen in the Akta Barang Sekenhend 1946 (Secondhand Goods Act)," lamented Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim to Bernama when met at the recent International Conference on the Malay Language. The former Minister for Information, Communications and Culture noted that based on his observation it was evident that many of the Malay families now prefer to communicate in English with their children. "The non-Malays want to speak in Malay yet get tongue tied upon seeing that the Malays themselves speak in English. There will come a time where nobody will be bothered if anyone says he or she cannot speak in Malay. They can live and succeed in cities and towns using English, Cantonese or Mandarin," said this veteran politician. Rais who is now the social and cultural affairs advisor to the government admitted that while learning other languages is necessary to enhance knowledge yet it does not mean one has to sideline his/her own mother tongue.
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However, for Awang Sariyan, the director general of the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), the guardian of the Malay language, the efforts to enhance the position of the Malay language does not rest solely on the Malays. "I say that the Malay language also belongs to the non-Malays. All citizens with Mykad and Mykid, are the owners of the Malay language," he said at the same event.
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He added that DBP cannot be solely responsible in advocating the esteemed position of the Malay language as it is no more than a government agency. Though some sections of the society in Malaysia may not appreciate the Malay language, the language has many intrinsic characters that are appreciated by the foreigners. The testament to this is the Internet personalities from the United States like Ben Bradshaw, and the duo who refer themselvess as 'Belacan dan Paku', sharing videos of them speaking Malay in Youtube. The inspiration to do something unique prompted Bradshaw, who is affectionately known as Cikgu Ben, to learn Malay. "Many in the USA love to learn Spanish, French and the European languages. As for me, I prefer to take the path less trodden and do something different from the rest. "I know many speak the Malay language, (including the Indonesian Malay language but many from the other parts of the world could hardly communicate in Malay. So I chose to learn the language, I wanted to be among the minority and not the majority. This makes me someone different compared with the others," he explained. This young man from Salt Lake City, Utah, feels that the Malay language is much easier to learn compared with the other languages as the grammar, pronunciation, and the words and sentence arrangement go direct to the meaning. "In English, (as for me the American English), we always use the idioms and phrases that does not carry the literal meaning and the colloquial English is littered with indirect meanings. "Based on my own experience, the Malay language, is not like that. We communicate the meanings explicitly without using indirect references," said the English teacher who is now picking up the Thai language. Though the Malay language has been gazetted as the national language, Awang feels the language has yet to be adopted wholeheartedly and consistently. There a need for a comprehensive push in highlighting how important is the Malay language with the efforts should involve various parties right from the political leadership, non governmental organisations, higher education institutions, schools and corporations. "Under the new leadership of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (the Deputy Prime Minister and the minister of education) it is hoped that the Malay language will revert to its esteemed position," he said. Like Awang, Rais also stressed on the importance of the principle 'leadership by example' in the move to eradicate the second class status or the 'double standard' practiced when comes to the Malay language. "This is not an easy mantra to fulfill. It calls for greater resilience," he said. Meanwhile, Awang is confident that the efforts taken by DBP all this while, like the National Language Month and Language Audit has shown results. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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