Even KDM Chair is held by 'foreigner'
Published on: Sunday, October 24, 2010
By: Larry Ralon
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Without it an ethnic will be without an identity, thus risk becoming extinct.
A recent comprehensive study done by the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) on the declining use of Kadazandusun language among the Kadazandusun community, especially its younger generation, should serve as a warning for the ethnic of its future.
Academician Tan Sri Herman Luping said the study done by the DBP, as published, reported that Kadazandusun language is not spoken as much especially among the young members of the community.
"The report stated that Kadazandusun parents tend to communicate with their children at home in Malay, rather than in Kadazandusun...the statistics show that some 80 per cent of our young people (of Kadazandusun heritage) today do not speak nor understand their mother tongue," he said.
That means 80 per cent of the Kadazandusun population will not be able to speak or understand the language, showing that virtually the language (Kadazandusun language) is vanishing, he said.
He said he accepted the finding of the survey, which to him is correct.
"If you go to Tambunan, Keningau or even in Penampang, how many of the children there will speak to you in Kadazandusun...most of them speak in Malay, from the age of three É most of our people there do not speak Kadazandusun," he said.
Herman said he is not very sure how far the Kadazandusun language has been taught in school as a subject.
"However, I know that various organisations like the Kadazandusun Language Foundation (KLF) have been producing books and helping in the promotion of the language as a subject," he said.
"The Director of the State Archive Department, Datu Tigabelas Datu Zainal Abidin, has been arranging a scheme for the young people to speak and sing in public, making use of the Kadazandusun Language," he said, commending the Director for having done a marvellous job to promote the language.
In terms of acceptance and support of the Kadazandusun people and leaders, Herman said that is not well established at the moment.
"Parents' attitude hasn't changed as they do not encourage their children.
And the leaders themselves, how many of us actually are teaching our children to speak the KDM languageÉI mean we are not giving a good example, that is what I am saying," he said.
"We also have what is known as the Kadazandusun Chair in the Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), but at the present moment the criticism against this Chair is that it is not emphasising the use or study of the language.
"People say this Chair is given so much allocation of money but the money is used for other purpose like Customary Law and so on," said Herman.
He said the other criticism (on this Chair), especially among academicians, is that many local academicians were not chosen to helm the Chair at the UMS.
"Instead they have chosen a foreigner, a person of a different race, which to Kadazandusun academics is an insult. The Chair is currently headed by an Australian woman (Jacqueline Pugh Kitingan)," he said.
But that is besides the point, he added, saying no doubt she is intelligent and an academician herself.
To what extent have shortcomings like shortage of teaching manpower and syllabus in the teaching of Kadazandusun Language subjects been resolved, Herman said this is the main problem because we are just starting to promote the language.
"However, the Kadazandusun Language Foundation (KLF) helm by Rita Lasimbang has been doing all that she can. She has done a lot of good in that organisationÉshe has produced a lot of books, and have written quite a lot herself, so it is a plus for us."
"We are happy with what the KLF has done, in so far as the promotion of the language is concerned.
But we need more people especially among ourselves to write books, not just in English but in Kadazandusun itself."
Not many people are doing that yet, even myselfÉI have not started doing it, and I think we should all start writing, so that there are more books on Kadazandusun Language.
"In terms of Kadazandusun Language teachers, we don't have enough manpower to teach the language," said Herman.
"At present, it is a grey area for us. But I think the statistics is encouraging. Books are coming out, teachers are also coming out.
Parental support is also very important in ensuring their children speak in their mother tongue at home.
"Many of the Kadazandusun parents prefer to speak to their children at home in Malay or English, especially those who are educated.
Even the grandparents in the community also do not want to speak to their grandchildren in Kadazandusun Language, but tend to use Malay when communicatingÉyou only have to go to Penampang to see this," he said.
"Why? As far as I am concerned there are reasons for this, that is because the Kadazandusun parents are very ambitious for their children.
"The language used to communicate in school is Malay and so they wanted their children to sort of become better in their learning if they speak in Malay right at the beginning at home," he said.
But they have forgotten that there is a mother tongue that they must also speak, he said.
"We cannot entirely blame the parents. But I think it is now the duty of us to try and encourage them to speak and use the mother tongue to their children. Otherwise, in the next generation the 80 per cent who are unable to speak Kadazandusun Language, when they take over, the language will be history."
On the mother tongue still not widely used during events involving the Kadazandusun community like during festivals like the Tadau Kaamatan and event traditional marriage events, Herman said:
"It is a fact if you go to a celebration involving the Kadazandusun community, you will see the master of ceremony branching around, saying "Tuan-tuan and puan-puan, marilah sekarang ini meng-gagong tokou no dii (ladies and gentlemen come and let us beat the gong)" so that is all they said in Kadazandusun Language "meng-gagong tokou no dii" but the rest are all in Malay."
"To me, I think it is more of like just showing off. They show off that they speak Malay.
And they forget what they do. Ninety-nine per cent of those people present are Kadazandusuns and yet they prefer to speak in Malay."
He said but the worst thing to "people like us who were born earlier is when they want to toast at a wedding as they shout that word "Yam Seng"É
"What is that for and why they seem to take a great pride of announcing the word, they hold their breath as long as they can just to pronounce it.
I mean it is actually a shame. A lot of people complain and I think the younger people prefer it because they all laugh and think it is a great joke," he said.
"Unfortunately it does not seem to be like that to visitors Éthe visitors would ask haven't you a word of your own for toasting, instead of using other people's languageÉand we would just say that they are just fooling around."
But this is the trouble, he said, adding in Kaamatan also you notice there are two masters of ceremony where one is supposed to speak in Kadazandusun and the other in Malay or English.
"And the person who is supposed to speak in Kadazandusun sometimes is automatically drawn to speak in Malay and he forget that he was supposed to speak in KadazandusunÉbut I think it is more or less our problem."
Will Kadazandusun Language and/or Murut Language be made a compulsory subject?
Herman said it would be too difficult for the Education Department to make the language as a compulsory subject in school.
"Because there are already important subjects like English and Mathematics, which are the two important ones, as well as depending the streams that the students will follow later on, that is whether science or artÉ"
But the question of determination and encouragement for the Education Department to get the KDM to come and learn the subject is sufficient, he said, unlike now where it is left to them whether they want it or not because it is not compulsory for them.
"But with just the determination on the part of the principal of the school to ask all their Kadazandusun students to go and sit for the Kadazandusun language subject is already sufficient," he said.
Herman said he learned there are quite a lot of non-Kadazandusun students taking the Kadazandusun language subject and "they are far more competent speaking in the language than us."
Citing an example, he said he recently gave a talk at the UMS for the promotion of the Kadazandusun language where he found that 90 per cent of the 100 or so people who attended it were Chinese or of other races and only the organising members were Kadazandusun.
"So it shows that we are really not interested in our own culture, our own language," he said.
On the need for a specially or fully dedicated radio channel each in Kadazandusun Language and Murut Language, if the Government is really serious in preserving and promoting the mother tongue, he said:
"What is important is the use of the Kadazandusun Language and Murut Language in the Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) Kadazandusun and Murut programmes.
"At present it (the duration of the current radio programmes in Kadazandusun and Murut languages) are too short, only one hour a day, and there is not much you can doÉI think it should be a little bit longer," he said.
"Because it is not just the language, it is also the question of talking about our adat (customary laws) and so on."
He said it is most important that the Communication, Information and Culture Ministry should be able to help the survival of our language and Kadazandusun people through television programmes in Kadazandusun and Murut languages.
"We should get the Government through the Ministry concerned to promote Kadazandusun and Murut TV programmes.
Can you imagine the impact throughout the whole of SabahÉI mean this is going to be a regional programme for Sabah if they can arrange for it."
Herman is confident that if they do for the Kadazandusun and Murut in Sabah they will also do the same for Dayak and Iban in Sarawak.
"But for us, the TV programmes if it materialise will not just help to promote the language but also will ensure its survival...because the parents who have sort of forgotten the importance of them communicating to the children may suddenly be able to realise the mistake that they are making," he said.
"Now we are sort of making them, to encourage them, to also communicate. Don't forget Malay Language is the National Language and thus we encourage our students and our people to speak it.
But our mother tongue is also important, as otherwise we are a dying race, because our sense of identity is gone," he added.
"Well, the Maori people are doing it in New Zealand.
They have the same number of people/population in New Zealand and they (Maori) have a TV programmeme for the whole dayÉit is a promotion of their languageÉ
"There are only about 500,000 Maoris in the whole of New Zealand which has a total population of four million peopleÉand in Sabah we have about 500,000 Kadazandusun and Murut people."
So TV and radio both can become the best means of helping our mother tongue survive, he said.
Herman said he has never seen a Kadazandusun TV programmeme although they have asked some of our recording artistes to speak and sing now and then. "But as I've said, as a comparison the Maori people of New Zealand have their own radio and TV programmes and as a result the Maori mother tongue itself become a living language and vibrant."
"In New Zealand, there is almost a dual language, that is English as well as MaoriÉbefore they introduce a speaker in public they will speak in Maori firstÉa white man would speak in Maori, even during prayer in church, they will say in Maori as well as English," he said.
But we don't have to do that because all we have to do is to ask the Government to have a programme for us to begin, to help our mother language survive.
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