‘1Malaysia’ spirit lives on in translation errors

Comical mistakes are appearing with alarming regularity when it comes to translation.

Despite the “1Malaysia” catch-phrase, the Umno-BN Cabinet is not consistent in its racial policies, but when it comes to translations, the government has been consistently sloppy and incompetent. That much Malaysians can depend on

Malay, Chinese, Tamil, English. These are languages Malaysians are supposed to be familiar with and yet comical errors appear with alarming regularity, when translating into one of these languages, from Malay.

If Malaysian civil servants cannot even familiarise themselves with these core languages, one dreads to think what gobbledygook the government will produce when languages like Russian, or Greek need translating.

Is this why the Mongolian model-cum-translator Altantuya Shaaribu’s services were so invaluable? She had to make sense of non-English documents in the purchase of the Scorpene submarines.

We had the embarrassing gaffe when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his entourage had to bite their lips to stifle their laughter when they read the banner at the welcoming ceremony in Putrajaya. The Chinese translation contained serious syntax and grammatical errors.

We were stunned when court interpreter, Ting Chin Kin, admitted to using the free online service of “Google Translate” to translate Teoh Beng Hock’s alleged suicide note. Was she unaware of the gravity of her work in the court proceedings? Or was she just mentally challenged, bone-idle, incompetent or all three? Perhaps, she is not at fault because her department had no budget for the services of a competent translator?

Then, a few weeks ago, the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) unmasked its latest weapon to defend the country. For the first time in Malaysian history, this weapon did not cost the rakyat millions of ringgits in commission, or using correct official terminology, “co-ordination and support services”. The military’s new strategic weapon is “laughter”.

Freudian slip

Anyone reading the English translations from the official English website of Mindef would have been crippled with laughter. “Clothes that poke eye”, a literal translation from the Malay “….pakaian yang menjolok mata” to the ministry’s summarised history which read: “After the withdrawal of British army, the Malaysian Government take drastic measures to increase the level of any national security threat.” Maybe this was a Freudian slip.

And in true “1Malaysia” spirit, Tamil translation errors were next in line. Last Monday, Putrajaya member of parliament Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, who is also the BN secretary-general, issued an apology for the Tamil translation and spelling errors on Thaipusam banners placed around the constituency.

He said, “My intention was genuine, in wanting to include Tamil in the banners as well. We did it in a rush and I was away at the time. So we asked BN and MIC members to help translate and write the Tamil part.”

Just in case, he has forgotten, the Indian community represents about seven percent of the population. Perhaps, it is difficult to find Indians in an enclave like Putrajaya, which is almost like living in a genetically modified town of mostly Malays. Non-Malays are rarely seen there.

Adnan’s excuse for saying that the translation and banners were a rush job shows that Thaipusam was an afterthought. Is this holy Indian festival not recorded in any of the government calenders? It does appear that Indians’ interests are often overlooked.

And as for him being away, does the whole BN machinery break down when he is on leave? Does Adnan not know how to delegate?

Subtle plot

These translation errors have shown us that our BN leaders lack integrity. None of them want to accept responsibility for the mistakes of their departments. Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi conveniently found fault with “Google Translate” and in this Tamil translation hilarity, Adnan heaps blame on “the BN and MIC members who helped translate and write the Tamil part”.

Adnan said, “It looks like they’re not well versed in the language. I apologise for the mistake. Next time we’ll ask those who are experts.”

Adnan then reassured the public that such mistakes would not be repeated.

Haven’t we heard all these before?

Adnan admitted that these errors were bound to upset people. But, these errors happen so frequently that one wonders if lessons have been learnt from previous mistakes. Are they deliberately done, to drive home the message that Umno-BN considers non-Malays second-class citizens?

We are a nation which prides itself on its first-class infrastructure but when it comes to mentality, attitude to work and education, we are simply third rate.

When it comes to mistakes, these Umno-BN leaders pass the buck and blame their juniors.

We have sent one man into space but when it comes to communication and translation, we might as well have sent those responsible to the moon, or better still, to Coventry. Either way, they cannot do any harm.

However, there is one last possibility that these translation errors are a subtle plot by certain Umno factions to embarrass and sabotage Prime minister Najib Tun Razak’s “1Malaysia”. Especially after he was feted and lorded at Batu Caves for Thaipusam.

Mariam Mokhtar is a FMT columnist.