UMNO'S POLITICAL TOOL: DON'T BLAME NON-MALAYS FOR LACK OF PROFICIENCY IN BAHASA MELAYU

Few Malaysians will disagree with Prof Dr Teo Kok Seong, the Principal Fellow of the Institute of Ethnic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, who said that Malaysians appeared to have rejected the use of Bahasa Melayu, and preferred to use a foreign language.

He said, "Although Bahaya Melayu is their mother tongue and the national language, even the Malays appear to have lost respect for Bahasa Melayu through haphazard or improper usage.”

He claimed that Malaysians placed less emphasis on the position, value and function of Bahasa Melayu. He also said that Bahasa Melayu had been sidelined (in Malaysia), and very  few people appreciated a mastery of the language.

So, have Malaysians lost respect for Bahasa Melayu, as Teo suggests?

First – political tool. If Malaysian society has rejected Bahasa Melayu, it is only because of government policy. The language, like race and religion, has been used to divide Malaysians. For some, its use is a proof of patriotism.

When non-Malays, like the Ibans, use words like "Allah" in prayers, the ultra-nationalists attack them for insulting Islam, or for attempting to convert Malays, to Christianity.

Second – minimum requirements. If anecdotal evidence is to be believed, schoolchildren learn just enough, to pass their exams with the minimum grade which will qualify them for a job in the civil service, or obtain a scholarship.

Third – sign of affluence. Malay is widely used in the lower ranks of the civil service. At the higher levels, English is preferred, and according to a civil servant, who prefers to remain anonymous, the speaking of English is a sign of class, among Malays.

Fourth – stimulating material. Children complain about the lack of interesting stories in Malay. A child who hungers for reading material, is frustrated by the limited genres of Malay books.

Fifth – terminology. Teenagers and adults complain that there aren't enough words for the terms needed in science, technology, commerce and the diplomatic service. The lack of appropriate terms is one reason for Malaysians rejecting Malay, in preference for English.

Sixth – preference for English. Television serials, which are dubbed into Malay, are littered with people saying "I" instead of "saya", "you" instead of "awak". Even the simple "terima kaseh" is less widely used than "thank you." Swopping around Malay and English words, is bad for language proficiency.

In everyday usage, people speak mangled Malay and mangled English, or Manglish.

Seventh – absorption of English into Malay. Teo highlighted English words which had been absorbed into Malay, and said, “... many young people don’t know there’s the Bahasa Melayu word ‘cengkeram’ for ‘deposit’ used by most banks”.

Teo is right. Many Malay words are mere bastardisations of English, such as "explorasi" for "exploration", "potensi" for "potential", “realasasi” for "realisation", and "komunikasi" for "communication".

Eighth – long words. The translation of words could be developed by linguists. The Malay for permutation is either the pseudo-English word, “permutasi” or the mouthful, “pengubahan susunan sesuatu”. No one could be blamed for rejecting such lengthy words, and sidelining Malay usage.

Ninth –  Arabicised Malaysia. Malay words have also been sucked into the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. "Solat" is used instead of "sembahyang", Malays once used the greeting "Selamat pagi... or petang", but now, say "Assalam'mualaikum".

"Selamat Hari Raya" used to be the norm, now "Eid Mubarak" is used.

Tenth  –  tool for division. Certain words are not for use by non-Malays and are a contributory factor in making people reject Malay. There are words such as Al-Kitab, Allah, Insya-Allah, Nabi, Firman, Rasul, Assalam'mualaikum, Kaabah and Wahyu, which are for use exclusively by Malays.

They should not be blamed for a decline in the use of Bahasa Melayu. Blame the politicians in Umno-Baru.

- http://theantdaily.com/