The Malaysian salad that killed Caesar

YOURSAY | ‘I support Sarawak's initiative on the use of the English language.’

Caesar salad turns to 'scissors salad' in dinner boo-boo

Unafraid: This blunder highlights the extent to which the standard of English has deteriorated in Malaysia.

If we do not wake up and check the slide, not only parliamentarians but every Malaysian will make a fool of themselves in the international arena. Is this what we want?

It is amazing how ultra-nationalism of one race can blind the whole country and in the process throw wisdom out of the window. Thank God for the wisdom and courage of the leaders of Sarawak.

What the Dickens: I am not surprised at the deteriorating standard of English nowadays in Malaysia.

What else can you expect when many teachers who are supposed to teach English have questionable command of the language itself - more like ‘pukul enam setengah’ (half-past six) standard.

Burong Merah: This is not a big issue, my friends - ‘caesar’ and ‘scissors’ sound the same. This is Malaysia. ‘Corruption’ and ‘donation’ are also the same.

Anon1: I think the menu was deliberately written in English and not in the official language of Malay because they were stumped when it came to ‘salad gunting’!

Odin Tajué: I was about to comment on the 'cream brul', which ought to be spelled 'crème brûlée', but in the next minute I noticed that MP Wong Chen has mentioned it.

I am left with having to ask why use the language that they very much revile? That is, of course, English?

Mojo Jojo: This is what happens when a minister claims that the use of English in Parliament is "biadap".

Imagine the reaction foreign dignitaries will have when invited to dine in Parliament.

Sinan Belawan: If you have travelled widely internationally, you would not be surprised as similar spelling errors in the context of the English language have been made elsewhere where English is not the first language. This is much ado about nothing.

BSmart: How to have ‘mixed fruit’ if there is only one fruit to mix? Shouldn't it be ‘mixed fruits’?

Anonymous 2299391436500295: BSmart, fruit is both a countable noun and non-countable noun. We can have a variety of fruit (or fruits) on our plate. For our diet, we're advised to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

My favourite kinds of fruit are bananas and blackberries. Fruit is good for you. ‘Mixed fruit’ refers to fruit as a generic food group and is therefore a non-countable noun in that case.

You should see Japan. Road signs such as ‘Pubric House’ are common. ‘Enjoy your relax time!’ and the famous ‘For relaxing times, make it Suntory time’.

Abasir: Let's all wait for the reaction we are all so used to - an Umno-sponsored motion to stop the caterers from serving anything that cannot be spelled in Bahasa Malaysia (BM) and printed only in Jawi.

MariKitaUbah: LOL (laugh out loud), this is the standard and understanding of the ‘Ingris’ language in this country.

This country is doomed to fail with all the hoo-ha going on and of course the poor standards of ‘Ingris’. This is indeed embarrassing, especially done by Parliament staff.

I totally support Sarawak's initiative on their declaration on the use of English language. Thumbs up to Sarawak. Do not listen those federal ministers.

Their objective is to fail those rakyat in this country so they can rule forever by playing up racial and religious issues, period.

Headhunter: Yes, now you know why Sarawak insisted on promoting English as a second official language.

In future, it should be made mandatory to have those standing for election to have a good command of English and BM because many of our representatives sound uneducated.

Neutral Point: Excuse me. Didn't you all heard that our English is much better than Singapore from our deputy minister?

My Robid: This is the Malaysian salad that must have killed Julius Caesar!

BernieBaby: Well, at least they got the 'scissors' spelling correct. I recall 'scissors' being my Achilles' heel during spelling tests in primary school.

Anna: They didn’t use Google translate this time. At least they attempted to do it themselves. That’s a good start.

The Analyser: As a mono-lingual English speaker with no BM, Mandarin and Tamil to speak of, I have to be very tolerant of the non-English speaker's proficiency in the English language.

I work on the basis that as long as the message is understandable then it’s okay. Spelling and grammar are incidental to the needs to communicate.

The great irony is that Malaysian-trained English speakers know more about the theory of my language than I do. It’s a pity that hyper-critical Malaysians couldn’t be so tolerant. -Mkini