As Singapore PM launches ‘Bulan Bahasa’, can we expect PMX to officiate ‘Bulan Bahasa Ibunda’ here?

 

WHEN Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong recently launched Bulan Bahasa 2025 (Malay Language Month) which will run from Aug 16 till Oct 12, he addressed the audience in Malay.

A Chinese-majority leader taking pains to celebrate Malay as Singapore’s national language is a reminder that nationhood is not just gross domestic product (GDP) figures and steel-and-glass skylines. It is also about respect, inclusion and symbolism.

Wong even went further, admitting that he only seriously picked up Malay when he entered politics – and that as a premier, he studied harder so he could connect directly with the Malay community.

He even ended his speech with a pantun (Malay poem). Cynics may roll their eyes at the theatre of it but the gesture was unmistakable: recognition matters.

Now imagine the same scene in Putrajaya. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim standing before a packed hall to launch Bulan Bahasa Ibunda (Mother Tongue Language Month). That’s Mandarin, Tamil, Kadazandusun or Iban for a sizable proportion of the Malaysian population.

Too much to ask? Definitely so.

Striking contrast

Here, the political instinct has been to play it safe; to avoid any posturing that might be spun the wrong way.

Instead of expanding the cultural tent, PMX has spent most of his time assuring the majority audience while minorities hear polite reassurances without the same symbolic flourishes.

For a man once hailed as a reformist and cosmopolitan thinker, the gap between what PM he wanted to be during the 15th General Election (GE15) – and what he actually ended up being – is painfully striking.

Singapore celebrates Malay as a minority language to show that it belongs at the heart of the republic.

In Malaysia, Mandarin, Tamil, Kadazandusun and Iban are deeply rooted in our social fabric, too. Yet the thought of a month-long celebration of these languages – complete with the PM gamely delivering a speech in them – feels more like a fantasy than a plan.

And that is the contrast. Wong’s Bulan Bahasa cost him nothing politically, yet it enriched Singapore’s image as a country that takes every community seriously. PMX, meanwhile, seems wary of gestures that might be read the wrong way.

Reformist PMX, who once quoted Shakespeare in Oxford and Rumi in Washington – or hailed “anak Melayu, anak Cina, anak India, anak Iban, anak Kadazan” as his “own children” – would now prefer the safer script: play to the right, avoid the noise.

But languages matter. Mandarin is not just spoken by Chinese Malaysians but is also a global economic language. Tamil connects our Indian community to one of the world’s oldest civilisations.

Kadazandusun and Iban root Sabah and Sarawak in indigenous pride. Celebrating these languages does not threaten national identity; instead, it strengthens Malaysia’s strength as a melting pot of cultural diversity.

Until then, Malaysians can only imagine Bulan Bahasa Ibunda making its way to Putrajaya. Perhaps it is too much to expect. After all, it’s easier to pay lip service to celebrating diversity than to put money where your mouth is. – Focus Malaysia