Kedah MB defends his “Sik-lish” during landmark global SG4 financial event to “just like Sing-lish”

 

COMMUNICATION is not a ruler. No need to bee too precise. As long as people understand, it’s okay, I’m a Sik, hence there’s a mix of Sik dialect in my English which makes it Sik-lish just like Singapore has Sing-lish.

Such is the justification of Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor after a barrage of ‘nasty’ comments was levelled at him by presumably detractors whose English proficiency, too, is in doubt to his keynote address at the recent SG4 Business and Economic Forum 2026.

He was addressing “The Greater Kedah: Rising as Malaysia’s New Economic Powerhouse” before diplomats, foreign delegations and representatives of international organisations and companies, including representatives from the European Union (EU) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) on Monday (Oct 26).

“No white person has commented on my English yet, all the commenters have been Malays,” the PAS election director jibed back when met after the The Greater Kedah Lecture Series Programme in Alor Setar yesterday (Oct 29).

“I talked to the US, Australian, Canadian and Indian ambassadors and they understand, they respect me – that’s the art of communication.”

Editor’s Note: Also featured as keynote speakers at the event were Sanusi’s Perlis counterpart Abu Bakar Hamzah, Terengganu MB Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Sanusi Mokhtar and Kelantan Deputy MB Deputy Menteri Besar Dr Mohamed Fadzli Hassan.

Interestingly, SG4 adviser and twice former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had prepared a special keynote address but was unable to attend in person as he was unwell.

His speech – which famously described the combined SG4 states as a “sleeping giant” with vast untapped economic potential – was read on his behalf by his son Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir.

His other son Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir who is also the Pejuang president was also present at the event.

Delving further on criticism from social media users who are likely Madani backers on his delivery in English when raising the issue of rare earth elements (REE) at the forum, the Jeneri state assemblyman claimed to have travelled to 38 countries where he used English to communicate in various missions.

He stressed that he did not consider grammatical accuracy as an absolute measure in communication as long as the message conveyed could be understood by the recipient.

“Any language is important but more important is the performance and manner of delivery. As long as people understand and can accept it, Alhamdulillah,” justified Sanusi who is being hailed by political analysts and party figures as a prominent and influential leader within PAS.

As he was mocked for his clownish and motor mouth demeanour with Madani backers likened him be “just reading blindly from script without understanding” to being “the Malaysian version of Prabowo (Indonesian president)”, a non-partisan Threader begged to differ in his assessment of the two-term Kedah MB.

“I’m no fan of PAS or Sanusi nor do I agree with him on this issue (the ‘just dig and sell’ rare earth elements a.k.a. RRE) but his speech is perfectly clear, understandable and it doesn’t seem that he doesn’t understand the text he was reading from,” observed amateur photographer and journalist Zikri Kamarulzaman (@zikrikmz).

This take was spot on with one commenter remarking “that’s why non-partisan people find it easy to understand what’s being conveyed”.

“If we’re biased towards a (political) party, we tend to look for perfect grammar and accent … but still won’t understand the context of the speech … ,” he rightly opined with another viewing Sanusi’s English as “just a typical Malay speaking a white man’s language”.

“Maybe this generation never heard how our Tun M’s (Dr Mahathir) English accent which is more Kedahan than others,” added one netizen. 

- Focus Malaysia