Be fluent in the Malay language to break the racial barrier

 

From Moaz Nair

The minorities in the country will not lose their ethnic identity by being fluent in the Malay
language. When religion, every so often, divides the people, language is the medium that
can at best unite the people in a relatively tolerant society. Language does not come with a
religious tag to it. It can be acquired by all and sundry for the purpose of communicating in
a diverse ethnic population.

Geographically, Malaysia is situated within the vast stretch of the Malay Archipelago, the
lingua franca of which is mainly the Malay language and its other acceptable variants. Every nation, for that matter, has a definitive language to instil patriotism.

As for Malaysia, the main language is the Malay language. It may not be an international language like English but 90% of transactions in the country – social and even business – are done in the Malay language.

Malay is a phonetic language that can easily be acquired but to speak with proper structures and fluency, it has to be fostered at the formative years or the early stages of childhood – between 0-8 years of a child’s life where they learn more quickly than at any other time in life. These are the years in which a child experiences rapid cognitive, social and emotional development without inhibition.

Pidgin Malay

Visit Indonesia and one will be captivated to hear the minority ethnic groups in this country
speak fluent Bahasa Indonesia with apposite accent of the natives. They are all citizens of
Indonesia regardless of their racial, ethnic or religious background. There are more than
1,300 ethnicities in Indonesia, including Chinese and Indians, making it a multicultural
archipelagic country with a diversity of languages, cultures and religious beliefs.

Bahasa Indonesia has become the nation’s definitive language. They may speak ethnic
dialects but can effortlessly switch to Bahasa Indonesia when communicating with those
outside their ethnic communities. It’s their education system that has made the people
cherish the lingua franca of the country.

Unfortunately, to some extent, this may not be the case in Malaysia despite many years of
its formation. There are among the various ethnic groups in the country who still
struggle with the Malay language and even many who speak the language, they speak in
pidgin – a simplified form of the language with ungrammatical structures and with ethnic
accents.

There are some who cannot even communicate in Malay at all. The older generation can be
forgiven if they cannot speak fluent Malay but, if those born after independence are not
fluent in the language then this is quite a disappointment.

There are over 100 variants and dialects of languages in Malaysia. It’s a nation where the
ethnic diversity is fairly vast. Socio-linguists opine that systemic racism and linguistic
prejudice often go hand in hand. The racial barrier lessens when a common language
spoken with fluency becomes the language of communication.

Probably, the only state in the country that one sees the minority ethnic groups speak
relatively fluent Malay is Kelantan. The Kelantan Malay dialect is the language spoken by
almost all the people in this state. Even culturally, the minorities in this state are able to
adapt to the culture of the majority Malay race. It’s their common language, not religion,
that has made Kelantanese break the racial barrier with ease.

The formative years

It is during their formative years of childhood that they should be encouraged to acquire
one or more languages. This is the period when language is acquired intuitively. Fluency in a language starts from home and the social environment. But then, in most cases, Malay is not often used for communication at home among some families. Here lies the impediment.
Acquiring a language through formal education is not as effective as exposing them in their
natural settings – at home and when associating with friends at an early age.

It’s too common to hear some children of ethnic minorities speak a simplified form of the
Malay language with no proper linguistic structures and also wanting in fluency. By the time
children of ethnic minorities in vernacular schools enter secondary school, their pidgin
language becomes fossilised. There have been cases of children not being able to even
communicate in rudimentary Malay after their primary education.

Language is the soul of a nation and using a common language with proficiency to interact can lead to social cohesiveness. However, language in Malaysia has become quite a sensitive matter especially when it comes to education and achieving national goals. The country has an unprecedented array of schools – national, vernacular, private, international and religious. What more, the isolation of schools and colleges by race.

Not all these institutions use the national language as the medium of instruction. As for the
higher institutions, they may have some practical reasons to adopt English as the medium of learning. Also, as compared to the English language, one must admit that the Malay
language has yet to develop into an international language in the business and educational
milieus. But this cannot be the excuse to belittle the importance of Malay as a language of
unity.

Language plays a sentient role

Understandably, a language has both social and commercial functions. As far as culture is
concerned, it’s always the native language of every ethnic group that becomes inherently
conspicuous in people’s life. From daily conversation to songs and dances, the native
language plays a sentient role.

We observe this phenomenon among all ethnic groups in the country. For this reason, no
Malaysians are deprived of learning their mother tongue even when emphasis is given to
the national language.

The basic objective of education is to open up the minds to all options in life and look at
education from various perspectives. This includes the breaking of racial barriers. Thus,
besides mastering the Malay language that has its primary role in the Malaysian context to
unite the people of all ethnic groups, the acquisition of mother tongue and other foreign
languages should also be given priority in the national education policy, especially in
national schools, to make them schools of choice for all. - FMT

Moaz Nair is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.