English breaks global barriers, does not downgrade Malay

 

Some Indian Malaysians who speak English among us are often asked why we converse in a language that is not our mother tongue. My answer is that it’s always best to communicate in a language that both parties are comfortable with and can effectively convey messages.

Of course, a few will accuse us of not being able to part with the “colonial mentality” that we grew up in, especially those who went through English medium schools. Honestly, this is not the case.

It is as simple as choosing to express yourself in the best way possible to an audience, to ensure they are able to understand clearly. Otherwise you might have to go through an interpreter, which can cause some miscommunication in the process.

The point is that many of us in Malaysia are multilingual in one’s mother tongue, English and Malay. That’s a real asset in a borderless world. Speaking in English does not make one a superior human being but breaks barriers globally.

It will surely open more doors for Malaysians.

Two Malaysians being tried for terrorism in a US military court in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have had their trial delayed because the US government has a huge problem getting competent translators.

One of the accused pointed this out to the court during their arraignment last August.

Since he could understand English a little, he told the US military judge that some translations were completely out of context and they objected to continuing with the particular translator. The judge agreed. The court is still waiting for a competent translator to continue the hearing.

While direct translations are fairly easy, they often go out of context and do not relay the intended messages at times. And this is why the best option would be to speak in a language that is best understood by all present in an international forum. As we know, most of the time English is chosen by speakers.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob should leave narrow language sentiments aside and stop making it mandatory for Malaysian officials to speak in Malay at meetings or gatherings abroad.

To many, this is taking several steps backwards, just to please a segment of Malaysians who live like the proverbial “frog under the coconut shell”.

Ismail should understand that even the United Nations provides translations in only six languages. Malay is not one of them, nor any one of the scores of other languages in the world. That does not make Malay or the other languages inferior.

If Ismail insists that Malaysian officials speak in Malay, then the government will need to spend money on translators everywhere they travel, and each time they speak.

Our leaders such as Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Najib Razak, and Anwar Ibrahim have awed millions of international audiences with their proficiency in English when speaking at events abroad.

I have often seen them giving foreign interviewers a run for their money with intelligent retorts in English.

In the midst of the recent debate on the need for such a language policy, foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah suddenly chose to go public with his letter to the US secretary of state, written in Malay with an English translation provided.

It was obviously a case of going overboard. Quite honestly it reflects how ridiculous some of our leaders can get in their bid to please their bosses.

If the minister cares to look at the reaction on social media, I am sure he will realise that such actions are not the barometer for measuring loyalty to the country. He should have known better.

Malaysia is not judged by foreigners on whether we use our national language at official functions abroad, that’s the least of their concerns. They’d rather have a business-friendly policy with some proficiency in English which is much needed to deal with government agencies here.

The prime minister should be more focused on tweaking nationalistic policies to make them more attractive to foreign investors instead of putting them off with restrictive requirements that touch on race, religion, and now language.

Ismail was obviously politicising it when he chose the recent Umno general assembly to announce further measures to boost Malay not at home, but abroad. He said the children of Malaysian diplomats have been found to be weak in the language.

Playing to the gallery, he announced that the government will set up a special language and culture unit in every mission abroad to teach these children Malay. Seriously? Why should the taxpayers at home pay for children of diplomats who are enjoying themselves abroad to learn Malay? Isn’t it the duty of the parents to ensure that?

Doesn’t the prime minister realise that this means spending more taxpayers’ money on the already high cost of maintaining missions abroad? This will also mean hiring or training teachers to be placed there.

Obviously, the prime minister’s push for Bahasa Malaysia supremacy is not something that will bring additional benefit to the country or people. Most Malaysians are already good in the language with so many non-Malays scoring distinctions in the SPM examination.

On the other hand, the standard of English has hit rock bottom. Hearing some of our leaders, including ministers, academics and even English-language teachers will make your skin crawl. The English used on many of our signboards and websites leaves much to be desired.

So to many people, the prime minister is barking up the wrong tree.

With Malay proficiency among locals already fairly high, his push should be to enhance the standard of English among Malaysians to meet the global challenges.

Being excellent in English does not in any way mean one is demeaning the national language because everyone knows of the importance of Malay in the country.

Politicising the language, to show who is more Malay, is not going to help the nation but will close more doors to the huge world out there. - FMT

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