Leaders caused Malay’s failure as unifying language, says academic

 

A former lecturer says before promoting the use of Malay outside the country, we should work on appreciating the language in the country.

PETALING JAYA: It is time for the political powers that be to admit they failed to use the Malay language to unite Malaysia’s multiracial society, says an expert in ethnic studies.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia professor Teo Kok Seong said Malaysians currently lack a common identity as a result of the failure of the government to set the right policies.

“We need to acknowledge that we have failed to use the Malay language to foster unity, even though language has the ability to bring people together,” he said at a forum this evening, referring to Indonesia’s achievement in uniting 1,500 ethnic groups through the common use of Bahasa Indonesia.

Teo said Malaysia needs to look at where it failed when it came to using Malay to unite the people.

He said many citizens were not proud of, nor had affection for, the national language. Teo urged the Malay community to be at the forefront in elevating the language. “We need a change of attitude towards the Malay language and it must come from Malays themselves.”

A former Universiti Malaya lecturer, Nik Safiah Karim said Malays themselves were not proud of their mother tongue but instead took greater pleasure in speaking other languages.

“Before we promote the use of Malay outside Malaysia, we should work on appreciating and respecting our own language. Attitude is important. I find there is no sense of pride among Malaysians for the language, what more among Malays themselves for their mother tongue.”

Even the leaders of Malay-based parties used very little Malay when championing their cause, she said.

Last month, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said he would propose that Malay be adopted as Asean’s second official language, in an effort to elevate Malay at the international level. - FMT