To speak Malay or not to speak Malay: is that the question?

I was just reading some news article today highlighting the need for Malaysians to feel proud of the Malay language. The article talks about how other nations such as Japan, Korea, China and France being proud of using their language for official events.


To me, a language is a just a means of communication. If you can express yourself and be able to make your target audience understand your points and ideas then, you have mastered a language. To be proud of a language, national anthem or flag is all part of nationalism. As I’ve written in previous articles, nationalism and national pride are alien concepts, rebuked by the Prophet (saw) so, to use that as a basis of promoting a language is dangerous.

I do however agree on a point made by the article, if other nations can master their own language and English so, why can’t we? That is a good question. Why is it that a good majority of Malays in this country including some academics and professionals are unable to master several languages? It is a difficult question to answer. Studies have shown that children are supposed to absorb languages like a sponge. In Europe, children are taught many different European languages, French, German, Italian and English. So, what is the problem with children in this country?

These are questions…but I think the answer lies deeper embedded in the culture of the Malay people, in their mentality and possibly in the history of colonization in Malaysia. There may be potential baggage to be unpacked, issues to be resolved or some post-traumatic colonial era leading to feelings of inferiority, lack of self belief, stereotyping?

I refuse to believe that there is an inherent problem because I have witness many people who have been given the opportunity to leave this place and they flourish wherever they are to master English, Arabic, French and other languages…but these are a handful of people compared to the masses. We do not want to create a two-tier system where only a handful of people can jump over the hurdles whilst the others suffer in silence.

Yet, what is it about the Malay psyche that makes it so hard for them to absorb languages like a sponge. I have noticed how my children were sidelined by other kids at their previous school because my kids could only speak English at that time, and the other children didn’t want to speak to them. I have seen how some waiters in restaurants avoid my husband and would rather look down on the floor and hit the wall as long as they don't have to speak to an Englishman. I have seen how Medical students are struggling to get their ‘he’ and ‘she’ correctly sometimes turning the poor patient into a hermaphrodite.

On the other hand when we were at Pulau Kapas, our young guide spoke excellent English. I am still baffled by this issue but it is a real problem that needs to be addressed. Could it be due to our education system?

When I was trying to coach my daughter on English SATs, I was impressed by the syllabus. One part of the exam is comprehension and non-verbal reasoning. It is trying to get the children to express their understanding of the implied meaning of the article or a sentence. It is a very different approach from the Bahasa melayu UPSR that my daughter is now learning. This exams focus more on facts, grammar and words e.g. there is a picture of a man chopping a branch of a tree and the question is ‘which word is best used for the sentence’…the sentence is “Encik Ali sedang ____ dahan pokok” and the choices are ‘menebang’ ‘mencantas’ ‘memotong’ ‘menoreh’.

I thought to myself, so what? If I was to say to my friend in a conversation, ”Awak tahu ke? Semalam saya memotong/menebang/mencantas dahan pokok di hadapan rumah saya sebab ianya mengganggu pemandangan indah di luar tingkap.”

So, will my friend be wondering, ‘should she be using memotong, menebang or mencantas…’ or should she be trying to understand the fact that yesterday, I chopped off the branch of a tree, the branch was blocking my view of the beautiful scenery outside my window.’

So, to me language is to communicate, to reach out to others, to understand other people’s ideas, thoughts, emotions, it is to express one’s views. To my patients, I speak whatever language that they feel comfortable with and to be fair, most of my patients whether they are Malay, Chinese or Indian, they prefer to speak in Malay.

Sometimes I come across some lecturers who can switch from perfect English to perfect Malay with ease and I respect them. They inspire me to one day be able to do that, to speak perfect Malay…not because of my pride for the language but because Allah swt loves perfection. The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Surely, Allah has prescribed perfection on everything.”

To me, there is no superior language other than the language of the Qur’an; the words that came from the Creator Himself and He has challenged all of us to produce something similar to it, and none has been able to produce any book, any prose, any literature, any poetry, any article as beautiful, as accurate, as intelligent, as meaningful as the Qur’an. So, there is nothing great about Malay, English or any other language…it is a useful communication medium and it just so happens that at present, English is used as a global medium.