The Falseness of the Malay Language
SharePosted on 04. Jun, 2009 by Gallivanter in Politics
How many times did our so-called National Language of Malaysia changed over the years? From Bahasa Kebangsaan to Bahasa Baku to Bahasa Melayu now suddenly back to Bahasa Malaysia.
Is there really a Malay language in the first place – aren’t MOST of its words come from neighbouring Asian counterparts like Indian, Chinese, Thai, Arabic, some European influence of Portuguese and Dutch? I wonder how many words are regarded as the Malay language – Skodeng? Rempit? Pengkid?
What I find hilarious about how some quarters are yapping about English being introduced, that will apparently affect their children and down the line, destroy the Malay culture. Hmmm, which brings me to the next question, if the Malay population is defined by its politicians, what culture?
These protesters yack yack about the Malay language, but somehow conveniently forgot about Umno, MCA, MIC which are all English names. It’s time to change Umno to Organisasi Melayu Bersatu Nasional, Persatuan Cina Malaysia & Kongres India Malaysia.
Organisasi, Nasional and Kongres – hmmm, Malay language? I just hope these protesters just shut up and learn to adapt to the REAL WORLD for once.
Learning English will not be detrimental to Malays, but joining politics is. No more 72 virgins.
Nick Phillips
Jun 4th, 2009
Yeah, they should sit back and take a real long look at this la. I think 90% of their language comes from elsewhere. I’ve got Portuguese blood in me and I can easily tell you about a dozen words they have that are derived from the Portuguese language. I think my grandmother (if she was alive) could tell you about 100 more words that have been stolen from the Portuguese language.
philters
Jun 4th, 2009
language is a wonderful thing, regardless of what they are and how they originate. all languages are not created equal, but they are all equal, but it english, malay or spanish
if you look at any language (with the exception of classical latin and ancient sanskrit), there are no original languages in the world. english has european origins. french has roman origins. etc etc.
the most fascinating thing about language is that it reflects the culture of exactly the present moment of its users. we recall that bahasa melayu klasik is so different from bahasa melayu moden. this is because the culture evolves and the language naturally does as well. then we have manglish. this is actually a 90s phenomenon and demonstrates our increasing exposure to globalisation.
the acronyms of political parties in malaysia has english origins and this reflects our pre-independence colonial history. could they change? they could if they wanted to. should they change? up to them. but even if it never changes, so what? – i think that we judge these groups by their actions and not by their names. they can be called anything they wish, it is the output that matters, not labels.
don’t diss the lingo, bro
philters
Jun 4th, 2009
and words are not “stolen” from other languages. the term is called “borrowing” and ALL languages borrow from some language or another all the time. it is not just a malay thing
Pinknpurplelizard
Jun 4th, 2009
The world speaks more English than Malay. So why does the government want to handicap their own ppl? To keep the uneducated and blur in ignorance.
In March ‘09, Datuk Idris Harun announced that Malay is a top 4 language (of which I had a post of my opinions). http://pinknpurplelizard.com/blog/?p=763
Actually most Malaysians esp certain Msian politicians, cannot speak english fluently. Its a shame.
TerraShield
Jun 4th, 2009
There is no doubt that English being an international language plays a very important part, but I don’t see why we need to diss Malay or Bahasa Malaysia in the process. I’m proud to say that I can still hold a good conversation in Bahasa Malaysia despite leaving school ages ago. The thing is, despite how many other languages the vocabulary is borrowed from, Bahasa Malaysia is still our language, our identity. A language we should all accept as part and parcel of being Malaysian. I find it shocking that even after 11 years of school, you can still find people who can’t speak Malay to save their lives.
JL
Jun 4th, 2009
The greater the fear of “losing” it, the greater possibility of losing it. People who are sincere about making something happen don’t focus on the negative aspects of it. Let’s just leave the dead to bury their own dead.
cicak
Jun 4th, 2009
“Skodeng” LOL. That’s classic
Gallivanter
Jun 4th, 2009
Nick Phillips – Yeah, but politicians and ignorant Malays believe otherwise.
philters – I ain’t dissing the lingo, but simply putting it into perspective for the ignorant protesters.
Pinknpurplelizard – Malay top 4? This guy has his head up his own ass.
TerraShield – I’m just demonstrating bluntly how short-sighted these purists are. If I have to diss the language to do it, then so be it.
JL – Touche.
cicak –
sk
Jun 15th, 2009
bro..i have been reading ur blogs..awesome..especially this..u knw wat..i have been thinking n telling to myself..regarding the importance on malay language by the government..
the political parties are known as umno…mic…mca.
where the full name derived from english language..lol
i think (governemnt) they should look into this 1st..
i jus dont knw…y making ppl more handicapped..?
im not condemning the malay language..but english are being use globally n hence it should be given priority..
Gallivanter
Jun 16th, 2009
sk – Yes, English has to remain, the only way to progress.
wanderingsumandak
Jun 17th, 2009
that ‘72 virgins reward’ never fails to ‘amazed’ me. the ultimate afterlife reward eh? tsk..tsk..
Gallivanter
Jun 17th, 2009
wanderingsumandak – Ultimate? Nope. Though they are led to believe that.