KUALA LUMPUR: Proponents of the national language acknowledge that English is important as the global lingua franca, but are often taken aback by the use of the language in domestic dealings, even among the native speakers of Bahasa Malaysia.
Globalisation, says national language activist Dr Awang Sariyan, is one of the reasons for this.
But often times, he says, things get a little excessive.
He says people from the various strata of the society – leaders, professionals and members of the public – are giving too much attention to English and neglecting the use of Bahasa Malaysia.
In one of his articles, he laments what he describes as the lack of strong cultural affection towards the language “even among the Malays because of the perception that the Malay language does not correlate with one’s social status and level of education” and therefore has no “high economic value.”
One cannot help but sense a tinge of concern in the tone of Dr Awang’s writing.
A poet and another national language proponent, Dr Ibrahim Ghafar, echoes the sentiment voiced by Dr Awang, a former Malay Studies Chair at Beijing Foreign Studies University and former director of the Department of Language at Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), the national language and literary agency.
Dr Ibrahim says it is wrong to connect the use of Bahasa Malaysia, in a negative way, to social standing and education and economic values.
It is as though Bahasa Malaysia is only fit to be used by those with low social status, with low education, he says.
“There goes our identity as a race,” he says, adding, it all boils down to attitude.
To him, if the national language is perceived to have no economic value, then the logical thing to do is not to abandon it but to use it even more widely so that “together we boost its value.” As with most things economics, having a critical mass is important.
Dr Ibrahim sees that one way to enhance the economic value of the language is for people to start speaking and using the language widely, in official business dealings as well as in commerce.
He calls for a wide multitude of activities to encourage and sow affection for the language.
“Regardless of our origin,” he says, “it is up to us Malaysians to play a role and add value to our national language.” The national language, he stresses, does not belong to any one race but to all Malaysians.
Kepong Member of Parliament Dr Tan Seng Giaw feels that education, particularly early education, plays an important role in promoting the language.
The qualities of teachers are also important, says Dr Tan, who takes pride of his fluency in the national language and on top of that, he also writes and reads Jawi.
Early training on the proper use of the national language is akin to moulding a bamboo from the shoot, he says. The effect could be seen when pupils grow up into good speakers of the language.
“I have never stopped raising this in parliament. We must look at all sides to the teaching and learning of the national language, including the effort to boost the standard and mastery among teachers.
“Remember that language is the soul of the race,” he told Bernama.
DBP Corporate Communication Division head Abdul Ghapar Abdullah also laments the lackadaisical attitude towards the language, which he says hampers the effort to dignify Bahasa Malaysia as the national language.
Although DBP is responsible for ensuring proper usage of the national language, it does not have the power to prevent the public from not using it.
“This is similar to the Ops Sikap campaign; although numerous efforts and campaigns were carried out, accidents still happened, mainly due to the attitudes of road users.
“Similarly, despite the numerous programmes implemented by DBP to dignify the national language, the public still use ‘bahasa rojak’ (mixed language),” he says, adding DBP cannot prevent or carry out enforcement or penalise those who do not use the national language.
“We are prepared to help any party who wants to use our advisory service on the correct use of the national language, whether through workshops or seminars,” he adds.
For the National Language Month, which runs through October, Abdul Ghapar says about 300 programmes are being held nationwide, in addition to the year-round programmes and campaigns carried out by DBP. — Bernama