BAHASA MALAYSIA–BAHASA INDONESIA ARE MERE JINGOISTIC SLOGANS. –PART II
I DOUBT IT IF UNESCO AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL LINGUISTIC EXPERTS AND RENOWNED ANTHROPOLOGISTS AND HISTORIANS WILL ACCEPT ANYONE FROM CHANGING THE STATUS OF BAHASA MELAYU WHICH IS A UNIVERSAL HERITAGE LIKE THE OTHER MAJOR WORLD LANGUAGES THAT WE HAVE, ALTHOUGH WE MAY HAVE SLOGANS TO DESCRIBE THEM TO INSTILL GREATER ACCEPTANCE OF THE LANGUAGE ESPECIALLY AMONGST THOSE WHO ARE NOT MELAYU.
IF ONE WERE TO GO AROUND IN THE LOWER RUNGS OF SOCIETY, ONE OFTEN HEARS THE NON-MELAYU SPEAK IN MELAYU; THEY ARE HAPPY TO SAY THAT THEY ARE SPEAKING IN BAHASA MELAYU. I HAVE NOT HEARD EVEN ONE NON-MELAYU IN THE WORKING CLASS WHO SAYS HE OR SHE IS SPEAKING IN BAHASA MALAYSIA.
JUST GO TO THE NEARBY ‘PASAR MALAM’ AND THEY WILL TELL YOU THEY ARE SPEAKING IN MELAYU (CAKAP MELAYU, THEY WILL SAY.), AND NOT BAHASA MALAYSIA WHICH IRONICALLY IS THE TERM PREFERRED BY NON-MELAYU WHO ARE BETTER EDUCATED SINCE THEY KNOW THAT THIS IS A WAY TO ‘OBLITERATE’ THE TERM BAHASA MELAYU AND LATER ON BANGSA MELAYU SINCE THERE IS NO BAHASA MELAYU, WHY THEN SHOULD THERE BE A BANGSA MELAYU?!
So the fears that the cabinet had on the name Bahasa Melayu which they claim would not compel the non-Melayu to accept it undoubtedly wrong.
I am also surprised the Rais Yatim, the minister of culture, arts and heritage (Kekkwa), has not challenged the change of description of Bahasa Melayu to Bahasa Malaysia, whereas Bahasa Melayu is world heritage and it is not the exclusive right of the Melayu in Melayu in Malaysia only, but those outside of the country and elsewhere.
All the ancient Melayu manuscripts that were written on goat or cow skins were in Melayu or Bahasa Melayu. Yet, the ministry has only recognized some of the texts as having national heritage status, whereas the language used to write them is conveniently neglected. Hikayat Hang Tuah, Tuhfat al-Nafis, Sejarah Melayu and all the ‘Panjis’ were written in this language. Without Bahasa Melayu, the Bangsa Melayu cannot be said to be complete; they go together.
God created all the races, including the Melayu, and with it, He gave them a language. So no mortal soul can ever dare to change this order.
I remember when I was in primary and secondary schools and up to Form Six, most of my Bahasa Melayu teachers were non-Melayu. They were proud to be speaking and teaching in this language and it was not a bone of contention with them.
Therefore, the issue of having to change the name of Bahasa Melayu to Bahasa Malaysia does not arise, especially now as many non-Melayu have accepted that they are speaking and writing in this language so there is no need for anyone to fool himself that by changing the term or slogan, he can get more non-Melayu to accept the language and use it even in formal situations.
There are now subtle protests against the usage of the term Bahasa Malaysia as opposed to Bahasa Melayu by Melayu intellectuals who now just describe it as Bahasa Kebangsaan or Bahasa. They feel guilty for calling it Bahasa Malaysia but are afraid to do so for fear of losing their jobs in government ministries and universities.
There are some very easy ways for the governments of Indonesia and Malaysia to standardize the use of this language especially in the pronounce of the words and creation of sentences which seem to be the major problems faced by people in Malaysia and Indonesia with regard to the use of this one language.
Ironically, when Malaysian and Indonesian singers sing they often sound the same with the Indonesians sounding less like when they speak especially in television dramas.
And not surprisingly, too, those Indonesians who had studied up to the university level write in almost the same way as the Melayu in Malaysia or Brunei and Singapore do except that they sometimes like to sprinkle Jawa words (I use Jawa and not Javanese because it is the Anglicized spelling of this word or race.).
Just check the official website of the President of the Republic of Indonesia and the Sultan of Brunei and read the articles and speeches made by them, and especially how they write in Melayu and you can see that they are the same.
Street talk in Indonesia and Malaysia vary according to local influences, and they are not standard Melayu. Most Indonesians, particularly the Jawa speak Bahasa Melayu in a thick Jawa accent. It is unlike those in Bali who speak much like the Melayu in Melaka, much to my surprise when I first encountered them, because I thought they were mocking me when I told them I came from Melaka.
I can easily advise the ministries of education in Malaysia and Indonesia how to standardize the development of Bahasa Melayu so that in time, everybody in the two countries can speak the language properly.
IF ONE WERE TO GO AROUND IN THE LOWER RUNGS OF SOCIETY, ONE OFTEN HEARS THE NON-MELAYU SPEAK IN MELAYU; THEY ARE HAPPY TO SAY THAT THEY ARE SPEAKING IN BAHASA MELAYU. I HAVE NOT HEARD EVEN ONE NON-MELAYU IN THE WORKING CLASS WHO SAYS HE OR SHE IS SPEAKING IN BAHASA MALAYSIA.
JUST GO TO THE NEARBY ‘PASAR MALAM’ AND THEY WILL TELL YOU THEY ARE SPEAKING IN MELAYU (CAKAP MELAYU, THEY WILL SAY.), AND NOT BAHASA MALAYSIA WHICH IRONICALLY IS THE TERM PREFERRED BY NON-MELAYU WHO ARE BETTER EDUCATED SINCE THEY KNOW THAT THIS IS A WAY TO ‘OBLITERATE’ THE TERM BAHASA MELAYU AND LATER ON BANGSA MELAYU SINCE THERE IS NO BAHASA MELAYU, WHY THEN SHOULD THERE BE A BANGSA MELAYU?!
So the fears that the cabinet had on the name Bahasa Melayu which they claim would not compel the non-Melayu to accept it undoubtedly wrong.
I am also surprised the Rais Yatim, the minister of culture, arts and heritage (Kekkwa), has not challenged the change of description of Bahasa Melayu to Bahasa Malaysia, whereas Bahasa Melayu is world heritage and it is not the exclusive right of the Melayu in Melayu in Malaysia only, but those outside of the country and elsewhere.
All the ancient Melayu manuscripts that were written on goat or cow skins were in Melayu or Bahasa Melayu. Yet, the ministry has only recognized some of the texts as having national heritage status, whereas the language used to write them is conveniently neglected. Hikayat Hang Tuah, Tuhfat al-Nafis, Sejarah Melayu and all the ‘Panjis’ were written in this language. Without Bahasa Melayu, the Bangsa Melayu cannot be said to be complete; they go together.
God created all the races, including the Melayu, and with it, He gave them a language. So no mortal soul can ever dare to change this order.
I remember when I was in primary and secondary schools and up to Form Six, most of my Bahasa Melayu teachers were non-Melayu. They were proud to be speaking and teaching in this language and it was not a bone of contention with them.
Therefore, the issue of having to change the name of Bahasa Melayu to Bahasa Malaysia does not arise, especially now as many non-Melayu have accepted that they are speaking and writing in this language so there is no need for anyone to fool himself that by changing the term or slogan, he can get more non-Melayu to accept the language and use it even in formal situations.
There are now subtle protests against the usage of the term Bahasa Malaysia as opposed to Bahasa Melayu by Melayu intellectuals who now just describe it as Bahasa Kebangsaan or Bahasa. They feel guilty for calling it Bahasa Malaysia but are afraid to do so for fear of losing their jobs in government ministries and universities.
There are some very easy ways for the governments of Indonesia and Malaysia to standardize the use of this language especially in the pronounce of the words and creation of sentences which seem to be the major problems faced by people in Malaysia and Indonesia with regard to the use of this one language.
Ironically, when Malaysian and Indonesian singers sing they often sound the same with the Indonesians sounding less like when they speak especially in television dramas.
And not surprisingly, too, those Indonesians who had studied up to the university level write in almost the same way as the Melayu in Malaysia or Brunei and Singapore do except that they sometimes like to sprinkle Jawa words (I use Jawa and not Javanese because it is the Anglicized spelling of this word or race.).
Just check the official website of the President of the Republic of Indonesia and the Sultan of Brunei and read the articles and speeches made by them, and especially how they write in Melayu and you can see that they are the same.
Street talk in Indonesia and Malaysia vary according to local influences, and they are not standard Melayu. Most Indonesians, particularly the Jawa speak Bahasa Melayu in a thick Jawa accent. It is unlike those in Bali who speak much like the Melayu in Melaka, much to my surprise when I first encountered them, because I thought they were mocking me when I told them I came from Melaka.
I can easily advise the ministries of education in Malaysia and Indonesia how to standardize the development of Bahasa Melayu so that in time, everybody in the two countries can speak the language properly.
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