Disclaimer : This is purely from our point of view, as non-native English speakers. None of the content written is meant to offend or go against anyone.
Malaysia is a country that was once colonized by many others, including the British and Dutch. Being a multiracial nation, we speak multiple languages - Malay as the official language, the indigenous languages, Mandarin, Tamil and around 130 other languages (Chepkemoi, 2020). As a result of the colonization, our education system started to include English in the syllabus which makes most Malaysians to be at least, bilingual. The question we have today is, is the way we view the English language judicious? Are we seeing it as just a language to communicate, or the social standard of intelligence?
We are pretty sure everyone has their own opinion on this topic but we are not going to go in TOO deep, for now. Let’s save it for later. Anyways, all of us (we believe) have witnessed this before. It can be on social media, or even come out from your makcik bawang herself, when you attend a family gathering.
“Tak payah cakap English, cakap Melayu sudah”
“Kau tak reti cakap Melayu ke? Berlagak mat salleh”
OR
“Pandai anak kau cakap omputih. Kerlasss, tak macam anak si xx tu”
“Cakap la English, baru nampak educated sikit”
Doesn’t it just BOIL your blood when someone says these things to you? Why the unnecessary bitterness though? What is so wrong with speaking English right? Yes, English is not our first language but it is still very important for everyone to learn the language as there are a lot of benefits in learning not only English, but other languages as well. Malay is still our national language, no doubt. Preserving it (and other native languages) is crucial to our culture. To simply put it into a sentence, condemning a language would not make another look better or more “intelligent” than others. There is no better or the best one language. All languages are equally good - and there is no need to glorify any one of them, in this context, English.
It is very rare to find a middle ground for this situation. Although it seems difficult to do so, trust us (we are non-native English speakers majoring in English!) that it is doable. We can appreciate our native language while still learning other languages (including English). Languages are just means of communication and we believe that your fluency and proficiency (in any language) are not the ways to measure your intelligence (unless you are an English major, aha ha - cries).
To wrap this topic up! We personally think that this issue is very common and it should be highlighted more. As much as we agree that English is important, it does not grant anyone the right to downgrade other people who do not possess the ability to speak fluently - not everyone has the privilege of good education and opportunities. This topic is not a small one. In fact, there are a lot of perspectives you can look at it from. We chose to talk about this because we do not condone the act of condemning people merely for speaking other languages - either English or Malay (it depends on which side you picked). Perhaps after reading this, you will be standing in a place where your view of languages is of a judicious one. At the end of the day, it does not matter what language you speak. As long as the point is conveyed, you do you.
If you wish to enlighten us with your point of view on this topic, email it to lggazetteeclipse@gmail.com , we will wait for you!
References
Chepkemoi, J. (2020). What Languages are Spoken in Malaysia? Retrieved March 10, 2021 from https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-malaysia.html
Proofread by Ilyana Elisa & Illya-Wardina
Published by Aisyah Hanim
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