When speaking is not enough

BAHASA Melayu (BM) is a distinguished and classy modern language, befitting its stature as our national language.

BM is infused with such finesse and subtlety, making it one of the most beautiful languages in the world.

Just look at phrases like minta diri, langkah kanan and terima kasih.

Their translation to another language will fail to capture their embedded cultural values, rendering them literal in impact.

That said, many still feel that BM is a lesser language.

The view is that BM is too simplistic or too poetic and lacks the competitiveness to be as lucid and cogent as English or French.

I beg to differ on this. I think we feel this way simply because we do not know BM well enough to appreciate it.

Admittedly, some words in BM are not as efficient in letters as compared to English.

We tend to view the word “perpustakaan” as a mouthful when compared with “library” but we do not use the same yardstick when we compare “comprehensive” with “tuntas”.

Or perhaps we have never heard of tuntas before?

The point I am making is we need to continue our lessons in BM.

As native speakers, we can ill afford to use our national language haphazardly or improperly. Its usage needs to be not just correct but also fluent and immaculate.

At the same time, we need to safeguard the sanctity of BM and nip in the bud the preposterous WeChat language that is ruining the very fabric of the language.

We can start by reviewing the Akta Bahasa Kebangsaan (ABK) or National Language Act 1963/67.

Give it a new breath of life or some “teeth” to bite because conspicuously missing from the existing legislation is the legal implication to its offender.

At present, BM is a compulsory subject only up to secondary level in our national education.

At the tertiary level, it is an elective subject that is often ignored unless one is majoring in language or communication. This needs to change.

Those in high office are expected to have excellent command of BM. Only then would the knowledge and skills be passed down for the benefits of the many.

Not too long ago, we were anxiously waiting for new Malay words to be unearthed from the thickness of Kamus Dewan during the annual budget presentation at Parliament.

Those in the music industry should show off their prowess by writing beautiful songs in BM with all the richness of its vocabulary. It should not just be any word to fit the tempo.

Popular singers like M. Nasir have shown their worth in this. The lyrics in Nasir’s songs are just exemplary and reflective of his mastery of the language.

We could also benefit from better quality of publications in BM, and in this, authors and publishers play an important role.

The public need to read in order to learn. Books on love and romance are just as fine provided that proper BM is used.

We should also be more supportive and enthusiastic towards language-related events such as debates, poem-writing and essay competitions as means to promote quality use of BM.

It should be broadcast in mainstream media and we could also tap into the realm of social media to do this.

All in all, popularising the correct usage of BM needs concerted effort.

However, I must stress that learning English or other languages will not be at the expense of BM. In particular, learning Mathematics and Science in English does not put BM on the back burner at all.

Objecting to this without making any serious efforts to uphold BM is just as ludicrous.

We should promote and not hinder our children’s learning opportunities.

For now, Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf zahir dan batin. There is no proper translation to this and this article is in English just to prove this point.

“Kebitaraan BM” is at its best display.

BM is infused with such finesse and subtlety, making it one of the most beautiful languages in the world.