Happy mix of dialects and languages
Being multilingual means having a great tool of communication.
FOREIGNERS who visit Malaysia often marvel at how multi-racial this country is, and at the many languages and dialects that are spoken by our people.
Prof Dr Stefanie Pillai of the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, says there there are 110 to 120 languages in Malaysia today. They include sub-languages and native dialects, such as Kanak and Kensiu, as well as Orang Asal languages in Sabah and Sarawak.
“Most of the languages and dialects are living but many are endangered, about 70%, because they are not spoken in families,” says Prof Pillai.
So, if parents and grandparents stop speaking a dialect to their children and grandchildren, it will eventually fade away.
“Kids have the capacity to learn not just a language, but languages,” says Prof Pillai.
She adds that parents need not worry that their children will “get their wires crossed” if they learn more than one language at the same time.
“If you keep at it, they will become competent at two or more languages.”
While it is quite common to meet a Malaysian who can speak at least two languages (namely Bahasa Malaysia and English, which are compulsory subjects in school), here are eight individuals who can converse in at least five languages and local dialects.
Born in the seaside town of Kampung Payang in Setiu, Terengganu, Lieutenant Colonel Chin Kuang Beng (Rtd) is well versed in BM as well as “loghat Terengganu” – a stateside language that adds the letter “G” to the end of every Malay word. A true blue kampung boy, he’s even known as “Ariffin” (pronounced “Yik Peng” in the local slang) to the village folks.
“It is common in Terengganu for Chinese and Indians to have Malay names. I am still referred to as Yik Peng by my childhood friends till today,” says the retired military officer.
Hainanese blood runs deep in his veins, and Chin spoke that dialect at home when he was younger. While his six siblings studied at Chinese vernacular schools, he attended an English-medium school.
As a young adult, he fell in love with a Hokkien girl from Penang, spurring him to brush up that northern Chinese dialect.
Chin and his wife Ang Guat Cheng have been happily married for 33 years now. Today, the happy couple speaks a mix of English, BM and Hokkien with their two boys. – Chester Chin
Greg Douglas from Miri, Sarawak, speaks English, Iban, Mandarin, Hokkien and BM fluently. But all that wasn’t enough. He wanted to be able to read Victor Hugo’s historical novel Les Miserables as it was originally written – in French.
“I was around 14 and French was the first language I set out to learn on my own,” he says.
An avid reader who enjoys reading literature in their original language, Douglas went on to learn German, Dutch, Bidayuh and has just started learning Tamil.
“We speak English at home, although there is always a mix of local dialects since my dad is Iban and mum is Chinese,” he says. – Rouwen Lin
Wong Lay Chin, a Kuala Lumpur-based Penangite, is a theatre practitioner. Just last month, her Hokkien play, The Storyteller: Because You Are A Woman, was staged at Now Theatre in Taman Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur.
For the performing arts lecturer, this is how she keeps the Hokkien dialect alive.
“I do Hokkien plays to make sure the dialect doesn’t die off. Even with The Storyteller, my actor from Penang struggled initially with Hokkien although it is her mother tongue. She had to re-learn it to make herself familiar with it,” shares Wong, 43, who trained in theatre in Taiwan.
Besides Hokkien, which she uses every time she returns to Penang, Wong also speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, English and BM.
She says she learned Cantonese from her kindergarten friend when she was just five years old. And when she sent to a vernacular school, she had to learn Mandarin.
Wong, who has her own production company called Move Creativ, says there are advantages to being able to speak in many languages and dialects.
“It helps me develop a different mindset. For example, when I’m using English, I feel more open-minded and straight-forward,” Wong says. – Dinesh Kumar Maganathan
Born and raised in Ranau, Sabah, it was natural for private school teacher Claire George, 41, to pick up a few dialects in her community.
Although Dusun is the main race and language there, BM, a bit of English, Hakka and Mandarin are also widely used.
“Growing up, I spoke BM and the Dusun language. Then when I was 13, I went to a school in Sipitang, which is in interior Sabah.
“Sipitang is home to predominant indigenous groups such as Kedayan, Lundayeh, Murut and Brunei Malay. I started learning their language after hearing it from friends and people around me,” says the mother of two.
Married to a Malaysian Chinese, she shares that her husband speaks Hokkien to his mother.
“I tried speaking my own mother tongue initially at home but my husband and children could not catch up so I decided to use only English. I do teach them a few common phrases and words in Dusun,” she says.
Knowing a few dialects has helped her make friends easily and be more adaptable in society. So, she supports all efforts to preserve Malaysia’s various dialects through education.
“Teach them in school and make it an option to learn. Parents should also teach their children whenever possible,” she emphasises. – Wong Li Za
Johor Baru-born Callyn Leow works as a secretary in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Living in a multicultural society like Malaysia, she believes it is advantageous to be able to converse in many languages. She can speak Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Hakka.
She learnt Hakka through her family members. Having lived in Petaling Jaya/kl for so many years, she learnt Cantonese through communicating with her friends.
Leow, who enjoys drama and has acted in several local Mandarin stage and film productions, lives in PJ with her family. They speak Hakka at home.
She strongly believes that it is important for parents to teach their children their own dialect so that it is carried forward to future generations. – Ming Teoh
Tammy Chin Yi Voon, 41, was born and bred in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Both her parents are Hakka.
Beside English and BM, the mother-of-two also speaks Mandarin and two Chinese dialects: Hakka and Cantonese. Chin learnt Cantonese from watching various TVB dramas with her parents from the time she was seven, for a good decade or two. Mandarin was something she was forced to quickly learn when she was working in her cousin’s company in Shenzhen, China, from 2004 to 2006.
She is not too worried about her kids not picking up Mandarin as she intends to send them to Chinese schools eventually. – Evelyn
Len
Choong Yu Jun, 23, is currently studying electrical engineering, IT and computer engineering at a university in Aachen, Germany.
“I was born into a Cantonese family, went to a Malay nursery and took English classes at ages three and five respectively. Hence, these languages have been an integral part in my daily communication. With my family, I speak a mix of Cantonese, English and BM,” says Choong.
“Later, I learnt Mandarin when I attended kindergarten and primary school.
“After completing my A-level studies and elementary German language courses, I took another set of intensive courses in Berlin for four months and passed the Test Deutsch als Fremdsprache.
“In university, I speak German most of the time and this has further enhanced my verbal skills and enabled me to comprehend certain regional accents or terms that I wouldn’t otherwise understand.
“With Malaysian friends, it’s mostly Mandarin with ‘a rojak’ of Hokkien/ Cantonese phrases.”
Being multilingual is having a good communication tool that makes it much easier to make friends, he adds.
“Immersing myself in a native environment has helped me immensely in acquiring language mastery.” – Majorie Chiew
Jeneth Lo, 30, is a teacher of Chineseiban parentage who speaks Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin, Foo Chow and Iban.
“I grew up in a mixed parentage family. My father is half-chinese (Foochow) half-iban and my mother is 100% Iban from Pakan, Sarawak. Growing up, I spoke mainly my mother tongue, the Iban language. I can also speak Mandarin – because I went to a Chinese primary school – and basic Foo Chow,” says Lo.
For her, being able to speak various languages is a privilege and an advantage, especially in the 21st century.
“Being fluent in two or more languages gives you an edge over monolingual candidates in job interviews,” she adds. – Wong Li
Za