Mind Your Language (The Other View)

Sebelum saya menulis lebih lanjut nanti,I would love to share with everyone this one article,written by one woman blogger in conjunction of our Merdeka Day last year.I can see her purity as a Malaysian.She's still a chinese by blood,Malaysian by heart..No skeptical-ism,no hatred and no confusion.It's all because of one thing - SINCERITY. Tiada kepentingan lain,selain negara tercinta..

 

Malaysia need this kind of citizens..Not those confused citizens like I told you previously..

 

Cuba fahami artikel Ying Hooi ini,dan insyallah saya akan cuba menulis huraian saya sendiri tentang BAHASA seperti yang dijanjikan,bila ada masa nanti..:-)..Just as a reminder,gua bukan pejuang bahasa..It's all about unity mate!Adios~

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Bahasa Malaysia, the language for all

By yinghooi, on August 11, 2010 at 1:56 pm, under Malaysian Politics.

 

Language is the soul of a nation. Despite the racial and cultural diversity, a national language is believed to help create a bond and national unity.

Stepping into the 53^rd year of independence, yet continuing debates manifest that Malaysian national identity remains clouded. In Malaysia, we have Bahasa Malaysia as our national language. As the national language, it is the language of the peoples of Malaysia and functions as a national symbol.  It applies to the entire nation and its nationalities.

At the same time, the citizens also have the opportunity to learn other languages such as English, Mandarin and Tamil in the schools. Comparing with our neighboring countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia, Malaysians are much luckier as we get the chance to learn additional languages in the schools.

Almost every ethnic group in Malaysia speaks more than one language, leading to a fascinating amount of linguistic diversity. And this is precisely one of the reasons of why many foreigners are amazed with us.

The fate of national language

Here is the general perception for many to our national language –- there is no need to have a good command of Bahasa Malaysia as long as we pass the exam with credits because in the working environment, we will only need English. It is also apprehended that the Bahasa has limited economic and commercial value which indirectly brings to a significant lack in sense of belonging and the pride to the national language.

Bahasa is not being look upon in a respectable level as we can see from the media for example through the Malay dramas particularly. It is very rare to have the chance to watch a ‘pure’ and ‘original’ drama using the proper Bahasa Malaysia nowadays because it is all mixed up with English. It sounds something like this – “I nak jumpa you tonight. You free tak?” I believe this dialogue must sounds very familiar to you.

The connotation is that when the actor or actress uses English in their dialogue, he or she is seen coming from a middle-class or higher, otherwise working in the corporate world. It is indeed very sad that many Malaysians look down at their own national language and treat it as a level lower than the commercially-used English.

One of the main reasons is merely to attract more viewers and to gain a higher rating. If a drama is mix with the English, it is seen as a higher quality production. It is perceived that such usage indicates modernization. However if the dialogue is being conduct in full Bahasa, it is seen as ‘kampungan’.

This troubling situation also could be noticed in local films, radio shows and entertainment shows. So imagine the target group that actually being instilled with this type of mindset?

On the other hand, there are also limited websites that use Bahasa Malaysia as the main medium of presentation. If this being let to continue, in another 10 years’ time, it is not surprising that Malaysians will be more fluent in English and not Bahasa.

Our responsibility

We should not feel ashamed of our national language. Take a peep at the Philippines, majority of the Filipina have no problem to converse in their own national language — Tagalog but at the same time they are also one of the nations in the world that has a big population that command the English. They juggle both languages pretty well.

Just look around, many parents send their kids to English classes but there is hardly anyone who actually sends their kids to Bahasa Malaysia classes. Bahasa has never been a cause for our children’s poor command of the English. This language ‘crisis’ has haunted us for a long time and it is the nick of time that Bahasa be conferred with the distinguished linguistic honor all Malaysians can bestow on it.

In order to enhance awareness of the importance of Bahasa Malaysia as a toll of unity, the Malaysian government has declared that October each year will be National Language Month. State governments and government agencies have been directed to implement programmes for National Language Month throughout October.

It is a sharing responsibility of all Malaysians to uphold the value of the national language, and not merely the government. The citizens have to realize that Bahasa Malaysia has a major role in fostering socialization and creating national unity.

It is not that English language is not necessary for the country; it is just that we must at the same time master and respect our own national language. It is although crucial to master the English, but it is far more important of not forgetting our own national language.

Malay language will not disappear, but it risks losing its originality. Without a common language in a country, there will be no unity.

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p/s : I managed to contact Khoo Ying Hooi and got her permission to reproduce the article..:-)..Thanks babe~..You can get the link to her writings here at http://yinghooi.wordpress.com/..Gua nak rest jap..Malam semalam ada game mid-week..Ponat den..huhu..

Mind Your Language II

Sebelum nak citer dengan lebih lanjut,biar saya share apa yang buat saya tetiba nak menulis pasal bahasa ni.. Mende ni dah lama dipendam..Cuma last week,macam gua citer aritu,bila Dato' Wong ni told me something yang gua tak setuju,gua rasa gua ada tanggungjawab untuk memperbetulkan..Walaupun dalam blog sendiri..huhu~

When I asked the Executive Editor of The Star about what he thinks about our national language,this is what he told me; "Azrul,when I was in school,I was taught BM-'Bahasa Malaysia',but these days they teaching something called 'Bahasa Melayu - so divisive!"..Tu dia jawapan dia..

Mana saya tak hangin baca..huhu~

Kalau orang macam dia,yang dianggap very well educated,dan memegang jawatan penting dalam media utama negara pun boleh berfikiran sebegini,apatah lagi rakyat biasa..Apa maksud beliau dengan 'divisive'?..Takkan gua yang tak abih-abih lagi belajar ni pun nak ajar??huhu..

I had to give him an example,because I think he is confused..Let's take China for example,we all know that in reality,there is no such thing as 'Chinese Language'..(Russell Peters pun ada cakap pasal mende ni in his jokes..huhu..)..Yang ada,hanyalah bahasa Mandarin,Cantonese,Hokkien etc,dan macam-macam lagi..Jadi,dalam konteks yang sama,sebenarnya tiada istilah Bahasa Malaysia kalau diikutkan..Yang ada,hanya Bahasa Melayu..Dalam ertikata lain,Bahasa Melayu adalah dengan automatiknya merupakan Bahasa Malaysia..Takkan itu pun nak cakap 'divisive'?Is it because of the word 'Melayu'?..What about 'English',they don't have 'Bahasa Australia' here in Aussie..Hmm,should I say it's 'divisive'?

Tapi secara realitinya,pemikiran beliau adalah merupakan cerminan kepada pemikiran rakyat yang lain..Ramai yang tidak memahaminya..Dan perkara ini harus diperbetulkan..Sesuatu bahasa yang mempunyai taraf sebagai bahasa nasional,seperti Bahasa Melayu ini,tidak boleh dipandang dari konteks perkauman..Pemikiran seperti Dato' Wong ni,perlu diperbetulkan kerana ia agak bahaya jika dibiarkan..

Kita memilih Bahasa Melayu bukan semata-mata kerana mahu mempertahankan keistimewaan orang Melayu..Kita memilih Bahasa Melayu kerana ia boleh membawa kepada perpaduan rakyat..Bukan sedap-sedap kita jer..Jadi,adalah tanggungjawab kita untuk memastikan yang bahasa ini diangkat sebagai bahasa perpaduan..

Yaa..itulah asal-usul kejadian yang buat saya nak menulis pasal mende ni..Sebab saya tak berapa setuju aritu..huhu~ Tengokkkk,kan dah panjang post ni!hehe..Nak masuk bab Constitution kang lagi panjanggg.. Hmmmm,next post lahh..

I'll tell you how the language,the Constitution,education system and the interaction are co-related with each other,and how important it is,in order for us to achieve true UNITY..Penting untuk kita memahaminya,kerana dalam situasi sekarang,Bahasa Melayu lebih dilihat sebagai 'de facto' language,bukan bahasa rasmi seperti yang sepatutnya,sebagaimana yang diperuntukkan dalam perlembagaan..

Sekian..Gua nak pegi class dulu..Ciao~

Mind Your Language

I always want to write about this..BAHASA..

Tapi hari ni baru rasa nak menulis,sebab Dato' Seri Wong Sai Wan,an executive editor for The Star (a Malaysian daily newspaper) has told me about something that I don't really agreed with this morning..

As usual,Malaysian news is always full of racial rhetorics and ethno-centrics propaganda.. Something that we have to fix..and language is one of our sub-problems..I am a firm believer (bukan peminat Justin Bieber) that language is the best tool to achieve unity..

Pada zaman Maharaja Shih Huang Ti di negeri China beribu-ribu tahun yang lalu,rakyat dan wilayah-wilayah yang ada di bawah penguasaannya,hidup berpecah-belah dan tidak bersatu..Demi untuk menyatukan rakyatnya di bawah satu jajahan yang besar,Shih Huang Ti menggunakan bahasa Mandarin sebagai satu standard bahasa untuk negara China..

"In an effort to reinforced the idea of a unified China,Ch'in Shih Huang-Ti instituted a program to standardize the Chinese language,as well as measurements for width and length,and a series of roads and canals were built to converge on the capital city of Xianyang.." (Ch'in Shih-Huang-Ti,Science and Its Times,2005-2006)

Di Indonesia,pada zaman Presiden Sukarno,beliau menggunakan Bahasa Indonesia untuk menyatukan 17,000 kepulauan dan ribuan etnik-etnik berlainan bangsa dan bahasa..Dari Kupang,Irian Jaya, hingga ke tanah Jawa dan Sumatera,semuanya tahu berbahasa Indonesia..Dan seluruh rakyat lebih mudah bersatu dengan penggunaan bahasa yang sama..

Kalau negara-negara yang besar ini boleh disatukan rakyatnya dengan penggunaan bahasa yang sama,kenapa tidak kita,sebuah negara yang lebih kecil dari segi nisbah bangsa dan bahasa rakyatnya?

Kenapa sampai sekarang kita masih lagi bermasalah?

To be able to understand this,we cannot run from the fact that the major source of this problem,came from our school system..I'll try to give some explanations,as much as I can.. National integration,is always one of my interests,something that I always like to encourage among Malaysians..

I have nothing against any other language in Malaysia..In fact,I love them too..I love our diversity..How I always wish that I can speak Mandarin fluently..But now,we are talking about UNITY..

Kalau Shih-Huang-Ti,dia pakai cara dictatorial sikit..He was infamous for eliminating what was known as Hundreds School of Thoughts to suit his ambition of a unified China.. Presiden Sukarno menggunakan kaedah Asimilasi..Kita?What shall we do?Not until that level perhaps..

Shih Huang Ti - 'The Dragon'

All my next coming posts will touch about this issue..In terms of what we have in our Federal Constitution, my own experience in Malaysia,what I've faced in Australia while mingling around with other Malaysians,and some stories happened during my time in UMNO Club not so long ago..

Till then,have a great weekend everyone!

p/s: Sori..I hope that my 'rojak' language in writings would not divert the intent of the post..Just trying to make it light and easy for our mind digestion as usual..huhu..Peace~

......

They said there is no past tense in loving someone..
It's either you always will,or you never did..

I don't know other people..
But I know me~

I know I did..

May God take care of you wherever you are..

Happy Birthday~

Happy Mother's Day

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Untuk insan yang sabar membesarkan saya dengan sentuhan kasih sayang,didikan agama dan tunjuk ajar dalam menjadi seorang manusia..

~Hajjah Fathilah~

~I might be the worst son anyone could ever have,but YOU are simply the best mother that anyone could ever asked for~

Dan untuk setiap insan-insan yang tidak jemu menyuap saya dengan tangan-tangan mereka sendiri bersama-sama membesarkan anak yang nakal ini lebih dua puluh tahun yang lalu..Saya tidak pernah lupa..:-)..

All of you,my beloved aunties is like a second mom to me~..

Also to Kak Long and Kak Hazy..

Adelaide Mother's Day in the sky..:-)

Semoga Allah membalas jasa kalian,dunia dan akhirat..

~HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY~

Loves,hugs and kisses from Adelaide..:-)

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ABCB - Korge Didahulukan,Makanan Diutamakan

Last weekend,for the third time in a row,I've missed another ABCB Family Day..I've been told that there were around 200 people attended the Family Day this time around..Danggg,time aku takde laa ramai orang boleh turun..huhu..My Family Day is usually held every two or three years and if I'm not mistaken,last weekend's was the fifth one..

ABCB stands for 'anak beranak Che Bi'..Che Bi is the name of my late grandmother..She's well known in Pekan during that time with that name..Nama betul Arbiah..:-)..I called her 'Mak', like how most of us in the family do..That shows how close we were with her..Till today,I never mention her as 'arwah' Mak,cause she's still here,inside me all the time..and forever it will be~

Mak,with her first daughter (Mama),first cucu (my Kak Long),and first cicit (Hani,anak Kak Long saya)..4 different generation..

ABCB is the acronym used to describe my whole extended family..The whole clan..Believe me,it's BIG..and the best part of it- we are really closed to each other..:-)

During those days when I was a kid,we didn't have all this family day thingy..Sebab kami selalu berkumpul di kampung kitorg kat Pekan..Everytime during school holidays,we'll be sent over to Pekan to live with Mak,or tidur rumah mak-mak saudara yang lain..I was quite fortunate to be able to experience a 'kampung lifestyle'.. All of us,cousins will mengaji al-Quran with Mak,main hujan,kalau musim banjir main banjir,menyibuk time Mak Zah bakar sampah,panjat pokok jambu belakang rumah,kene kejar dengan angsa,kutip buah rambutan pakai galah,bagi ayam makan hampas kelapa,main kejar-kejar,tangkap berudu (berudu in English apa ek?),pegi main tikam kedai Nyah or kedai Haji bla..bla..bla..Bestnyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!haha..

But now,kampung pun dah jadi modern,people has moved over to some other places,kerja jauh-jauh, masing-masing busy,beranak-pinak etc..Time has become so limited for everyone to meet each other frequently..And pity those younger generations now,that they don't have the time and environment to play like how we used to during our days.. Budak-budak sekarang akan lepak main komputer,PS3 laa,Ipad etc.. So,the interactions between them becoming less and less..and a Family Day like this,is always important to keep the bonding strong..I was brought up with a very strong family bonds between us,and it has to be continued to the younger generation of ABCB..

They all looked soo sihat alhamdulillah..

We are not a rich family,tetapi kita juga bukan orang susah..What made us strong as a family is the love and our sense of belonging.. Kita tidak ada masalah berebut harta macam orang lain..Kita tidak bermasam muka lama-lama bila berselisih faham.. Kita tidak ada masalah dengki-mendengki sesama saudara..I've heard soooo many stories about other people's family yang berpecah-belah,siap ada yang berbomoh-bomoh lagi, and I thank Allah that it never happened in our family..I always pray that it will continue for the rest of our life..

Di hari-hari akhir Mak ketika hayatnya,saya bersamanya hampir sepanjang masa..There were times when there was only two of us..I talked a lot to Mak when we were together.. She's the most humble and caring person that I've ever met..I swear to God..Even when she was lying down,sick during her final days..Dia tau dia sakit,tapi dia tak nak dan takut dia akan menyusahkan orang..Sedangkan,saya hanyalah seorang cucu that will do anything for my grandmother..Mak asked me to be next to her bed most of the time until her last day..We had some private conversations together kadang-kadang..:-)..Moments that I will treasure till I die..~



Mak never worried about her health condition,she was strong..The only thing she worried about was her family.."Aku takut anak cucu aku nanti berpecah-belah bila aku dah tak ada nanti~",that's what she said..I know,I was there..So I believe that was her 'will' that everyone in the family have to keep in mind as a reminder forever..

All the younger generation now might have never met their grandparents,but we will make sure yang tunjuk ajar Mak tentang kasih sayang,hormat-menghormati dan adab-adab dalam berkeluarga akan terus menjadi ikutan dan pedoman dalam hidup mereka..

And today,I know Mak will be smiling if she see all these..She will know that we always try not to take things for granted..:-)

Happy Family Day ABCB!!!!~ Kudos to the organizers..Lain kali,reti-reti laa buat time gua cuti yaaaaaa.... haha!



Macam biasa nampaknya,diorg ni main rounders laa,galah panjang laa,sukaneka sume... Apatah lagi makannnnn,huhu..Keluarga saya memang kuat makann..Tengok lerr size masing-masing..Wakaka! Keluarga piranha laa katakan..hehe..Memang jangan harap gua nak tengok gambar makanan yang korang bagi..hehe.. Yahuuuuuu, memang 'tak' jelesss langsung laaa aku kat sini...hahaha...:-p

Uwarrrrrrgghhhhhhhhhh...;-(

Credits to Uji,Fa and tukang-tukang amik gambo yang lain..and Tenna..3 days and 2 nights activities,at one of the beach resorts,somewhere in my hometown,Kuantan..

Telematch,karaoke,mandi kolam,galah panjang,lucky draw,ginrummy,(betul ke eja ni..haha) dan macam-macam ada.."Rounders"-feveret kitorg ni time kecik-kecik..Main macam ala-ala softball gitu..huhu~

Kalau nak more details,and a different perspective of it,tengok my cousin's blog here-"Serendipity-abcbcd-2011-family-day.html".. She was there.. Yang takde nya cuma gua,Cik A kat UK and Pablo in Mexico..huhu..

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p/s: Al-Fatihah - untuk Mak,dan semua yang telah pergi meninggalkan kita..God bless ABCB~ And Happy Mothers Day to all the moms in the family too..:-)

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