Bingo! That’s my Lingo!- Language is power

“Welcome”, “Selamat Datang”, “欢迎”, “ようこそ”, “Bienvenue”, “स्वागत आहे”, “Willkommen”, “Afio Mai”, “Mabuhay”, “ยินดีต้อนรั”, “환영하다”, “Välkommen”, “خوش آمدید”, “أهلا بك”, “Bem Vindo”, “Bienvenida”, “ברוך הבא”, “Croeso”, “Welkom”, “Tervetuloa”, “Hoşgeldiniz”

Picture this- You just got out of a long haul flight, hair is all bundled up in knots you never thought existed, and you’re lugging out your overweight suitcase which you knew you had packed up the wazoo. You feel crummy and all you want is a good shower with a fresh batch of clean clothes after, am I right? Admit it, even with the urge of either getting back home or heading to the hotel, you pause just for a few seconds right before exiting the arrival hall to read the sign that says “welcome” in different languages. In full disclosure, I do. 

I find it highly fascinating, because we live in a world where there are various languages spoken by so many, and still some I have yet to learn exists. Languages range from pictorial, characters and symbols, to our standard alphabets that varies dramatically from culture to culture. Now here is where we start to question- How did language come about? A form of communication, yes, but how did the pillars of language develop? We can dive right into history’s infinity pool, but that is not what I am here to talk about. A little dabble here and there to state my point, but the main agenda of this article is more than that. So let’s begin.

So here is my question to you readers out there. What is language? What is the definition? We can stick our heads into the Collins Dictionary, or lean towards our good friend Google to search the meaning, but what is the definition of language to you? Well, here is what I think it is.

I see language as a beautiful art we all should learn to embrace and understand. Learning a new language is not an easy task. Believe me, I had my experience learning Mandarin and Japanese, and boy was it not a straight walk in the park. However, the benefits of educating ourselves about a country and its language, results us in gaining the ability to understand the reason for the creation of their mother tongue. Not only do you gain the capability of being more than a monolingual, but you get to cultivate yourself more by broadening your perspective on different cultures. Going back to my previous post of my mother being born out of three races, she understands a little Cantonese, and Tamil due to her upbringing. Now let me tell you, it is always a treat to see her communicate with the servers at our local mamak joints, and the little stalls at our local morning markets. This is a lady with fair skin who wears a hijab, and hearing a word of Cantonese or Tamil from her is the least you would expect. The reactions we get never tire as people always stare in bewilderment. I think the most memorable interaction my mother had was with the Soya Bean and Air Mata Kucing seller at our local night market. We always stop by his stall to get a cold drink before heading home, but never struck a conversation with him until one day we realized his wife was not with him.

As my brother ordered our drinks, my mum went ahead and asked him, “Uncle, aunty mana hari ini?” (Uncle, where’s aunty today?)

He then responded, “Aiya leng lui, aunty sakit lutut. Baru buat operation. So duduk rumah.” (Oh pretty girl, aunty’s knee is hurting. Just did a knee replacement, so she is sitting at home.)

As the conversation continued, my mother passed a comment that struck the old man’s curiosity.

My mother said,  “Hou jit. Later it will lok sui” (Really hot today. Later it will rain.)

The uncle stopped what he was doing, looked at my mother and began to ask, “Leng lui, you campur Cina?” (Pretty girl, are you mixed with Chinese?)

My mother started to laugh and responded, “Ya, my ma is half Chinese half Malay.”

He smiled and responded, “Can hear your voice. You bunyi macam Cina. You banyak pandai cakap Cina.” (Can hear your voice. You have a natural Chinese accent. You speak really good Chinese.)

I could not contain my smile and amusement from the conversation, because not only was it hilarious to hear my mother with a different accent, but it was such a natural and heartwarming interaction of two different individuals speaking in three different languages at the same time, with such mutual respect for one another. Their little conversation has such significance where language has no barriers for anyone. As I survey the people of Malaysia, the trait of communicating with a different language besides good ol’ English or our famous Manglish, is at an all time low. It seems the interest of learning a different language is at the bottom of anyone’s priority list, or have no enthusiasm to take an initiative to grasp something new. I too fall in a similar category after throwing away years of learning Mandarin down the trash shoot; merely to the fact of it being more of a forceful way of learning, rather than encouragement. Till today I regret my actions, but I know there is always room to gain it back, and I believe everyone can take the initiative to do so if they desire to delve into a new trait.

I have to say, hearing the talks about language always brings me back to an old time iconic classic, and one of my personal favorite songs- “ABC” by the Jackson 5. 

“A B C, easy as one, two, three, are simple as Do Re Mi…” Admit it, we can’t help ourselves from bobbing our heads or tapping our feet to the beat of the song if it comes on, whether you understand the language or not.

Now… Hearing talks about how learning a different language with a completely different alphabet system is considered as a form of radicalizing? Oh boy… In my mind, that is the sound of a tonearm falling off a vinyl record in midsong. Language is a universal entity which allows us to connect with one another, and to grant us the gift of human interaction called “communication,” resulting in good communities . It should not be seen as a source of negativity among different races and religions, just because of its differences in letters, symbols, characters, or pronunciations. Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world filled with rainbows and sunshine. We are all human; there will always be contestation and differences in certain areas of interest, but the word “compromise” does not just exist in our dictionary to look pretty. It symbolises tolerance for the differences that exist in whatever form, shape, character, color, size, and so on.

Malaysia has been blessed with an array of cultures, encompassing an assortment of languages and distinct dialects. From our national mother tongue Bahasa Melayu, to Mandarin, Tamil, Iban, and many others- we sure pack a punch in the lingo department. Despite our ethnic diversity in this beautiful country, lately the talks of language have been misconstrued as a form of religious reformation. Religious reformation? Language? Now that is a tough pill to swallow as these two are completely different articles. Think about it for just a second. How is learning a language considered as religious reformation and movement? Beats me, but let’s talk about it. No harm in discussing a very interesting , and extremely important topic.

Recently Malaysia delved into the intricacies of the alphabet Jawi being implemented in schools, and have received backlash of it being a form of back door religious reformation. Let me repeat myself- “the alphabet Jawi.” Buckle up, we’re going back in time to understand the formation of languages. According to Britannica, the Malay language is derived by the combination of Latin and Arabic alphabet. The Arabic alphabet is known as Jawi, and it can be found in various other languages spanning across South East Asia. It is true, back when merchants and travelers were prominent, the spread of different religions became exponential, and it saw the progression of Islam in various parts of the world. It resulted in the adaptation of Jawi in the Persian, Spanish, Turkish, and Swahili language, because these travelers had only known Jawi as their main vernacular. A little trade here and barter there, languages intertwine with each other, and bam; another lingo is established in a new country. The mixture or use of languages do not justify the formation of a religion in a country. Islam is a religion practiced, and Jawi is an Arabic script or alphabet for writing Malay, Achenese, Banjarese, Minagkabau, Tausug, and several other languages in South East Asia. This was the language spoken by the travelers who made their way around the world. How did we come about to Jawi being a religious language to convert kids in school? Please do some research and reading to form a decent understanding of any topic that needs speaking about before you rattle irrational statements. Naive or pure ignorance? I don’t know. You tell me.

If we are staunch believers of Jawi, Tamil, or Madarin being a source of converting faiths, then by all means, we are all a horrid concoction of religious mush. We are neither, Islam, Hindu, or Buddhist; So what are we at the end of it all? I hate to say it, but if this is the path we decide to take, then we might as well get rid of the Tamil and Mandarin languages from our education system and shut down our Chinese and Indian schools because it could be a tactic to convert our school kids to Hinduism and Buddhism. Or even worse, take English out of our curriculum, because it could be a way to convert our kids to Christianity. If we are not able to see eye to eye to find a resolution, then I guess we should just shut all our educational institutions down and live like nomads. Seeing myself type these preposterous sentences out truly has me shaking my head in disappointment. Every time you speak or learn a different language, you’re converting your religion. That sentence itself, does it even make sense to you? Makes 2 + 2 = 22 sound logical.  This is where a little sit down with a civil discussion could put this issue to bed. 

We in Malaysia, are very lucky to live with such a diverse population. The ability to live harmoniously without war among races and religion is something to applaud and be grateful for. We are considered lucky compared to the rest of the world, where either nature acts on its own to cause destruction due to big climate issues, or intervention causing unbelievable eradication due to unwarranted wars. Granted we have our squabbles here and there, but no bloodshed, including obtaining our independence on August 31, 1957, and welcoming immigrants who came to Malaya prior to our freedom with open arms. As a country that has the most secular or religious holidays in the world, we should be proud of how we are able to cater for so many races and their respective religions. These holidays will take us from our routine work days, and sometimes investors think we are a “lazy nation” with too many holidays! So much for accommodating the diversity of this nation and not be appreciated for it. At the slightest prick of a needle, we jump and make a mold into a mountain. Why all the negativity and jealousy? We should be positive with our rare gem called diversity and set an example. We could use this as an educational tool for not just our own citizens, but for the rest of the world. Instead, we point fingers at each other for instilling religious reform, and making a mockery of our education system. It takes only just one body to impart fear and paranoia over a subject matter which has no relation to religion. All hell breaks loose, and volcanoes erupt. However when things get unruly, they try to wash their hands clean by providing inaccurate statements, and retracting their previous proclamation. As my mum would always say, “Their mouth moves faster than their pea sized brain.”

I think the missing piece to this issue is the basic understanding of analogy between religion and language. Let’s be honest here. Every religion’s holy text has been translated to help readers understand the right meaning of what is stated in the holy scriptures of the respective religion. If you were to go and purchase a holy scripture, whether it be the Bible or the Quran in downtown Kuala Lumpur, you could get it in Bahasa Melayu, English, Mandarin, Tamil, or even in digital form with enunciations and meaning of the texts. What more do I have to say? We do not live in times where holy scriptures were burnt because the concern of religious reformation was at an all time high. We have come so far in accepting people for who they are and what they believe in. So why start taking a step back and stirring the pot, instead of moving forward? Our ancestors did not work this hard for us to decimate their positive movements in bettering the world, just so we could flaunt our ego. 

All the altercations and bickering will not solve the issue we have about instilling Jawi in our school’s curriculum. As I mentioned before, compromise is a word which bears so much weight, but we tend to overlook its significance and importance. Let me be clear, compromise does not mean giving up, but consensus on what needs to be addressed. We have come this far by living amicably, so why not make it better by providing an educational class on the religions we have in our country? Similar to the teachings of a World Religions’ class in college, but a much simplified version to cater for our kids in our primary and secondary schools, so mutual respect is part and parcel in instilling an ingredient for our future generation. It’s not a solution, but it is a start and a compromise to educate our young ones about the difference between religion and language. They will gain the knowledge of how religion came about and how languages co-relate to the expansion of multiple faiths around the world. I believe educating and understanding history is what will put this issue at bay. Not only will it help ease the problems of this issue, but it nurtures our young ones to accept and understand different cultures and religions.  Jumping right in with implementing a language where people have mixed views and insufficient explanation on knowledge of the matter, will obviously bring negative judgement. Instead of implementing positivity of learning a new language, it is tarnished over rash and irresponsible decisions, remarks, and actions. 

“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” -Maya Angelou.

Maya Angelou’s quote resonates well with the issue we have today. We know the backlash of the initial proposition of instilling Jawi into schools have caused disorder in our education system. So why not we take the backlash, figure an alternative, and do better. Consider it a highly constructive criticism to improve our education system to help nurture our future generation. It does not hurt to take a fall on something; as long as you get back up and push harder to make better changes. I live by the motto of never giving up hope. Not every decision we make is always going to go smoothly. We must take it in good faith that it could be a sign of making bigger things with it if we are willing to dig deeper in creating a better outcome out of it. Learning a language in school; it is a very positive stance, but it has to be dealt in a manner where all basis of uncertainty are covered. 

I know the comments and aggressive stance of certain organizations and a few individuals have agitated the public to think conversion of religion is a possibility if Jawi was implemented in our education system. For many of these organizations or individuals, who hang their foreign degrees and doctorate certifications proudly in their office, it’s hard to believe they could stoop this low and have a very shallow thought process. It truly is shocking.  So much so, our very own ministers of our institutions are following in line with them. However these are cowards who did not think things through and eventually caused a ruckus in our institution. The fear of hostility and dissent falling upon them after being overwhelmed by scrutiny, resulted in a persuasive and distilled retraction to clean the dirt off their name. As Frank Underwood would say, “What is the face of a coward? The back of his head as he runs from the battle.” So the big question of the day is, what was their intention for creating the dispute, and where are they now to answer us? Tick tock buddies, we’re all waiting to hear it.