DISLIKE MALAYS OR UMNO PHOBIA: M’SIAN CHINESE DON’T WANT TO SPEAK GOOD BAHASA

I don’t know if many readers of Sin Chew Daily know what Isma is. Anyway, for those who don’t , let me just say briefly that Isma stands for Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia or Malaysian Muslim Solidarity.

It is a local NGO and can be controversial at times. No elaboration needed. And it has a portal called ismaweb.net.

Recently in conjunction with the Merdeka month, Ismaweb.net ran an exclusive interview with one Professor Datuk Dr. Teo Kok Seong, whom it introduced as a fellow at UKM’s Institute of Ethnic Studies.

Obviously, Dr. Teo is a Chinese.

In that interview, Dr. Teo was quoted as saying non-Malays in Malaysia, especially Chinese youths, are still not able to converse fluently in the national language despite being born and raised in this country.

“It’s very unfortunate that they (Chinese youths) being citizens of this country do not know or cannot speak in the language of their country .So the issue is what is the meaning of citizenship?” said Dr. Teo as quoted by Ismaweb.

He went on to say this is reality, not slander, but politicians are not willing to talk about it for fear of incurring the wrath of the Chinese community and losing Chinese votes at the ballot box.

And it’s no big surprise that controversial Chinese Muslim academic Professor Ridhuan Tee Abdullah commented on the issue a few days later.

Ridhuan was quick to ask how come the Bangladeshis, Burmese and Nepalis who have come to Malaysia to work can speak Bahasa Malaysia very fluently while Malaysian Chinese cannot.

“People naturally want to guard closely, jealously everything that belongs to them, in particular their identity, culture and language. They don’t see themselves as one, as they have been put or divided into groups.”

To him, the government has even been “very lenient” to simplify the Bahasa Melayu subject for Chinese schools until “the Bahasa Melayu taught in SJKC is much easier than that taught in national schools”.

Such talk naturally attracted comments from netizens.

There are people who expressed “sadness” that we have this language problem even after 59 years of independence, blaming the government for giving priority to political interests rather than creating a truly national identity.

But some said the government has too often “bowed” to the demands of vernacular schools and therefore want vernacular schools to be abolished.

Some blamed the Chinese community for being “arrogant and chauvinistic” while others took Ridhuan to task, labeling him “more Malay than the Malays”.

But it was also highlighted that there are many Chinese Malaysians who are well versed in BM,l and there are people who even master local dialects especially in the east coast states of Terengganu and Kelantan.

I want to focus on a “suggestion” I spotted in the net with regards to this issue.

A netizen suggested that the government learn how this was done successfully in Indonesia where people of all ethnic groups, including, or rather especially the Chinese, could speak Bahasa Indonesia very eloquently.

And many Chinese even took Indonesian names, claimed the netizen.

We know the Chinese in Indonesia had their share of trouble and problems, having suffered anti-Chinese riots during Sukarno’s and Suharto’s times.

During those days even Chinese New Year was not allowed to be celebrated, at least not openly. Yet, Chinese Indonesians had used, and were always fluent in, Bahasa Indonesia. even then.

Talking to them one could sense their national pride. One can feel they are proud to be Indonesians no matter what one might say or feel about their country.

Were they forced by the authorities? How did Indonesia do it?

Years ago I did ask an old friend of mine, the late Didik Budiarto, a veteran Indonesian journalist respected by many. He was a devout Christian.

I can still remember what Didik told me with a broad smile: “We do not have bumiputra and non-bumiputra issue. When you have such thing you are segregating people into groups. So, people naturally want to guard closely, jealously everything that belongs to them, in particular their identity, culture and language. They don’t see themselves as one, as they have been put or divided into groups.”

I understood what he meant. Still that is debatable. But to me, I agreed when I first heard it many years ago. And I still do now.

Mohsin Abdullah

– Mysinchew

from Malaysia Chronicle http://ift.tt/2bEYjCk