A Journey of Malaysian English (Part 3)

Question to ponder:
Why is English considered important to climb the socioeconomic ladder?
(Post your answers under comments section of this post)

English in the colonial and post colonial era was a necessity for Malaysians to climb up the socioeconomic ladder. Thus, during that period, many middle to upper class Malays, Chinese, Indians and other minority races sent their children to English medium schools for their education. So in just one generation, English has become the first language of certain Chinese, Indians & Eurasians. (Though only a small percentage)

This division in the language capability has divided the people into English speaking vs non-English speaking, elites vs no-elites, haves vs have-nots. This divisive nature was in tandem with the policy of the British colonial government, divide & rule which resulted in irreconcilable pluralism.

Reference: Cultural Diversity Lecture Notes

Click here to read A Journey of Malaysian English (Part 2).
In Part 4, we'll discuss more on the types of Malaysian English dialects.

Further Reading:
TOM McARTHUR. "MALAYSIAN ENGLISH." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com.

A Journey of Malaysian English (Part 2)

In Part 1, We talked about how English was introduced to Malaysia during the British colonialism. Though the Malay Sultanates did not like the idea of rural Malay kids enrolling in English schools because the schools were run by Christian missionaries, it was a different case altogether for the Malay aristocrats.

The Penang Free School is the first English School in Malaysia that was started in 1816 (It's still around!). As the population grows, more schools were built ranging from the Straits Settlement of Penang, Perak, Selangor, Malacca and Singapore. This has benefitted the urban people as they received education from these English schools.

In the rural areas, the government built Malay schools for the local Malays because of different religions. Even though bright Malay children were given scholarships to enter English schools after four years in Malay schools, this privilege did not increase the number of Malay children studying in English schools.

In the 1920s, The Malay College was established in Kuala Kangsar for the sons of Malay aristocrats. Children of commoners were not common sight in this education institution. It was an elite school that further accentuated the division between the elites and non-elites. Only the upper class children receive English medium education.

This elitist trend in education via English language for the Malays was later extended to the Malay Girls College in KL, 1948. The objective of setting up an English school for the Malay girls is to prepare them to be potential partners to the boys as they can match their English language proficiency level. Though these colleges may sound like a place for stucked-up higher class children, the schools proved themselves to have academic excellence.

Thus, in that time, it is not hard to differentiate between the upper and lower class among the Malays, whether they are from the city or from kampungs (villages). We just have to check their English proficiency.

Reference: Cultural Diversity Lecture Notes

Question to ponder:
How things have changed now. Do we still use one’s English proficiency level to judge one's social class?

*Part 3: English affects socioeconomic status.

A Journey on Malaysian English (Part 1)

In this post, we will learn about how English was brought into Malaysia during the colonial period.

English is a world wide language that can no longer only be identified with a single race or country. Widely used in international diplomacy and commerce, it is also one of the main language used in cultures and subcultures. As from previous post, I've discussed briefly on how English is brought to Malaysia during the colonialism, trade and Christian missionary activities. Now, I'll bring you on the journey on how English was spread in Malaysia.

Back in the late 18th century, the British East India Company had started trading in Malaysia. The British traded in English with the locals with the help of translators. Seeing how abundant our natural resources and spices were available, the rule of British colonialism came soon after that. Obviously, English was the medium of British colonial administration.


The teaching of English was confined to the specially selected group of Malays who are aristocrats. This difference in education target groups resulted the division of the spread of English according to geographical and racial axes. Some said this was done for the purpose to segregate the different races in aid for the continuation of British colonialism.

Later on, the Christian missionaries set up schools to plant the seeds of knowledge among the general populace. The purpose of Christian conversion among the children was carried out in English. However, the missionary schools were only allowed in urban areas among the Chinese and Indians. The Malay Sultanates forbid the missionaries to conduct their activities among the Muslim Malays who mostly lives in rural areas. Thus, English was not widely spoken in Malaysia.

Another reason that contributed to limited English speakers in Malaysia was the restricted location in urban areas and higher fees. Hence, English speakers among the locals were only limited to the rich Chinese and Indians living in the city and the specially selected Malay aristocrats.

Reference: Cultural Diversity Lecture Notes

Question to ponder:
Why would the Malay Sultanates forbid English schools for Malays who live in rural areas? In that case, how come the Malay aristocrats get to study in English schools?

Yummilicious ROJAK!

Can you relate the above picture with our Malaysian language?

Previously we talked about the usage of 'lah' in Manglish. Today, we look into the different things that makes Manglish, Manglish.

Above you see a popular Malaysian fruit salad known as 'Rojak". It is a mixed of freshly cut slices of unripe mangoes, pineapple. turnip, cucumber covered in a black sauce dressing with generous sprinkle of crushed peanuts and some chopped spicy chili. The taste is tangy and sweet and simply yummylicious! You can find this dish selling by the road side, at a little stall, at a market, at coffee shops, at cafes, restaurants...

However, there's another favourite 'rojak' among Malaysians. It is our 'rojak' language that we use in everyday conversation. Rojak is a Malay word, which can be translated to 'a mixture of'. In terms of 'rojak' English, it means Malaysians tend to use English by mixing in some Malay words, Chinese and Tamil dialects. To any language purist out there, they might want to scream in exasperation seeing how we abuse the language. Some English native speakers have even commented, "It sounds like English, but I don't quite understand it."

Weird, but speaking 'Rojak' / Manglish has become very much an identity of being a Malaysian. Our neighbour country Singapore, termed their 'rojak' English as 'Singlish'. It is slightly different from Manglish as Singlish is mixed with more Chinese dialects such as Mandarin and Hokkien. This is common deduction as there are more Chinese speaking nationales in Singapore than Malay speaking citizens in Malaysia.

The only difference between the people speaking Manglish and Singlish is, Singapore government tries to deter people from speaking Singlish while Malaysians are proud of our Rojak English! Even books are written to specially help our foreigners adapt to our Manglish.

I think it is quirkly and amusing. In such a multi-lingual environment, it does add more flavours to the English language that creates a creole with our own lexicon, phonology and even grammar, just like all of our fellow Malaysians, in a rojak environment.

To learn a little more about our local Malaysian rojak culture, view this video.

Based on the video, post your comments on how Malaysians from all walks of life use English in different setting. Give examples.

What is Manglish?

image: parenbonjour.com

In this post, we talk in general on some examples of Manglish and how it started.

English has been spoken in Malaysia since the colonial days. When the British set up schools around Malaysia, everything was taught based on the Queen’s way.

Language is dynamic. As much as the British would like Malaysians to speak English the ‘proper’ way, English did not remain pure amidst the multi-racial Malaysians. With Malay, Chinese, Tamil and other ingenuous languages, the queen’s language got quickly jumbled up with Malaysian’s native languages, creating what we call ‘Manglish’.

Malay, the country’s official language has lent the notorious suffix –lah which can be heard at the end of almost every sentence uttered. The Chinese would fight to claim the suffix –lah as theirs too as Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, and all the other Chinese dialects also have the abundant use of –lah.

Besides the infamous suffix –lah, Malaysians added numerous vocabulary items which send native English speakers puzzling over our Manglish. It is not hard for the average Malaysians to use words such as ‘outstation’, ‘handphone’, ‘gostan’, ‘blur’ and understand the meaning immediately. However, these simple words to us very much sounded like a total alien language to the native English speakers.

With almost all Malaysians being multi-lingual, it is common to hear interjections of their mother tongues in English. Malaysians can easily switch from one language to another without a pause – which is also known as code-switching.

The development of Manglish does not stop where it began, but surely, as time goes by, the younger generation of Malaysians will surely add more spices that will make Manglish even spicier.

Discussion: Look at the flow charts above and discuss with your group on how our current 'Rojak Language' came about. Present an example in our next class.

Tangled Mangled Manglish?

Oh, Manglish is so confusing! Someone please strangle me!

When it comes to English (the lingua franca of the world), it is spoken commonly in a small little Southeast Asia country called Malaysia in a slightly different manner. English isn't quite English as other people speak it in different parts of the world. Malaysians have made the English language their very own in a unique way confusing to other native users.

Malaysians use English proudly in a Tangled Mangled manner. It is known as MANGLISH!

At this blog, we try to untangle all these mangled English, and hopefully make some sense to you.

As for some confused Malaysian English students, I hope you're not using Manglish in writing your assignments. It's amusing, but not if you're trying for an A in your paper. May you untangle yourself here to a better future using proper English. =)

Homework: Find excerpts of your chats/emails/writings where it contains 'Manglish'.