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.

Assignment

Instructions: Conduct out an interview with a person who went through education during the colonial and post colonial days. Place focus on their English language learning experience. Compare his/her English language learning experience with yours. Share in class next week.

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?

A Dialogue of 'Nah' Usage

Ali : Aiyo! The weather these days very hot lah. Cannot tahan.
Abu: Nah, drink this! Very refreshing.
Ali : Coconut juice from Uncle Lim?
Abu: Yah, nice and cold with plenty of ice . You owe me 1 Ringgit.
Ali : Nah, take it from my wallet.

The 'Nah' here is used when giving something to another person. In the above dialogue, the 'nah' can be said in a friendly buddy manner.

Ah Seng: You want to die izit?
Ah Kao : No... no... I'll return the money as soon as I can.
Ah Seng: Your soon is not soon enough leh!
Ah Kao : Take my watch first.
Ah Seng: I don't want your watch. No value! Nah, take this! (*punch*)

The 'Nah' here also means 'to give'. It is used in a threatening manner. It often meant to sound rude or impolite.

According to Malay vocabulary, the word 'nah' is commonly used to give things to another person in a impolite manner. Some said that the 'nah' is derived from the Chinese expression "拿", which means 'take'.

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.