IT’S CALLED MANGLISH.

I beg your pardon?

That is how I reacted when someone first spoke Manglish  to me and I was confused.I was too  stumped to respond to a language which I thought was new but brave enough to ask for an interpretation of what was being said.This is the reply I got.

 

Where have you been? Don’t you know this is Manglish? the equivalent to Singlish, which is widely spoken by Singaporeans.It is now fine to speak in Manglish because we are Malaysians and we should be proud that we have our very own version of English!.No need to follow the white man and we can show those across the causeway that we too have our English lingo.

 

I was aghast. Whatever happened to good old English that we were taught in schools by dedicated and strict teachers? Remember  your  fierce English teacher who would punish you for not getting your spelling right or had you rewriting  pages of wrongly constructed sentences?

 

The heated debates and write ups of bad English, poor English among school children and Malaysians in general is indeed amusing to read about.The blame game on teachers, the education system,the lack of proper educational materials,the need to employ English speaking teachers from abroad,attitudes of parents,attitudes of students,young working adults/university graduates….The good and the bad have been well spent in print!

 

I applaud the parents who have raised their concerns time and again.The generation of past appreciated good, proper English.Mastering the language ensured a better future. It had nothing to do with where your patriotism lay but more of priorities for the good and success of all-individual,society and country.Plain and simple.

 

Young and old read,wrote and spoke good English!.Some did not even have the privilege of a formal education, they simply read books! To learn a language that they knew was important.

 

I must say that attitude is the deciding or detrimental factor for this whole debacle of “Poor English Among Malaysians,Why?”

 

Students have related to me that they are forced to attend tuition classes and additional  English lessons at language centres simply to make their grades.They loathe the hours spent learning a language which they feel they can live without!.They are confident of securing jobs which don’t require English as a medium of communication.That they can be successful without English and if they are forced to face the language-there is always memorizing which they are most adept at.But how can one memorise certain grammar rules?Is there truly a shortcut for mastering English or any other language for that matter?

 

The revelations were appalling and disturbing.Add to that the need for youngsters to use slangs,abbreviations that are ‘in and hip’ . They butcher the language, robbing it of its true beauty in the name of ‘moving with the times’ and moving ‘with the crowd’ ie Singlish vs Manglish-Let’s see who wins the popularity poll!

 

The lackadaisical attitude has been on for far too long…and it seems only now the concerned parents’ voices are ringing loud in the authorities ears.Why is it that only when the rot becomes stinky that concerns get noticed? When news  from abroad or some foreign paper highlights the deploring language skills of Malaysians, only then voices are raised? Finger pointing begins…but where is all this leading to? Another fire which will turn to embers that will eventually cool?

 

I hope not! It is my fervent hope that this time the loud ‘voices’ will be heard.For the sake of our children, the future of our nation.

 

And please, no Manglish! Just plain English, Thank you very much.