Languages

Malay

The Malay language, in its’ official form, is known as “Bahasa Malaysia” or Language of Malaysia. It is the National Language of the country, and all Government official communications are carried out in this language.

In the 1970s, there was a great divide between the races in terms of verbal and written communications between each other. To overcome this problem, and to bring the different races of Malaysia together, the Government instituted a change whereby all national-type schools would use Malay as the medium of instruction. This was carried out under the recommendations of the “Razak Report” of 1956, which stated that “The ultimate objective of educational policy in this country must be to bring together the children of all ethnic groups under a national education system in which the national language is the main medium of instruction, though the Committee recognises that progress towards this goal cannot be rushed and must be gradual”. The Committee which prepared this report was also “mindful of the need to make Malay the National Language, whilst preserving and sustaining the growth of the language and culture of the other communities living in the country”. The government policy since the early 1970s, which was based on the “Razak Report”, of supplanting the English Language with Malay as the official language of the country, has had the effect of enabling most Malaysians to communicate with each other in Malay.

In the past, there was a problem of communication not only between the races, but also within each race. The Chinese, for example, when they were unable to communicate with each other in any one of the Chinese dialects, used English as their means of communication. This sometimes happened when there were communications between Chinese of different classes as well. A Chinese professional, for example, who was English-educated, would communicate with another Chinese who was Chinese-educated in English or in badly spoken Malay. The same was true of the Indians. Then there was the problem of inter-racial communications. The upper classes of all races would converse with each other in English, whereas the lower classes could communicate only in poorly spoken Malay, or not at all. Nowadays, there are very little communication problems between Malaysians of every class and race. Indeed, so confident is the country’s administration of this situation, that it is allowing increased usage of English throughout the country, especially in the business and information technology sectors. With many Malaysian professionals having studied abroad, English is again becoming more popular. As a result, most Malaysians can speak at least two languages, with many being able to speak three languages or more. But the important fact is that the Malay language has become the unifying thread between Malaysians of every race and creed.

There has been a move in the last few years or so, to standardise Malay language usage throughout the region. As a result, the spelling of Malay words in Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia have become standardised. Now, not only can Malaysians and Indonesians converse with each other in the same language, they can write to each other in a language that both can understand.

Chinese Dialects

The Malay language, in its’ official form, is known as “Bahasa Malaysia” or Language of Malaysia. It is the National Language of the country, and all Government official communications are carried out in this language.

In the 1970s, there was a great divide between the races in terms of verbal and written communications between each other. To overcome this problem, and to bring the different races of Malaysia together, the Government instituted a change whereby all national-type schools would use Malay as the medium of instruction. This was carried out under the recommendations of the “Razak Report” of 1956, which stated that “The ultimate objective of educational policy in this country must be to bring together the children of all ethnic groups under a national education system in which the national language is the main medium of instruction, though the Committee recognises that progress towards this goal cannot be rushed and must be gradual”. The Committee which prepared this report was also “mindful of the need to make Malay the National Language, whilst preserving and sustaining the growth of the language and culture of the other communities living in the country”. The government policy since the early 1970s, which was based on the “Razak Report”, of supplanting the English Language with Malay as the official language of the country, has had the effect of enabling most Malaysians to communicate with each other in Malay.

In the past, there was a problem of communication not only between the races, but also within each race. The Chinese, for example, when they were unable to communicate with each other in any one of the Chinese dialects, used English as their means of communication. This sometimes happened when there were communications between Chinese of different classes as well. A Chinese professional, for example, who was English-educated, would communicate with another Chinese who was Chinese-educated in English or in badly spoken Malay. The same was true of the Indians. Then there was the problem of inter-racial communications. The upper classes of all races would converse with each other in English, whereas the lower classes could communicate only in poorly spoken Malay, or not at all. Nowadays, there are very little communication problems between Malaysians of every class and race. Indeed, so confident is the country’s administration of this situation, that it is allowing increased usage of English throughout the country, especially in the business and information technology sectors. With many Malaysian professionals having studied abroad, English is again becoming more popular. As a result, most Malaysians can speak at least two languages, with many being able to speak three languages or more. But the important fact is that the Malay language has become the unifying thread between Malaysians of every race and creed.

There has been a move in the last few years or so, to standardise Malay language usage throughout the region. As a result, the spelling of Malay words in Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia have become standardised. Now, not only can Malaysians and Indonesians converse with each other in the same language, they can write to each other in a language that both can understand.

Indian Language

The major Indian language spoken in Malaysia today is Tamil, which originates from the Indian State of Tamil State of Tamil Nadu. Within the Tamil language itself, there are slight variations between the language spoken by Tamils from South India and that spoken by the Tamils from Jaffna, in Sri Lanka. Other languages spoken by Indians in Malaysia include Malayalee which originates from Kerala State in India, Telugu (Andhra Pradesh), Gujerati (Gujerat), Bengali (Bengal and Bangladesh), Punjabi (Punjab and Pakistan), Hindi (northern India), Gurkhali (Nepal), and Sinhala (Sri Lanka).

The Languages of Sabah & Sarawak

These two States represent a veritable potpourri in terms of languages spoken. In Sabah alone, thirty different ethnic groups speaking eighty different dialects can be found. The main language heard amongst the ethnic peoples is the Kadazan language, as they make up over 25% of the population. Amongst the other languages heard, are the languages of the Bajaus, Muruts, Rungus, Malays, Bisayas, Orang Sungai and the Kadayans. There is also a smattering of Indonesian and Filipino languages spoken, with English being commonly understood and various Chinese dialects being spoken by the Chinese community.

In Sarawak, the Iban language is the main language spoken by the ethnic people, with English being commonly understood and the Chinese dialect of Foochow being the main dialect spoken by the Chinese community. With there being twenty one tribes amongst the Orang Ulu peoples of Sarawak, there are also many languages and dialects being spoken by them.

Other Languages Spoken In Malaysia

Amongst the other languages spoken in Malaysia are those spoken by the Orang Asli community, in which there are 18 different tribes. The Mah Meri tribe of the Senoi Group, speak to each other in the Mon-Khmer dialect. Then, there is a small number of Vietnamese and Thai people who speak their own languages when in the company of their own kind.

Unusual Languages Spoken In Malaysia

The Chinese who arrived in Malacca in the 15th century, have evolved their own customs and language, which are based very much on the Malay customs and language, owing to the intermarriage between Chinese men and Javanese and Malay women. Their descendants, known as the "Peranakan" in Malacca, speak a language which is called "Baba Malay". This language has been described as being a colloquial Malay dialect with some Hokkien Chinese words and phrases.

Portuguese Eurasians living in Malacca, are descended from the marriages between Portuguese men and local women. They speak an ancient Portuguese dialect called Cristang, which contains many Malay words. This language has been sometimes derided as a Creole form of Portuguese or pidgin Malay, although modern day Portuguese people understand some words and claim that Cristang is the language of their ancestors.