Do we choose to hide in our little niche or go out and explore the world?
Well, I'm finally back blogging again and it feels great. Blogging, that is. Not feeling too great right now as I'm in the middle of a truly arduous and rigorous schedule of exams that never seem to end. Add to that , my incapability to do well in my weakest subjects and you have a pretty glum Melvin right now. But, I'm back and feeling better already, doing what I love.
It's been a good 2 months or less since I posted that Merdeka article which became my most viewed article . I'm not too sure it was because of its quality but it was probably because I shared it on Twitter AND Facebook. Usually, I don't post it on Facebook because I do love to talk a lot of shit on my blog posts. Anyways, thumbs up to social media.
That's my little starter and now here's the main course. English or Malay? As you all know by now, I'm from Malaysia and the national language of Malaysia is Malay Language or also known as Bahasa Melayu. If some of you haven't heard about this language, fret not. There's nothing wrong with you. Unless you're living in Malaysia of course.
Social media has shown the ugly side of Malaysians more often or not in recent months . The keyboard warriors truly come alive in the digital environment of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The 'bravery' of these people must truly be applauded as they have the guts to spew racist chants and derogatory terms at people from the safety of their small little screens , probably a few hundred kilometres away. And when I say bravery, I mean the absolute definition of cowardice. And when I mean applauded, I really mean they should be paraded throughout the streets of Kuala Lumpur with nothing but their underwear and have a sign around their neck saying, 'I'm An Asshole '.
Safe to say, my opinion on keyboard warriors is well documented by now. The issues they attack are the usual stereotypical things these bigots love to hate , vernacular schools, Chinese and Indians standing up for themselves, Malay women not wearing tudung or exposing too much skin and much more. So it came to a huge surprise to yours truly, when I saw certain Malaysians ( Malays to be exact ) attacking people who were using English instead of Malay .
Are you kidding me?
*takes deep breath. Yeap, it really just happened.
58 fucking years we have grown as a country and speaking English is actually seen as a bad thing. How do we......I can't even.
- 135 minutes later , after finally controlling my rage -
Alright, this whole farce is exactly that a farce. You want to know how bad it is? I'll tell you how bad. A Malay woman posted on Facebook asking for help from the very understanding, never abusive and respected citizens of Malaysia . It was a sincere cry for help, I remember reading. It was typed in fluent English like most Facebook posts out there. I thought nothing of it. Until I read the comments.
List On How To Lose Faith In Humanity
1. Read comments by Malaysians on national issues
2. Watch movies directed by Uwe Boll
3. Hear Najib speeches and think to ourselves, what have we done to ourselves ?!
The comments were awful and in very poor taste. There were fellow Malays insulting her for using bahasa penjajah ( ruler's language) and also some accused her of betraying her race and faith. Shameful, embarrassment and stupid were just the tip of the iceberg on the terms they called her that day. Tak ada kerja lain.
You people are embarrassing. A fellow Malaysian asks for help and your first thought is not to help her but is to insult her openly for everyone to see because she used English instead of our precious Bahasa Melayu. Just let that sink in for a moment.
After that incident, using English suddenly became a crime to Malaysia. Like not using the fucking Malay Language in every single comment makes me suddenly public enemy no.1 to Malaysia. I'm suddenly a Chinese chauvinist with nothing but hate for Malaysia. A fucking threat to society . I'm not even joking
NEWSFLASH.
Malay Language is not relevant in the world and barely relevant in Malaysia. Nothing is ever going to change that fact. People seem to harp on the fact that Malay is our national language so we must use it as much as possible to not lose the national identity. I have absolutely nothing wrong with Malay being our national language at all. It's a pretty easy language to master and most of us Malaysians know it very well so communication is not a problem. Hell, one of my peeves are finding out some people from international schools do not know how to speak Malay. I find it embarrassing . And honestly, if you don't know how to speak Malay, then Malaysia shouldn't be a place you call home.
But that is pretty much my defense for the Malay Language. There's an issue here that rubs me the wrong way and it is the use of Malay in Maths and Science subjects for the current primary and secondary school curriculum. Ridiculous decision. The Education Ministry need to take a long hard look at themselves . How do they fucking expect students who study Science and Maths in Malay for 11 years to then go on to college and do further studies on these subjects that are 99 % to be not in Malay ?! Guess what language they are most likely to be, you guessed it, English ! How can the ministry justify this momentously wrong decision on the basis of students doing more poorly in these subjects? Shouldn't the way to tackle this problem is to improve the teaching workforce, update the outdated science syllabus and apply new teaching methods?
Seriously. Do that and we'll be on the right track. Vote for me to be the new Prime Minister. #MelvinForMalaysianPM #SayYesToMelvinAndNoToNajib
I'm not going to spare the certain bigots among the Malaysians of the absolute abuse I'm going to rain on them. I find it mind-boggling that in this new age , there are still conservatives in Malaysia who think they are living in Tanah Melayu and not Malaysia. They literally think they are living in the 1930s when it is the year 2015.
These people insult their fellow Malaysians for using English with the basis of them defending the national language of Malaysia. And what really tickles me is they insult people using the most broken Malay sentence ever constructed in the history of mankind with a hint of a few English words and they expect us to take them seriously. Not only an old-fashioned out of touch bigot but also a blatant hypocrite.
The cruel truth is they are jealous. They hate us cause they ain't us. They look at the English words and all they can think of is , damn I wish I could read English. They wouldn't give two shit about what you wrote but they do give a shit about the fact you didn't write in Malay. They are actually jealous as they can't speak or write well in English.
And no, I'm not insulting people who can't speak or write well in English. I understand that English is a tough language to master and not everyone has the skill to master it. But to give a low blow to someone just because you can't speak English and they can , is the truly embarrassing issue here.
The fact of the matter is , English is a global language. It is the second most spoken language in the world and the most used language in the world. Doubtless to say, Malay Language is nowhere to be seen in this list. Step out of Malaysia and Indonesia, and the Malay Language is as useful as a tennis player without his racquet.
I'm not afraid to say that people who choose to put in the effort in mastering the English Language will go much further than the sad little man who decide to continue living under a rock and be so ever oblivious to the growing change in the world and only use the Malay Language while abusing people who use English from the safety of his computer screens.
Finally, people have got to stop bringing up the fact that Malay is the national language to try to defend their claims. Malaysia is facing more worrying issues than to care about a certain bull-headed vendetta that will lead Malaysia to nowhere. How can implementing Malay as our national language help the young Malay child to find his way out of the cruel harsh world of poverty or a debt-ridden jobless university graduate to find a job or help improve the tumultuous economy of Malaysia ? It can't and it won't.
I'll accept Malay Language as our national language but if we sit back now and not improve English proficiency among Malaysians in the fear of abandoning the roots of our ancestors, it will not take the worsening economy to bring us down.
Needless to say, English beats Malay by a long shot in this huge lopsided battle.
Remember, we must change according to the change of tide in the world or face being swept and drowned in the sea of change.
It's eat or be eaten . And I choose to eat.
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