Bahasa: the language

Bahasa: the language

I’ve not seen a people who are more proud of their language than the Malay. Bahasa Melayu or Bahasa Malaysia or simply Bahasa is more than the national language. It’s the vehicle of thought, the culture, and (paraphrasing Ahmad Deedat) the key to the heart of the Malay.

I’ve found that a good way to make friends with the Malay or people in general is to ask about the meaning of their names; how the names were derived or who they are named after. But the snag in this strategy is that you’ve to get the name first; and names are not usually the first thing people give to strangers.

But it’s perfectly normal to walk up to a stranger, thrust my phrase book in his face and ask him to explain ‘bunga telur’. To the Malay, this is a big honour. Firstly I’ve chosen him as my - guru – teacher. And secondly it’s most flattering that a foreigner has chosen to learn his language. You instantly become a brother descended from heaven.

Bahasa or ‘the language’ encourages humility in all forms of verbal expression. And although the speakers are humble, they are far from apologetic about speaking their language. This attitude is unlike that of some people who take pride in demeaning their own language.

For example, I’ve observed that some foreign students here raise their voices when they see you approaching. Doing that tells you, they hope, that they’re proficient in English enough to have a discussion in it.

Two weeks ago, I went to the Indian Pongal (rice harvest) celebration. There, I asked a student to explain a Tamil word to me. He proudly told me that he didn’t understand Tamil. He said that they spoke English in his family. And since I was not there to learn his heavily accented English, I simply moved on to other Indian students who could explain the term to me.

I once asked a friend – from another race – to explain the significance of a certain yearly celebration to me. She asked me to go and Google it. And when I pointed out how little she knew about her culture, she took offense!

You’ll never catch a Malay in such self depreciating undertaking. You can approach a student or a professor and all will be only too proud to tell you whatever you want to know about the language or the tradition.

At UPM most of the lecturers have a degree or two from North America (Canada and US) or from UK. But sometimes switch to Bahasa in their lectures and allow local students who want to do their presentation in Bahasa to do so. It exasperates some foreign students but I find it amusing. My respect always goes to people who cherish their language rather than those who think consciously or unconsciously that another language is better than their own.

In Malaysia children in nursery and primary schools are taught in their mother tongue. So basically there are three types of primary schools; the Chinese schools, Tamil schools and Malay schools. It’s at secondary school level that integration occurs. In secondary schools subjects are taught in Bahasa except English, Mathematics and Science which are taught in English.

Bahasa Melayu is simple to learn by any student who’ll devote the time; there are willing teachers everywhere and the structure of the language is not too complicated. For example, there’s no the plural form of a word in Bahasa. To give a word a plural meaning you simply repeat. Thus, ‘tuan tuan’ means gentlemen. Tuan means mister or a polite way of addressing a man.

Bahasa words are also articulated the way they are spelt. Thus ‘pendahuluan’ meaning introduction, although a long word, is pronounced exactly as it’s spelt. But student must watch out for the tricky ‘e’. It’s sometimes pronounced as if it’s not there. ‘Sekarang’ (now) is pronounced ‘skarang’. Another important thing to note is that in Bahasa as in Arabic and unlike in English, a noun comes before its adjective. ‘Bunga telur’ which literally means ‘flower egg’ is actually egg flower – used at weddings.

There are some words in Bahasa Melayu that are – although they take different meanings – similar in sound and spelling to some Hausa words. ‘Kaka’ means elder sister. ‘Bapah’ is father. ‘Malam’ means night. Thus, ‘salam malam’ means good night.

There are also words that have the same sound and meaning in Hausa and Bahasa Melayu because both languages borrowed them from Arabic. For example the days of the week sound the same in the three languages. ‘Hamis’ (Bahasa), ‘alhamis’ (Hausa), and ‘yaumul hamis’ (Arabic) all mean Thursday.

Do I find Bahasa Malaysia fascinating? Yes. Do I want to learn it? Yes. But I’ve never been a serious student. I go to the multimedia section of the library in the mornings to study the language using Linguaphone books and cassettes. But I’ve to battle sleep in the mornings. The battle I’m always eager to lose because I go to bed at 2 am. But writing this piece has committed me to learn Bahasa – the language.