Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0231/02317.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 24KB | 412 lines

$Unique_ID{COW02317}
$Pretitle{245}
$Title{Malaysia
Chapter 2D.   Language}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Donald M. Seekins}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{religious
malay
chinese
malaysia
percent
language
islamic
religion
english
islam}
$Date{1984}
$Log{State Mosque*0231701.scf
}
Country:     Malaysia
Book:        Malaysia, A Country Study
Author:      Donald M. Seekins
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1984

Chapter 2D.   Language

     As in plural societies throughout the world, language use and language
policy in Malaysia have been issues of contention. Malay became the national
language when independence was gained, but many other languages are widely
spoken throughout the country. English remains an important language and is
still used among the middle class in urban areas. The various Chinese and
Indian dialects continue to be widely used in households and in informal
communication, as well as in schools, the mass media, and in ethnic
associations.

Malay (Bahasa Malaysia)

     Malay is the mother tongue of the Malay population of the peninsula, the
eastern coast of Sumatra, and for many of the coastal regions of Borneo.
Historically, it was the lingua franca of maritime Southeast Asia and could be
understood by many individuals throughout the Malay Archipelago and the
southern Philippines.

     There are a number of dialects of Malay, although most are mutually
intelligible. In each state the use of words and the intonation vary. The
east coast dialect spoken in Kelantan and Terengganu, which is fairly similar
to that spoken in Pattani (the Malay-speaking region of southern Thailand), is
the most distinctive Standard Bahasa Malaysia, as used in the schools and mass
media, is based on the Johore-Riau-Malacca dialect. Nonnative speakers often
pick up the rudiments of Malay in the market and from informal conversation.
This form is called Bazaar Malay and often contains a mixture of Chinese and
English words.

     Jawi, an Arabic script, continues to be taught in the schools but has
become secondary in importance. Many books and a national newspaper, Utusan
Melayau, are published in Jawi. A romanized script of Malay, called Rumi, has
become the official form. Beyond the standard Malay, there are also literary
forms, both traditional and modern, that contain style and forms of expression
rarely used in conversation.

Chinese Languages

     Of the various mutually unintelligible mother tongues spoken by the
Chinese of Malaysia, the most important are Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka,
Foochow, Teochius, and Hainanese. Depending on the homogeneity of the Chinese
in a local area, individuals may speak several dialects. For instance, nearly
all Chinese in Kuala Lumpur speak the locally dominant dialect, Cantonese,
even if they have a different mother tongue. The Baba (or Straits) Chinese
community largely lost its original language. Most speak Malay or English as
their mother tongue.

     The adoption of Kuo Yu as the official language of China in 1918 spread
to the Chinese in Peninsular Malaysia. As of the early 1980s, Kuo Yu was the
language of instruction in all Chinese schools. For the Chinese-educated it
had become the medium of communication across dialect groups. There was only
one form of written Chinese used by speakers of all dialects. Chinese-language
books, magazines, and newspapers catered to a large audience.

Tamil and Other Languages

     Tamil is the mother tongue of the majority of Malaysian Indians. This is
also the language used in the Indian vernacular primary schools. Other Indians
speak a variety of dialects, including Malayalam, Telegu, Punjabi, Urdu, and
Gujarati.

     There are many other languages spoken in contemporary Malaysia as well.
Each ethnic community of the Orang Asli has its own mother tongue (sometimes
with several dialects), as does each of the indigenous ethnic communities of
Sabah and Sarawak. In many cases some form of Malay serves as the interethnic
medium of communication. The younger generations, exposed to formal schooling,
are acquiring literacy in Malay.

Language Policy

     During the colonial era English was the language of the elite in all
ethnic communities. English-language schools, both primary and secondary, were
widespread throughout the peninsula. Because English was the language of
government and all other official circles, there was great motivation to
acquire English fluency. For non-Malays, acquisition of Malay fluency (other
than Malay as spoken in the bazaar) was of little utilitarian value.

     The formation of national language policy turned into one of the central
political debates of the postindependence period. The dispute was basically
over the exclusive use of Malay in official settings. Some non-Malays hoped
that English would remain indefinitely on a par with Malay and there would be
liberal provisions for the use of other languages. But as part of the communal
bargain of the 1957 Constitution, Malay was declared the national language,
with the provision that English could be used for official purposes for a
period of 10 years. The National Language Act of 1967 declares that Bahasa
Malaysia must be used for all official purposes; however, there are still
exceptions when English can be used. At the formation of Malaysia in 1963, the
states of Sabah and Sarawak were given considerable autonomy in the
implementation of the national language policy.

     Through a variety of activities, the federal government has tried to
strengthen the national language and to encourage its acceptance. The
Language Council, a government-sponsored bureau, promotes the development
of the national language and publishes educational and popular materials in
Malay. The governments of Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to standardize
their spelling systems to increase interchange between the two countries.

     Perhaps the most important influence on developing the national language
has been the substitution of Malay for English as the main medium of
instruction in all lower and mid-level secondary schools (see Education, this
ch.). Chinese- and Tamil-language schooling is only available at the primary
level; thus, Chinese and Indian students have had to learn Malay to continue
their education. The effects of this change are clearly evident throughout
Malaysia, for the younger generations of all ethnic communities are fluent
in Malay. According to the 1980 census, 41 percent of Malaysian Chinese
and 61 percent of Malaysian Indians (age 10 and over) are literate in Malay.
The 1980 figures are approximately double those of 1970.

Religion

     Islam is the official religion of the country, but Article 11 of the
Constitution provides that every person has the right to profess and practice
his or her own religion. The propagation of any other religion to Muslims is
forbidden by state laws. According to the 1980 census, 53 percent of the
population is Muslim, 17 percent Buddhist, 12 percent Confucian, 7 percent
Hindu, 7 percent Christian, and the balance (about 4 percent) adhere to
another or to no religion. These figures differed according to geographical
area and ethnic composition. For instance, 56 percent of Peninsular Malaysia's
population is Muslim, 51 percent of that of Sabah, and 26 percent of that
of Sarawak. Only 2 percent of the population of Peninsular Malaysia is
Christian, but the corresponding figures for Sabah and Sarawak are 27 percent
and 29 percent, respectively. Religion correlates closely with ethnicity in
that in varying degrees of religiosity, all Malays adhere to Islam; Chinese
embrace elements of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism; and nearly all Indians
adhere to Hinduism. About 4 percent of the Chinese and about 8 percent of the
Indian communities profess Christianity.

     Because religion largely coincides with ethnicity, it tends to reinforce
communal divisions. For instance, intermarriage is very rare between Chinese
and Malays; Islam does not sanction religious intermarriage.