At one film awards festival, this cute young lady above gave a reception speech that got the malay viewers seething. She said something to the effect of: I’d sound stupid giving this speech in malay.
The malay viewers went overboard thinking she had insulted the malay language when what she meant was, and to do the non-English speaking malay readers of this blog some service, a translated version: SAYA AKAN BUNYI SEPERTI ORANG BODOH JIKA SAYA BERUCAP DALAM BAHASA MELAYU…meaning, she doesn’t converse well in malay.
In my opinion, both are at fault. The malay viewers for their poor command and comprehension of the English language, and this sweet young girl for her failure to grasp the command of her own mother tongue. She should take cue from people like Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting, Dato’ Dr Chua Soi Lek, Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon..all of whom can converse very well in malay. On top of that, even Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik who cannot speak malay well, replies to the press in halting malay, knowing that Bahasa Malaysia is the local lingua franca. Try at least. I am pretty sure people can accept the mixing of speeches in both languages.
If she thinks she might sound stupid, try listening to Semi Value. He deserves an applause for trying hard to communicate in malay.
SeaDemon Says 