YOURSAY ‘Where did Mohd Noor get this notion about Romanised BM being a Malay sacrifice? Even the poor kampong folk had difficulty learning Jawi.’

Repay Malay sacrifice by using BM, urges ex-judge

Tehachapi: I don't understand what ex-Court of Appeal judge Mohd Noor Abdullah is trying to drive at except provoking racial sentiments against non-Malay citizens and humiliate them. Stupid as he is, he ought to realise that no one can control how a language is being used.  

The Malay language is the national language and the official language. But it is not a commonly used in business.  

Now, since Malaysia is a small nation and relying heavily on international commerce, all Malaysians also need to be proficient in English (as well as Mandarin) in order to communicate well.

Global commerce is now conducted mostly in English. Of course, we can get angry and emotional because foreign merchants and investors do not bother to learn Malay. But, we do not have a choice.

We cannot ignore these investors or opt for Indonesians or fellow Malays to be our business partners. This sort of thinking is certainly backward and outdated.

Brainsalad: I love Bahasa Malaysia. Even when I'm overseas I tend to speak Bahasa to fellow Malaysians. It gives us national identity.

But my dear judge, to give say that we have to repay the sacrifices of Malays for Romanising Bahasa Malaysia is utterly moronic and shows the level of your academic mind.

But again, I believe this message is not conveyed to the enlightened masses of the nation but to the backwater folks of Malaysia.

Bahasa Malaysia, in its early form, was written in the ancient writings of Rencong, Pallava, and Kawi. Even the Jawi script during this period was used extensively with Sanskrit.

2 Tim 1:7: The old coot might not remember but for many decades RO Winstedt's Malay-English dictionary was the standard reference.

Sir Richard Olaf Winstedt (1878-1966) was an official in the British colonial government. There were then no competent lexicographers among the Malays to compile such a work.

Even today Malay is very much a work in progress. The people in the Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka, like the freeloaders and rent collectors that infest Umno, are not innovative.

Which is why phrases like “kami komited” appear in official publications and why there are no original works on philosophy, science or mathematics worthy of international recognition in Malay. The retired judge, handicapped by supremacist mindset, refuses to accept the facts.

Anonymous #02382443: The Malay language was Romanised in line with Indonesia back in the 1950s and introduced as a subject in all schools. It was called national language or Bahasa Kebangsaan.

During my time in early 1960s, when we sat for Senior Cambridge, and if we pass Bahasa Kebangsaan, we get two certificates at O-level - Cambridge Overseas School Certificate and Malaya Certificate of Education.

Due to its limited vocabulary, Dewan Bahasa was tasked to developing the language, coining new words from English, Dutch, Indonesian and what have you.

In 1970s or about then, Dewan Bahasa decided to rationalise the spelling with Indonesia using the Dutch Romanise spelling. Ayer became air, shilling into syilling, sharikat into syarikat. Books and articles had to be reprinted - a big waste of everybody's money.

I don't remember when it was changed from Bahasa Kebangsaan to Bahasa Malaysia. Was it Romanised for the Chinese Malaysians?

Akutuan: I learned Jawi during my primary days. In the examination, I did better in the Malay language paper. Out of 300 students, I was in the top 30. So what is the issue, Mohd Noor?

Still fresh in my mind, our top student, a Chinese girl, got 100 percent in every Jawi examination.

BTN: A stupid and ignorant Malay who live in a ‘tempurung’ (coconut shell). The sacrifice that the Malays make thus far under Umno control, where they lost their edge in society, is something which should never have happened.

The Malay race is full of ingenuity and sincerity but due to indoctrination by the government, they will never know their full potential.

Unless the Malay race ‘bangkit’ (rise up) and start to live in the real world where there is competition and where they surmount it as others do, they will forever live under the clutch of other manipulating parties.

Restless_Native: Where did Mohd Noor get this notion about Romanised BM being a Malay sacrifice? Even the poor kampong folk had difficulty learning Jawi.

I still remember, back in 1963,when my Chinese neighbour was learning Jawi and reading newspapers in Jawi (taught by a Malay Jawi instructor) and even the Malay neighbours did not understand one letter of Jawi. There was no sacrifice, it was simply a matter of what was easier.

What is most disconcerting is this relic attitude of "racial subservience" and "one race owes the other" mentality. Despite the results of the recent election, Mohd Noor has still not learned any lessons.

My uncle was murdered by Chin Peng and his guerillas in 1949 as he tried to rescue his Malay driver from the jeep as they were ambushed in Perak. He was safe after jumping off it as it came under fire but the driver was slow to react.

As a result of his attempt to save the driver, he was shot three times. We never asked the country or anyone for repayment.

Ren Ai: I do not understand is how the advent of Romanised Malay meant "sacrifice" by the Malays. If not for Romanised text, Bahasa Malaysia would not have seen the massive development, wide usage and recognition it now has.

Bahasa Indonesia is in the same spot. Who have Indonesians sacrificed for?

Step aside Perkasa, here comes Mohd Noor

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