COMMENT | So the holy man goes on a “crusade” again. Not for religion though, this time it’s for Bahasa Malaysia (BM).

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang recently complained that the national language is often sidelined by English, even if only “tiga ekor orang putih (three white people)” were present at events.

He added, “What is happening today is chaotic; in the shops in the city, the capital, all kinds of languages are spoken”, BM is minimal, while English is prominent.

Hadi makes it sound as if language diversity is negative, indeed “chaotic”. I can almost hear him wail that Kuala Lumpur sounds like “chang, ching, chong”.

This is a repeat of his accusation in 2022 that those who prefer English are “like slaves to the former colonial masters”.

Does he prefer a monoculture of the mind, to go with a monopoly of one religion?