COMMENT | Recently PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, probably the most honest political operative in his vision of what Malaysia should be, bemoaned the apparent sidelining of Bahasa Malaysia.

Now whenever people talk of the status of the national language, whatever their stance on the issue, it is always with the qualifier that they agree that BM has to be prioritised over the other languages that are spoken in this country.

Of course, the real targets of these rants are the multiracial urban centres which not only act as economic ecosystems but are also the destination of the rural diaspora looking for a better life and economic opportunities.

So, in other words, people came to these supposed places where BM is sidelined, because they understand they can have a better life.

Hadi said something interesting when talking about another multicultural/racial melting pot, the United Nations - “They don’t speak in English, except for those who are colonised, the countries that have an identity, that have the spirit of the nation, they speak in their mother tongue.”