**DISCLAIMER: No intention of offending anyone. I'm merely expressing my cultural shock in this still-new-environment.
Maybe I'm new and am still adjusting. Maybe I'm so used to seeing proper English on texts I tend to get annoyed with improper usage of words.
I started work in a national oil company in Malaysia. It is no secret that 90% of my colleagues are Malays. You have two choices; blend in or stay stranded. Being a sensible person, of course I opt for the former. I couldn't remember conversing that much in BM ever since the last time I did so during NS back in 2008. And my BM has improved quite a bit.
But one thing that annoys me A LOT is the recent usage of weird spellings that has been plastered all over the social media. I'm not against short forms or slangs as I myself used some of them in WhatsApp as well (dy = already, izit = is it, hz = house etc) but this is truly on another level. Let me list a few of them out here:
Kipidap = Keep it up
Dongibap = Don't give up
Terer = Terror (supposedly means talented)
Member = Member (supposedly means friend)
Wiken = Weekend
Yukenduit = You can do it
Uolls = You alls (supposedly all of you; directly translated from BM's kamu semua)
I'm not against simplifying or shortening your own language for fun or whatsoever. I don't have the privilege nor that significant amount of knowledge to do the same in Chinese language (perks of being a banana) so I can only do it for English. Hokkien also cannot do what; the only short forms are kns, cb etc *oops*.
Anyway, excuse me for the digression but again I am here to stress that that "slang" is so annoying.
It took me awhile to realize that kipidap has a meaning in it. And why is terer considered talented? How did that idea even come in? How can the original meaning of the word be diverted into another different meaning altogether? Thankfully I did not take TESL or teach English, otherwise my blood pressure would rise if my students started using those "slangs" in their essays.
Please, adjust, alter, repackage your own language by all means, but do not repackage others' language. Especially if the country itself does not have a strong command of English to begin with. I am fine with hz, jz, dun, giv, nigga etc because at the end of the day, I am able to string a proper sentence in English effortlessly. But what about those younger generations who are not as fortunate to receive a proper English education? All they have is a smart phone and internet sans proper English education. They would assume dongibap as don gib up, since they already pronounced the "v" part as "b". And I cannot fathom the idea of talented being classified as being equal to terrifying (terror ma). Don't spoil, or in your layman's terms, merogol bahasa orang lain.
I'm just worried on behalf of the future generation in Malaysia. Glad that Sarawak is moving towards development by highlighting the importance of English.
And to answer those people who asked questions such as:
1. See France and Japan. Their English is worse than ours, and yet they are so developed. Why must we sharpen others' language?
Answer: Simple. We are not a developed 1st world country. We are still a developing 3rd world country. Give a huge "Thank you" to our beloved government who caused this. So much resources, yet we are living in a country with expensive goods and cheap pay. Seeing how far behind we are globally, we definitely need to do something to keep up. And by learning English first of all, we get to educate ourselves further with knowledge which is mostly taught in that particular language. And again, what is wrong with equipping ourselves with an additional language other than BM? English is a beautiful language.
2. Won't the stress in sharpening the English language eventually caused BM to lose its place altogether? What if someday all our young generation of Malays spoke English so much that they lupa daratan (forgot their own roots)?
Answer: The "lupa daratan" thing depends on individuals. If they are proud of BM and the culture, why would they even "lupa daratan"? Again, this all boils down to our beloved government who has done so much to make the young Malaysians who were educated overseas not to be proud of their own country. To be honest, if our govenment carry themselves well in the eyes of the citizens, they will still be proud of the Malaysian culture regardless. And if Malaysians themselves are creative enough to change don't give up to dongibap, they are able to extend their creativity elsewhere in other field. The correct mindset is all we need for Malaysians not to forget themselves. Don't put all the blame on English language (or whatever language that is internationally used like Mandarin).
I guess that's all. My poor blog is dead. Just need to write something and that's it.
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