By Dr Rahim Said
I rather like a debate that surfaced on social media and was recently reported by Focus Malaysia under the headline: “Malaysian Chinese must fully use their non-Mandarin mother tongue lest their customs and traditions go extinct.”
The argument, championed by Malaysian Chinese social media personality Eddy Lee Kok Leong, is that Malaysian Chinese should make a greater effort to speak their ancestral mother tongues: Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese, Teochew, Hainanese and Hokchew, rather than relying almost exclusively on Mandarin.
His point is that Mandarin, while useful as a common language in Chinese vernacular schools, is not necessarily the ancestral mother tongue of Malaysian Chinese families.
There is some merit in that argument.
A grandmother’s Hokkien or a grandfather’s Cantonese carries memories, humour, expressions and traditions that cannot be fully replicated in a classroom language. Language is more than a means of communication. It is a form of inheritance.
But if we are serious about preserving Chinese dialects, should we not extend the same concern to our own regional languages and dialects?
What about Kelantanese, Kedahan, Terengganu Malay, Perak Malay and the many other variations of Bahasa Melayu that give our national language its colour and character?
Nothing against Johor, whose dialect has strongly influenced standard Malay. Yet somewhere along the way, Bahasa Melayu baku acquired an almost official monopoly on what it means to sound properly Malay. That would be a pity.
A Kelantanese conversation can leave outsiders delightfully bewildered. Terengganu speech has its own unmistakable rhythm. In Perak, Yeop is more than a form of address. It is a cultural institution. A Kedahan, meanwhile, should not have to abandon his accent to be considered articulate.
If all these differences disappeared, we would lose much more than pronunciation. We would lose character.
The same principle applies beyond Peninsular Malaysia. Sabah and Sarawak are home to extraordinary linguistic traditions, including Iban, Kadazan-Dusun, Bidayuh, Bajau and Murut. These are not museum pieces to be displayed during cultural festivals. They are living heritage.
A national language is essential. We need a common standard for education, administration and communication across the country. But a standard language need not become a linguistic police force.
We can speak standard Bahasa Melayu when necessary while preserving the languages and dialects that connect us to family, place and history.
The challenge is to celebrate these differences without turning them into barriers. Cultural pride is healthy. Tribalism is not.
A Kelantanese is no less Malaysian for speaking Kelantanese. A Hokkien speaker is no less Malaysian for preferring Hokkien to Mandarin. An Iban-speaking Sarawakian is no less patriotic for speaking Iban at home.
Malaysia has spent decades building a common national identity. We should now spend equal effort ensuring that the languages and dialects that make us distinctive do not disappear in the process.
My proposal is simple.
Preserve Bahasa Melayu as our common national language and celebrate its baku form where appropriate, but allow our regional and ancestral languages to flourish without embarrassment.
Let the Chinese speak Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese, Teochew and Hainanese. Let the Malays speak Kelantanese, Kedahan, Terengganu and Perak Malay. Let Sabah and Sarawak safeguard their extraordinary indigenous languages.
Nobody should have to surrender a grandmother’s language to prove loyalty to Malaysia. A common national identity does not require a common accent.
We already spend enough time arguing about politics. If everybody spoke the same way as well, what on earth would we have left to debate?
WE