The Importance Of Malaysian English

Malaysia has cast an illusion to other countries as a multilingual nation. Children who go through formal education could at least speak two languages, while some even speak five languages. However, most of us do not really master these two languages, especially English. On many occasions, an English conversation is often polluted, mixing it with our own mother tongues and dialects. This is how Malaysian English, also known as Manglish, is formed. Here is a typical example of a daily conversation.

“Why lu bojio eh? So sienz.”

“U kawan I. I baru nak call-lah. Jom.”

(This brief conversation comprises the uses of Hokkien and Cantonese (Both are Chinese dialects), English, Mandarin and Malay language.)

The proper English should be “Why don’t you invite me? Such a disappointment.”

“You are my friend. I just wanted to give you a call. Let’s go.”

Some of us are even proud of it, claiming that Manglish represents our own identities and uniqueness. While this statement is true in its own right, changes are mandatory to address the current situation of deteriorating standard of English in the country. Worse still, some Malaysians even struggle to put phrases and words together. This phenomenon is coupled with the statement from Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Najib Razak, “Part of the reason 50,000 graduates remain unemployed is due to their weak English proficiency.” The inability to speak or write using good English can often mask some amazing talents, failing to produce aspiring