Daily Usage Of Bahasa Malaysia Declining. Or Is It Evolving?

The daily usage of Bahasa Malaysia among Malaysians is declining, particularly in the corporate, private and public sectors, the Dewan Negara was told Wednesday.

Deputy Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Wong Kam Hoong, however, said that generally, the mastery of the language was better in the academic field.

"The use of the Malay language in conversation is deteriorating due to the widespread use of modified Bahasa terms in short-messaging system and on-line chatting," he said when replying to a question from Senator Datuk Jins Shamsudin here.

Wong said to revive the use of proper Bahasa in daily conversation, the ministry would next year organize several contests including debate, oratory, speech, stage drama, poem, essay-writing and story-telling for children.

"The ministry will also cooperate with various parties including the National Library to check the widespread use of corrupted Bahasa among Malaysians," he said. (Bernama)

***** A dynamic language like Bahasa Malaysia must necessarily undergo changes which may not be to the liking of the purists. Previously there were no 'threats' like the SMS or online chatting which are slowly leaving their imprints on almost every language. How useful organizing debates, speech contests etc are going to be, is debatable. In desperation the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka even started providing a language advisory service as a source of reference on the use of correct Bahasa Malaysia.

The government on the other hand, so used to legislating everything even empowered the DBP to engage the services of what is basically the language police with the high sounding title of 'Munsyi Bahasa.' Can the evolution of a dynamic language be slowed down by coercion, legislation or policing? I personally doubt it.
Image - patcoston