Bahasa Melayu or Bahasa Malaysia? As Putrajaya tightens reins on national language, linguistic experts argue why it should be the former
“The basis is that there is no such thing as Bahasa Malaysia, so Bahasa Melayu is the ‘rightful’ term,” said renowned Malay language academic Datuk Nik Safiah Karim. “My colleagues from all over the world will use Bahasa Melayu instead of Bahasa Malaysia because it has an astounding corpus and literature,” said the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia academic.
Mohamad Saleeh suggested that the flip-flop between Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Malaysia was simply down to political reasons, as oftentimes the language was used as a political tool to suit the whims and fancy of politicians. — Picture by Hari Anggarajustifying the use of the name “Bahasa Melayu” by citing the so-called Seven Wills of the Malay Rulers during Malaya’s independence, which among others declared that the national language is Bahasa Melayu.
Mohamad Saleeh suggested that the flip-flop between the two terms was simply down to political reasons, as oftentimes the language was used as a political tool to suit the whims and fancy of politicians. “Bahasa Malaysia is still being ostracised, and it is not impossible that it will be sidelined even in the Malay heartland itself. This is where the country’s leaders play an important role to restore the term Bahasa Melayu,” he said.“If we are a parallel school system with different languages, how can we expect the non-Malays to have an ample opportunity to appreciate Bahasa Melayu? Either Bahasa Melayu or Bahasa Malaysia, the perception remains the same.