Award for Muar as a clean town

As a resident of Muar, I am delighted and honoured to read that Muar Town has been declared as one of five cleanest town in Johor (NST, 11 Dec 2016).  All the repute and applaud should be credited to the Local Municipal Council of Muar and the community for their excellent work and collaboration to achieve such as an accolade.

Such an award surely will inspire the Muarians to ensure cleanliness prevails throughout all times in the town. It gives us honour and prestige to be categorized as a clean town in Johor.  Muarians surely would want preserve this award dearly. We now stand tall among other towns in Johor and as well towns in the country. 

It is now the duty of all residents to preserve and sustain such a recognition throughout all times. This award will surely boost the morale of the residents to maintain cleanliness in all parts of the town.

Cleanliness although a physical thing, nevertheless influences the environment.  A proverb says "cleanliness is next to godliness". Therefore, cleanliness should become the hallmark among the residents of Muar.

Syabas and well done, the honourable President and the members of the Muar Municipal Council, and not forgetting the workers on the ground to maintain cleanliness in the town. 

Award for Non-Malay Writer by Johor Government

Award to Non-Malay Writer

Loan words in Malay Vocabulary

As a Malay linguist, I am duty-bound to elucidate the issue of vocabulary borrowing in Malay Language. 

First, we should understand that the Malay Language has been significantly enriched by loan words and phrases over the years from many languages via language contact, from Sanskrit to English language. Therefore, we owe a lot of words from these languages. 

Etymological studies conducted has ascertained this linguistic fact and truth. Influx of borrowed words do not in any way kill a language, including Malay Language. Rather, it is an appropriate way to develop a language, particularly the vocabulary.

Borrowing is part and parcel of language development. It is an essential element in vocabulary development. More than 80 percent of the current English words is said to be borrowed words from European, Latin and other languages. Does this mean English is a ‘polluted’ or ‘corrupted’ language?

In language, borrowing synonymous words for existing Malay words has become a norm and trend among users. We have many such words in Malay that were actually borrowed from other languages to become an alternate word, like aktiviti (activity) for kegiatan,  politik (politics) for siasah and program  (programme) for rancangan. As to the use the ban (bund) in Malay, the word has been long accepted in Kamus Dewan as an alternative word to permatang. Nothing is wrong in the usage of this word.

To avoid coining words and borrowing words according to the whim and fancy of users, rules and regulations have been put in place to ensure that the borrowing is done in accordance to the guidelines and rules of Malay Language.

We must also understand that not all words that are used are accepted as the standard form in Malay Language. Coined new words whether borrowed or coined, need to adhere to certain rules and regulations stipulated by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), the guardian of the Malay Language in Malaysia. 

For example, the popularly used word bajet (budget) is not a standard word but rather a colloquial one. If you look into Kamus Dewan 4^th Edition, the word bajet is categorized as kata basahan (colloquial word). The standard word, of course, is belanjawan.

Malay Language is truly a beautiful language. Borrowing words does not in any way tarnish or spoil the beauty of the language. Does the classical Malay texts, like Sejarah Melayu which is plenty of Sanskrit and Arabic words, in any way diminish the beauty of the language?

As said by our eminent Malay linguist, Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Nik Safiah Karim, borrowing is one facet of language development. Let us not be unduly perturbed by the use of borrowed words in the Malay Language. Accept it a norm and allow borrowing to enrich the vocabulary of our national language.