Good job for the post entitled ‘Malay is Decomposing and English Gaining' but Good Grief!

Living in UK, speaking English is absolutely compulsory. Sometimes I get tired and miss "bercakap Barunai" without having quizzical looks thrown at me. I have learnt a lesson from having travelled a lot which I would like to share with the rest of you. Being in a foreign environment and meeting people from all over makes me appreciate my own language.

Believe it or not, travelling only makes me envious of the locals who don't possess enough English to communicate with me, which would often resulted in me trying to pick up their language for purpose of convenience (to which I have no complaints whatsoever). I can only imagine this would be highly unlikely in Brunei where everybody could converse well in English with both Malay and non-Malay speakers.

What I wouldn't give to see a tourist, scratching his head, trying to figure out information given by a local in bahasa kitani. I am not saying that everybody should abandon English altogether because that would be ignorant. However, I honestly don't think speaking Bahasa Melayu Brunei is something which is to be ashamed of since this signifies a part, if not all, my cultural and national identity.

Think about this: if one goes to France, one will be surrounded by the music of French language- on n'est pas parler anglais, desolèe; in Poland, people speak po Polsku while one can be overwhelmed listening to conversations in Swedish in Sweden. Only when necessary would they speak English but rarely amongst themselves because to be frank, what good is a national language if it is not used?
Hence, I ask myself, why not encourage this 'national identity practice' in our own backyard? These cultural acts changed my outlook on my own culture especially in terms of my own mother tongue and made me appreciate Bahasa Melayu Brunei more than I did before. If you are still aren't convinced, then answer me this: who, besides us, would understand the versatile use of "anu"?

Or know how & when to use "wa", "eh", "bah" in their spoken language(s)? At the risk of nobody understanding this, I will conclude with an advice: Be proud not only of your status or your wealth, but of who you are, from the biggest to the smallest of your being, inside and out. Have a nice day all!

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written by Chinsy , November 22, 2009

I agree wholeheartedly.
English maybe the international language but it is important to know our own mother tongue since it is our identity.

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written by obssess , November 23, 2009

I am appalled to see the obsession of identity among our locals. Are they feeling lost therefore in constant need to attached themselves with this and that identity?

Just because you were overwhelmed with your personal encounter, you need to preach to the whole nation on the adoption of national identity?

Please go wear your songkok or tutong, and realise that your identity as a muslim is divine.

ps: MoE can consider introduce Bahasa Brunei instead of Bahasa Melayu (Malaysia) in the school syllabus. Frankly speaking, I have no problem with that as long as you don't feel silly doing it.

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written by hadimi , November 23, 2009

bahasa menunjukkan bangsa...

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written by bangsa , November 23, 2009

If we live long enough, we get to learn that proverbs contradict themselves all the time.

Do step back and think, don't Bahasa Tutong and Bahasa Belait stand a better chance of losing their grip among our locals?

Just because we want something badly, there is no need to crash ourselves to the pillars like blind lalats.

One's personal needs may not be always be suitable for everyone.

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written by Faiq , December 01, 2009

Yes! Alhamdulillah! Thats right! We Bruneians must start to realize that we are unique as a sole nationality, that Bahasa Barunai, Belait, Tutong, Kedayan is unique to us alone. Nobody else in the world speaks these languages, and if we manage to let these languages become extinct by lacking their use, thats it, and lagipun it is our generation punya fault by letting ancient, unique languages vanish.
Kanapa kitani banar2 malukan Bahasa sendiri kan?? Its a total disgrace. And I totally agree with obssess, Indonesia has Bahasa Indonesia as their offical language and in their education system, why can't we have our own Bahasa Brunai as official language, or Lingua Franca in education? I dont see any harm in writing essays in Bahasa Brunai, or maybe even Bahasa Belait or Tutong! we need to start looking back and realise about these languages before they do vanish.

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