The Melayu Families Still Don't Get It

Main your language

With me being constantly outside and breaking fast out of home, naturally I will be around many Malay Muslims during meal times. Even though I won't see them there at that particular time during other parts of the year. 

I am personally already appalled by the level of Malay language in Singapore and the region. I can't do anything about it. And as I listened more... it is the Malays themselves who don't seem to get it. The ones destroying the language is not anyone else but the Malays themselves. Not speaking Malay at home and yet speaking broken English to their children and then wonder what went wrong when their children can't speak both. 

Sounds familiar? Of course not. From my experience, no one notice their ownself but they see others. Gajah depan mata tak nampak. Semut di seberang lautan nampak.

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MUNIRAH:
Kau punya Melayu teruk, kau jadi cikgu Melayu?

HAQIRAH:
I may not necessarily be able to speak spontaneous colloquial Malay but my written language is good enough for me to pass my exams. Dan jika saya bertutur dalam bahasa Melayu yang saya tahu, tentu awak semua akan rasa saya pelik.

MAKCIK:
Eh cakap bahasa Melayu biasa sahaja nak… tak payah baku. Kita dalam bilik terperangkap. Bukan dalam bilik darjah.

HAQIRAH:
Itu masalah saya cik.
 
Lampu bertukar

Saya anak seorang. Ibu bapa saya bekerja untuk membesarkan saya. Mereka juga cuba untuk mendidik saya. Mereka orang biasa sahaja. Bukan orang kaya. Dari itu mereka jarang berada di rumah kerana keluar bekerja.

Dari kecil bila mereka ada bersama saya, mereka akan bertutur dalam bahasa Inggeris kepada saya. Kata mereka, bahasa Inggeris itu penting jika kita mahu terus relevan di Singapura. Tapi malangnya, mereka juga tidak begitu fasih bertutur dalam bahasa Inggeris. Tetapi yang peliknya, mereka tidak juga mahu bertutur dalam bahasa Melayu kepada saya. Umpamanya mereka akan berkata seperti

Wear shoe first.

You wash hand already?

You want what colour?

You naughty I don’t want to friend you ah.

Tomorrow we going out you know. You don’t go out ok.

Why your bedroom dirty? Clean your bed faster.

Lampu bertukar

MUNIRAH:
Mampus. Let me guess. Melayu kau jadi rabak. English pun jahanam.

HAQIRAH:
I guess, you can say that.

HAJAR:
Jadi Kakak belajar sendiri lah? Maknanya kakak tak terperangkap. Kakak pandai cari jalan keluar.

HAQIRAH:
I was trapped during my education years. I struggled with both my languages. Therefore I had to pick up slower than my peers.

MAKCIK:
Ramai orang macam ini. Cik pun nampak. English dia teruk tapi seboleh-boleh hendak cakap orang putih dengan anak-anak dia. Lepas itu, dua-dua bahasa pun jahanam. Anak-anak jadi robot macam ini.

HAJAR:
Tak apa lah kakak. Sekarang kakak sudah jadi cikgu, kakak boleh ajar murid-murid kakak yang melalui perkara sama macam kakak.

HAQIRAH:
I figured that out. I didn’t want to be a teacher actually.

HAJAR:
Habis kakak hendak jadi apa?

HAQIRAH:
I don’t know. I went to a Junior College after my O levels, which I struggled and dropped out. I was too egoistic to go to a polytechnic after dropping out, but I still did after a year. My poly results were not that good either. I couldn’t tell my family members, the uncles and aunties that my results were poor. So since I can’t do anything much, I applied to be a teacher. At least there’s still some face value in that.

HAJAR:
Tapi kalau results tak bagus, boleh jadi cikgu ke?

HAQIRAH:
There are ways.

HAJAR:
Oooh… saya pun hendak.

HAQIRAH:
I suggest not.

MUNIRAH:
Dik, kau jangan sembarang-sembarang sign bond hanya sekadar kau nak keluar dari kesusahan hidup kau. Itu menyusahkan diri namanya.

UMAIRAH:
Pandai kau cakap.

MUNIRAH:
Eh budak tak sekolah pun boleh jadi lebih pandai dari budak universiti ok.

CLAUSTROPHOBIA
Anwar Hadi Ramli
2017

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Who are the teachers now?