I've been mentioned this article on my twitter. The writer and I had a same perception about this. And I really wanna share with you guys. I tried searching the link on the net but I couldn't find it.
So here it is, I will write for you!
Enjoy :)
Parlez vous anglais?
By: Zainal Alam Kadir
Published on the malay mail 7 April, 2011.
She was pretty sure that not many people liked her because she spoke English with accent. She said people should blame her parents for sending her to the UK so that she could master the language.
Now that was one of the weirdest statements I'd heard a long time.
In the weird woman's case, it was pretty true that she was not well-liked. Nope. It was not because she spoke with accent. It was just her attitude sucked. Big time.
For a person who was sent overseas to "see the world", she was pretty shallow, judgemental and honestly, quite silly.
You mean people would spend all the money to just learn another language and nothing else?
And all my parents could afford was to send me to Sekolah Abdullah in Sungai Mati so that I still could speak the same language. Sheesh...
Maybe I do not speak with an accent but I can assure you that you would still understand me when I speak.
I can also assure that I would be smarter in either language. Really, being able to speak English does not make you smarter.
Being able to speak another language (or more) might have an advantage, but you know what? If you are not supported by your IQ and EQ, the additional language won't get you anywhere.
To those who have the notion that English equals intelligence, I have news for you. Many Japanese do not speak the language, but they have produced many life changing inventions.
In my case, the additional language gives me the advantage of hosting different types of events. I may be in Felda Tenggaroh one weekend to entertain rural people with provincial taste one day, and garbed in the tux next, attending a social or more formal function that are more urbane in flavour.
As a televison person, I get to appear on different channels too.
Really, it's just another language.
"Dia tak cerdik la.. English pun tak betul." (He's not clever enough. He can't even speak English well.)
I am sure you've heard this a lot. God knows what it really means though.
I've travelled to many parts of the world ( thanks to my job), and I have to assure you, being able to speak English does not get you that far in some countries.
Once I was in Barcelona and very hungry. I was at this cafe and all I could do was use sign language to order my food. To make it more dramatic, I spoke in Bahasa Malaysia all the way.
So imagine me ordering tuna sandwich and white coffee in Bahasa Malaysia, assisted by my frantic gestures, while the exasperated waitress had to guess in Spanish.
Latte? Well, all I did was place my palm on my chest and squeeze a little, and my coffee came in the right colour.
See? Not a single word of English used. All I had to be was street smart and with little bit of humour, I got things my way.
The same trick was used in Shanghai, Tokyo, Verona, Cannes and many parts of the world where English was not the favoured language.
In Malaysia however, it is THE language that would determine your err, class or where you stand in the society.
I once worked in an office (not the malay mail) where people who are at the top or those who are promoted were those who could answer their email in English.
Honestly, more often that not, their job seemed to revolve around emails and meetings (in English). The real work? Well, it was mainly done by the "lower level staff" who spoke in "the other" language.
The other day, I had dinner with my niece and another friend at a rather nice restaurant filled with snooty people.
I decided to experiment a little bit. When the waiter came, I decided to use Bahasa Malaysia to order the food from the rather sophisticated menu.
Guess what? His reaction was not that kind. In fact, my niece ended up with something she did not order. Service was pretty slow too and without a smile.
"Dik, boleh tak ambil roti ni? Banyak sangat.."(can you take away the bread? It's a little too much.)
His reply?
"Don't worry, We don't charge for the bread. It is free."
A different request that was greeted with a rather disjointed reply. Now, which part of my request was unclear, I wonder. By the way, I swear the waiter was Malaysian and he definitely could speak Bahasa Malaysia.
When I started writing for the entertainment section of an English daily almost 20 years ago, many asked me why I choose local names as my subjects and not the international stars.
Their assessment was simple (and pretty simplistic). No one who read English newspaper cared about local artists. Malaysian names should remain in Bahasa Malaysia dailies.
While many of my colleagues seemed more keen to interview all the international names and review their works, I was pretty happy to write about my own people.
As far as I was concerned. I was writing stories that were relevant to the country.
My other reason was pretty frank as well. If people want a great article on say, Madonna, Sting or any of the big names, I am sure they'd chose international magazines like Vanity Fair, Rolling Stones, GQ, or any of those established glossy journals.
I stuck to my gun and when I was made the entertainment editor of The Malay Mail, some 10 years ago, I used the same formula. Local content and local subjects for Malaysian newspaper in English.
It was also based on a simple observation. If people want to find out more on Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, they can just serve the net. Their appearance in our newspaper would not even push sales.
Interestingly, when The Malay Mail ran stories on Mawi (who was THE star then); Sharifah Aini, Jamal Abdillah, Normala Shamsuddin and many others, the paper's sale would be higher.
The more sensational their comments were, the higher the sale would be.
"People will still go for the same dirt. And we are offering it in English." I would say.
My decisions was also based on another simple observation,: English speaking Malaysians find it "challenging" to pick up and buy a Bahasa Malaysia daily. However, they still curious about what's going on in the Malaysian entertainment business.
So, what they'd do is get the latest on the juicy gossip from those who have read it in the Bahasa Malaysia's newspaper or secretly read the borrowed Bahasa Malaysia dailies in the office.
That's where people like me would come into the picture. You want to know the latest? Just keep reading...
No comments:
Post a Comment