UNITING A NATION THROUGH LANGUAGE

Source: History Insights - Malaysia

Curious to know more about the development of the Malay language in our country, I head off to the Kedah State Museum Library. Located on the first floor of the main building along Lebuhraya Darul Aman, this well-equipped repository is home to a wide selection of books and periodicals. Within half an hour, I manage to accumulate sufficient reading material to commence work.

Looking at numerous government directives issued prior to the onset of the Second World War, it becomes apparent that the Malay language, in its written Jawi script form, was extensively used in the administration of all Peninsula states.

In fact, it has been widely accepted that the Malay language was the lingua franca and the language of commerce for many centuries in most Southeast Asian port cities prior to the arrival of the European colonial powers. As a language group, Malay extended from Madagascar through the Malay Archipelago and as far east as Formosa (now Taiwan).

Thanks to its inherent versatility and flexibility, the Malay language was able to withstand repeated onslaughts by several vigorous European languages from the 15th century onwards. Through great teachers like Munshi Abdullah in Melaka, the language continued to thrive when British officials as well as soldiers sought his services to learn Malay.

BRITISH PIONEERS

It was actually the basic requirement for all British officers in the Malayan Civil Service during the late 19th century to be fluent in the Malay language. The colonial administrators, including the high ranking British Residents and High Commissioners, took this task so seriously that many became highly respected scholars and publishers of books related to this language.

In this aspect, the name Richard Olaf Winstedt sticks out. Oxford-educated Winstedt became a cadet in the Federated Malay States Civil Service in 1902 and was posted to Perak where he furthered his studies in the Malay language and culture.

During the course of his career, Winstedt played an instrumental role in preserving priceless manuscripts related to Malay literature like Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals) as well as producing important works regarding the Malays and their language such as A Malay History of Riau and Johore (1932) and Dictionary of Colloquial Malay: Malay-English & English-Malay (1920).

Winstedt returned to England upon his retirement in 1935 but his love for the Malay language did not wane. During World War Two, he answered the call of duty by helping the British Army broadcast their propaganda messages in Malay to the people of Japanese-occupied Malaya.

Next, I turn my attention to several scrapbooks containing newspaper cuttings from the 1950s and 1960s. Apart from chronicling the important developments during that time period, the ageing parchments also tell the story of the continued development of the Malay language in our country.

BIRTH OF BALAI PUSTAKA

Awareness towards the need for a national language to unify the people in their struggle for independence began gaining momentum in Malaya during the post-war years. This eventually led to an announcement by the Minister of Education, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein (then Datuk) on June 22, 1956 involving the formation of a department in his Ministry called Balai Pustaka.

This new department, tasked with the development and promotion of the Malay language, was initially housed in the Government Offices building in Johor Baru with Ungku Abdul Aziz, an economics lecturer at University Malaya, serving as its first director.

The establishment of the Balai Pustaka was a welcome breath of fresh air for many Malay academicians as well as writers. During the third Malay Language and Literature Congress held in Johor Baru from Sept 16, 1956 the participants made several constructive suggestions to help improve Balai Pustaka's effectiveness.

DBP TAKES OVER

At the close of the six-day conference, Abdul Razak upheld the group's proposal to change Balai Pustaka's name to Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP). At the end of his one-year contract, Ungku Abdul Aziz returned to University Malaya and the position was taken over by Syed Nasir Ismail in the middle of 1956. Around the same time, DBP moved to Kuala Lumpur to be close to the Ministry of Education.

Less than a month later, Malaya achieved independence and the Malay language was proclaimed the country’s national language. However, in an effort to give the Malay language time to develop further, Clause 152(1) in the Federal Constitution stipulated that “for a period of 10 years after Merdeka Day, and thereafter until Parliament otherwise provides, the English language may be used in both Houses of Parliament, in the Legislative Assembly of every State and for all official purposes”.

Even during the first year of its inception, it was already felt that DBP shouldn’t remain a government department if it were to function effectively. In 1959, the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Ordinance was passed by Parliament. That implicitly made it a corporate body with full control over its finances.

TRANSLATION TASKS

Among the first priorities after the incorporation of DBP was to produce textbooks in the Malay language for all national schools in the country. This was done as newly independent Malaya was working towards a common-content syllabus for all the Malay, English, Indian and Chinese schools in the country.

The task was an unenviable one as most of the existing textbooks at that time were direct translations from those used in English-medium schools. Despite the lack of manpower and finances, DBP was steadfast in its quest to set up several Terminology Committees, comprising academics from University Malaya and the National Language Institute, to coin scientific words that weren’t already in the Malay language.

The move to its own building at Jalan Lapangan Terbang Lama (now Jalan Dewan Bahasa) on Jan 31, 1962 gave DBP the much-needed space for its expanding departments. The building was designed by architect Lee Yoon Thim while the “Malayan Lifestyle and National Language”-themed mosaic mural was based on a painting by prominent artist, Ismail Mustam.

The tireless effort of the DBP staff resulted in the publication of 14.5 million books comprising 381 different titles in the Malay language by 1963. These books, which catered to the education system as well as the general public, covered a wide-ranging genre, from nursery rhymes for children to books on science, philosophy and literature.

A year later, in 1964, a full scale programme was launched to produce textbooks in the Malay language. This was done in preparation for the demand created by the establishment of Malaya's first pre-university classes in 1965.

MALAY DICTIONARY

In its quest to help students understand the newly-coined terminologies, which had grown to nearly 70,000 new terms by 1965, DBP sought the assistance of Unesco to prepare and publish a National language dictionary.

The subsequent arrival of Professor A.A. Teeuw from Leyden University not only improved DBP's dictionary compilation techniques but also greatly contributed to its staff training methodologies. With this, DBP was on a much firmer footing to achieve its quest to promote the widespread usage of the Malay language.

Several newspaper articles published in the first week of March 1967 catch my attention. The significant number of annotations and scribbled notes at their margins underpin the importance of these reports, which involve the tabling of the National Language Bill to make provisions for Malay to be the sole official language of Malaysia, except in the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak.

During the second reading of the Act in March 2, 1967 the then Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman reiterated that “the National language was the one and only means of binding together the peoples of various origins in the country and achieving the goal of loyalty thus providing a guarantee for peace and harmony”.

In that same report, Finance Minister Tan Siew Sin, who was also the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) President, described the day as an “auspicious and historic one for the country”. Echoing Tan's views was the Minister of Works, Posts and Telecommunications and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) President, Tan Sri V.T. Sambanthan.

Sambanthan described the Bill as a simple solution to a complex problem. The formula for the solution according to him comprised three essential ingredients — goodwill, tolerance and friendship. Both Tan and Sambanthan also assured the government that they wouldn’t ask for the Chinese and Tamil languages to be given official recognition.

After an amendment was made to Clause 8 by Tun Abdul Razak, the National Language Bill was approved by the Dewan Rakyat on March 3, 1967. Lawmakers voted resoundingly with 95 for and 11 against after changes were made for court proceedings to be conducted either in English or in the national language. When winding up the debate, Tunku urged everyone in the country to do their part and learn the national language.

RETENTION OF ENGLISH

The last article in this section comes in the form of a report made a week later where Tun Abdul Razak issued a stern warning to the National Language Bill detractors. While addressing the Senate during the debate of the Bill, the deputy prime minister stressed “the importance of retaining the use of English in the drafting of laws and other usage in technical subjects and in communications with other countries, besides its widespread use in commerce and industry”.

With the successful tabling of the Bill, DBP continued to expand and gradually began opening branches in various parts of the country. In 1977, it opened offices in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching after taking over the role of the Borneo Literature Bureau. Two decades later, three other offices were established in Bukit Mertajam (1999), Kota Baru (1999) and Johor Baru (2003).

Preparing to leave the library, I overhear the librarian talking to someone over the phone. The use of recently coined terminologies in their conversation like swafoto (selfie) and sohor kini (trending) reminds me of DBP's ongoing work to keep the Malay language abreast with the fast evolving modern world.

By the looks of it, DBP still has an active and constructive role to play in the continued development, enrichment and propagation of our national language. This will one day allow the Malay language to take its place as one of the leading modern languages of the world.

Source and image credit: NST Online

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31/1/2025: 11.04 a.m (Friday)