RECENTLY, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) director-general Dr. Hazami Jahari shared his worry on Bahasa Melayu being perceived as embarrassing by Malaysians, which he said stems from “mental colonisation”.
In an interview with Astro Awani, Hazami said he felt shocked and “weird”, noticing Malaysians hardly speaking in Bahasa Melayu.
“Malaysia is the weirdest country in the world. It has its own language but (its people) do not use it,” he said.
Hazami further elaborated his point, adding that other developed countries such as France, China, Japan and Thailand prioritise their national language over the English language.
“In these developed countries, (the citizens) take pride in their own language but in Malaysia, we are embarrassed to even use our own language,” he added.
Furthermore, he said that the cause of this matter could stem from “mental colonisation” and feeling insecure towards the national language.
“This is most likely, supposedly, because our language does not have economical value, our language lacks standards or quality,” Hazami said.
The DBP director-general added that the government body is currently facing the challenge of restoring Malaysians’ confidence and love in the national language.
He also brought up an example of Bahasa Melayu used in the country’s education system such as Universiti Malaysia Kebangsaan’s (UKM) compulsory usage in students’ thesis for 50 years.
“The university has created many experts and our education system fully uses Bahasa Melayu and there are no flaws there.
“The issue is, we doubt ourselves probably due to getting carried away by our colonial legacy which is no longer needed,” he explained.
