Are we lagging behind Malaysians?
-
bahasa is not so difficult to learn.
They use english alphabets and 1/3 of their word comes from english, they just spell it differently.
eg. communikasi means communication.
reformasi means reformation.
motorsika means motor cycle
lif means lift
sains means science -
Wow. You make it sound real simple. Go and read a newspaper in Bahasa Melayu/Indonesia and tell me whether you understand 1/3 of its content or not without using a dictionary.Originally posted by Salman:bahasa is not so difficult to learn.
They use english alphabets and 1/3 of their word comes from english, they just spell it differently.
eg. communikasi means communication.
reformasi means reformation.
motorsika means motor cycle
lif means lift
sains means science -
1/3 of the words may not be used 1/3 of the time. Just as 50 english words are used almost 50% of common usage.
The adoption of english words into bahasa does make it much easier to learn say Thai. -
Dear SalmanOriginally posted by Salman:1/3 of the words may not be used 1/3 of the time. Just as 50 english words are used almost 50% of common usage.
The adoption of english words into bahasa does make it much easier to learn say Thai.
Yes I would agree with you with it being a hell lot easier to learn compared to Thai. But to be honest, I seriously doubt that 1/3 of Bahasa's words were taken from English. I am half Indonesian myself and I just can't seem to associate Bahasa with English even though there may be extremly slight similarities. -
I can read malay pretty ok exactly because of these imported words.
-
Most malaysian chinese speak mandarin, english, malay and chinese dialects!!Originally posted by sbst275:Now they are learning Chinese, Bahasa and English as part of the language lessons
Yet we here are only learning our Mother tongue and English
Even if you read today's evening papers, new police officers in Malaysian Police have to learn Chinese otherthan Arabic...
Are we losing to them?
Most singaporean cannot speak a complete sentence in english without adding a few chinese or malay words, or a complete sentence in chinese without a few english words. We call it Singlish so its ok. (who needs to know perfect english? not all can be lawyer!)
If language is just a mean of communication, malaysian surely can communicate with more people, especially when they are outside of malaysia.
generally speaking, if one can understand more languages, one can have a much broader perspective of the world around us.
some chinese singaporeans are migrating because can't cope with chinese language, their mother tongue.
-
That's why we are losing out nowOriginally posted by sgdiehard:Most malaysian chinese speak mandarin, english, malay and chinese dialects!!
Most singaporean cannot speak a complete sentence in english without adding a few chinese or malay words, or a complete sentence in chinese without a few english words. We call it Singlish so its ok. (who needs to know perfect english? not all can be lawyer!)
If language is just a mean of communication, malaysian surely can communicate with more people, especially when they are outside of malaysia.
generally speaking, if one can understand more languages, one can have a much broader perspective of the world around us.
some chinese singaporeans are migrating because can't cope with chinese language, their mother tongue.
Ppl dun even bother to master their chinese and otherthan causing a prob to Singapore itself, they themselves will have prob communicating in the future
That's why I suggest the govt reimposes the mother tongue requirement, it is not a matter of braindrain... This case is whether you like it or not, using of chinese will be a reality -
I would say that it is a great personal loss to those individuals who do not know how to speak a word of Bahasa Malaysia! It is so much easier to learn Bahasa Malaysia than any other existing languages in the Singapore school curriculum because the language is pretty new, the written form is not exceeding half a centuary and the vacabulary is still pretty limited and it is evolving and bringing in more and more foreign words and technical terms to supplement the usage. So if you are serious, it may take you just a month or so to master all the root words and if you know the grammar part and know how to coin all the root words, you are going to be an expert soon if you keep practising it with a Malay friend!
I learn the language not because I love the language, I use it as a tool to know more about the cultures, the arts, and the general feelings of our neighbour! It is a regret that not many Singapore Chinese like me know how to communicate with their Malay Singaporeans in Bahasa. I go beyond the causeway to talk and shop from the Malay petty business people, they are the cordial lots if you are kind to them and speak their language! One thing is for sure that the Malay businessmen are NOT as calculative as their Chinese counterparts and they are very unlikely of going all the way out to cheat you like those Chinese durian sellers in JB or those Bakua sellers in Chinatown! -
Hmm..
-
Would learning bahasa do me any good?
wat good if any?
can i get more biz deals?
is it feasible?
or should i spend the time learning bahasa to learn to speak better mandrain? -
U learn Bahasa Melayu is beneficial n look at Singapore's neighbour. Majority Malay speaking country.Originally posted by Thailand_Hero:Would learning bahasa do me any good?
wat good if any?
can i get more biz deals?
is it feasible?
or should i spend the time learning bahasa to learn to speak better mandrain? -
If u look at malaysia...the most chinese populated areas on the west coast like Penang, Ipoh, Melaka, JB....they are busy and prosperous...Originally posted by will4:U learn Bahasa Melayu is beneficial n look at Singapore's neighbour. Majority Malay speaking country.
look at Kelantan and tregganu...economy almost non existant.
I say...learn chinese better lah -
The topic question is 'Are we lagging behind malaysia?'
the obvious answer is NO -
But they speak Malay to communicate with the majority Malay folksOriginally posted by Thailand_Hero:If u look at malaysia...the most chinese populated areas on the west coast like Penang, Ipoh, Melaka, JB....they are busy and prosperous...
look at Kelantan and tregganu...economy almost non existant.
I say...learn chinese better lah
It is only that in the city areas, there are more chinese than malays -
before i learn a language to trade with others...
first i need to know what they have to offer me.
I rather learn thai...so when i go bangkok i can bargain and shop -
for future generations maybe.
but not for us. we dont see indonesia or malaysia becoming an economic force. anyway if they do become one we better run. -
does it even matter? compare this compare that, so ji jiao about every details oso no use.
-
What if you source your raw material from Japan and Korean, fabricate in Vietnam, export to India and Saudi Arabia? are you expected to speak Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tamil and Arabic?Originally posted by sbst275:Useless?
You go across Causeway, dun you need it?
When you trade with Indonesians or ppl @ Brunei, you need it as well -
The thing here in issue is Malaysia and Indonesia are our closest neighbours...Originally posted by Gazelle:What if you source your raw material from Japan and Korean, fabricate in Vietnam, export to India and Saudi Arabia? are you expected to speak Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tamil and Arabic?
As for Japanese and Koreans, english has tried overcome this barrier -
Another thing many have omitted
New police officers in Malaysia have to learn Arabic and Chinese...
I believe many ppl here say Malay is not important because I mention Malaysia.. It is sad to see politics affecting people - people relations bet neighbours -
Actually as I see onto speaking Korean or Japanese, as far as I know now, some polys are offering Japanese, French to students as part of their non academic core modules
-
Mahathir placed emphasis on Bahasa in schools when he came to power. The result was a generation of Msians who could hardly speak English.
They realised their mistake after more than 20 years and now teach maths and science in english. So cok up.
I think if you speak bahasa at the UN, they will scold you bad words and spit on you. -
The Thais doesnt speak malay, vietnames and burmese. So do you consider them as backward or losing out to Malaysia?Originally posted by sbst275:Another thing many have omitted
New police officers in Malaysia have to learn Arabic and Chinese...
I believe many ppl here say Malay is not important because I mention Malaysia.. It is sad to see politics affecting people - people relations bet neighbours -
They are losing outOriginally posted by Gazelle:The Thais doesnt speak malay, vietnames and burmese. So do you consider them as backward or losing out to Malaysia?
In fact the reason on why the unrest at Thai South got to do with this -
Dr.Mahatair and his predecessor had made a greatest mistake in their administration because of their personal plight-by telling their countrymen to fully activiting the usage of Bahasa Malaysia. Singapore leaders were smart by adopting English to unite the different races and each race maintain their own mother tongues. Singapore has progress because they could trade with more than 3 quarters of the countries round the globe and part of the main reasons were of course we could communicate with them in perfect English! Moreover Singapore has progressed tremendously in the scientific fields because we studied English and most of the scientific research papers and text are in English! If you studied only Chinese, your mindset may be revolving around the Chinese rich cultures with little scientific progress. if you study only Bahasa Malaysia, you may just been able to trade with those Malay speaking neighbours, scientifically you were be far far behind those English speaking countries!
Dr Mahatair realised that internet was completely useless to the Malaysian Malays because very few of them could understand and read English. Moreover ,even those websites in Bahasa Malaysia were limited so how to catch up with the world? By the time he realised the importance of English they were already years behind the clock! Once he shed some crocodile tears when he come to know that those who scored the highest in Bahasa Malaysia language were Malaysian Chinese or Indian students! The non-bumi in Malaysia were doing well economically becuase they are more versatile in their language and communication skills.
Many non Chinese Singaporeans have started to learn Madarin because they realised the importance of learning more languages. More Singaporean Malays and Indians are able to speak and communicate in Mandarin. Many could speak better than their Chinese counterparts! Those Chineses in India could speak Tamil fluently! So if you could do what the Roman is doing when you are in Rome, certainly you will have higher survival skills!