All languages are useful..... English is becoming a international language Mr. LKY once replied Mandarin cannot become an international language. Dr Mahathir kata Bahasa Malaysia adalah Bahasa dunia suatu hari nanti. Mungkin pada 2020............ !!!????

Lovely is the English language..........

A REPUBLIC OF VIRTUE

Dr Azly Rahman

Lovely is the English language

More fruitful than that of the Malays

I could see the fruitfulness of it

And learn to appreciate juiciness when you bite into it

Unlike the dryness of that of the Malays

You can call someone an apple of your eye

And when you fall in love with that person you can go bananas

In Malay you can't call your date a rambutan

and be mistaken as an orangutan

you can be crazy in love and go bananas but you can't say that I am going to be a pisang

no no no -- Malay is a fruitless language



Fruity is the English language

Better than that of the fruitless Malays



You can fall out of love and become a sour grape

When the apple of your eye left you for the Big Apple

You can see politicians become sour grapes

When they are no longer favoured in their Banana Republic

In the fruitless Malay language, when you become a sour grape

You can't call yourself a kedondong and sit under a tree like ikan temenong

You can't even call your ex-girlfriend a pulasan

as you were the first to 'perasan' and became a sour grape



Ahh Tutti Frutti English Language

Ahhh no such things as ... buah muah ... in Malay language

simply won't go as Malay is a fruitless language



English is in demand

as a fruity language Malaysians should have command

Americans can drive a 'lemon'

Can Malaysians drive a 'longan'?



Ahhh ... there there is an English fruit called 'squash'

One can even play the fruit and be good at squash

Can Malaysian be good at durians

And roll them down the bowling lane?

How fruitless is the Malay language



I have often wondered why traditional English parents love the fruit cantelope

They feed their girls that thing at an early age

Now that I am in love with the English language I know it means

... "can't elope" ... hah ... how fruity is the beauty of the language

But can you Malays come up with a fruit that "can't elope"

I bet you can't ... you fruitless language

The best you can tell a girl is that she is a "jambu" but she will still elope.



When you are in love and with the apple of your eye

When you go bananas and saved from being a sour grape

When you go on a date in Strawberry Fields

Your heart will always be on Orange Alert

You will be cheery like wild cherry

No-- can the Malay language be as fruitful and fruity as this

No it can't

How could you call your girlfriend a lychee

And not expect her the smack you with her tai chi

And you go crazy over her like a Siamese mango without biji

And your heart beat fast like a magoesteen on 100-meter dash to eternity



Fruity is the English language

Darling are the clementines

Like in the song "Oh my darling ... clementine"

Try using that line via the fruitless Malay language

Trying saying "sayang ku .... limau kasturi"

And you'll see Hang Lekir and Hang Lekiu

running after you crying like a Portuguese fruit under a Melakka tree



English even have "pomegranade"

Of which the word grenade emanate

Fruitless language Malay don't have this

The closest is the sound of the popping of buah getah

As a child visiting grandma and grandpa in Penang I would wonder

what the heck is that little C4s of a fruit's doing



Okay maybe there is one fruity word the Malays can be proud of

is when they call their love one "buah hati"

or "fruit of the heart"

now logically, do hearts have fruits?

or fruits have heart?

unless you talk about love that is coming to fruition

and the heart is cheery like a shaved rambutan

or a repented durian that finally bathe in perfume water

made from a concoction of limau kasturi and fermented lychee



So-- what then must we worry

Fruitless it will be

Of which language is more fruity

When we all now know

which one is

the good .. the bad ... and the fruity ... !

Comments (15)...

written by Hakim Joe, November 07, 2011 02:07:05

Dr Azly, I wouldn't go so far as to call BM a fruitless language after all it is actually quite useful under certain circumstances like "Apa macam Encik, mana tangke dan lesen?" ...

written by lynn, November 07, 2011 00:21:28

Dr Azly,

Where have you been? Such a funny frutti-tutti piece you wrote. Thanks for the laugh.

There is no need to feel bad our Bahasa Melayu have limitations; Malay history is short compared

to English or Chinese, both civilisations have existed for thousands of years. I have come across many

deep meaningful sayings in Cantonese that cannot be expressed in English. Probably vice versa too.

Mastering English does not threaten our Malaysian identity; it is a TOOL of communication... mmm.. in case some readers get hot under the collar over this emphasis on English !!! ...

written by roggon, November 06, 2011 22:44:46

bahasa malaysia or melayu is only good for peddling with drugs along petaling street ...

written by panca, November 06, 2011 11:25:05

Typo error : English language IS in not .... ...

written by panca, November 06, 2011 11:20:09

English language in not only wonderful, words and definitions vary in way we express and there are words that are not the same but only similar whereas many words in another language are missing and therefore had to be borrowed.

I find the English language an "efisyen" language or if majority of the system and government staff paid by the people taxes will become "efisyen" serving the people?!

Let's study English language as the communicative and learning language and not as a foreign language while we are trying to be 'itu apanama' "efisyen" and doing ourselves the injustices from the learning curves the children of tomorrow deserves without sacrificing Bahasa Malaysia Melayu.

written by NSTPravda, November 06, 2011 06:00:10 We have always suspected that this Dr Azly Rahman fellow is slightly fruity and this piece of fruit basket case really makes him a fruit cake, with a bit of nuts thrown in. To say that he has gone bananas is an understatement with what has come to fruition in this fruity manifestion. Our commi$$erations. For pubic service, we wish to suggest that one mind find it more rewarding to Praise our 1Lord, Jibby the Head, the $upreme and Urbane 1AyahFuhrer without whose C4 Doctrines, our fruits will not be that ta$ty and our grapes more sour.

$emua-nya OK! ...

written by ak_malaysia, November 06, 2011 01:32:59

TQ Doc! Wonderful, just wonderful! That's what you are!

Like your poem very much. Keep it up doc! ...

written by sltemp, November 06, 2011 00:31:34

Teachers can teach the best-level of English to students but if they don't use English consistently, whatever that they were taught will be lost. It is very important that students not only speak English but also read and write. The problem is that most students get a few hours of English lessons in school and that's it.

It was reported that an undergraduate from Kelantan lamented to the Vice-Chacellor in a local public university during an open dialogue that his Malay friends in the university teased him when he tried to speak in English with them. One reason is to avoid embarrassment over their mistakes. So their English level remained mediocre because of their refusal to speak and use English. ..

written by vhari, November 05, 2011 21:43:16

Oral English teaching is as important as written english to improve english.

written by earthman, November 05, 2011 21:34:15

One shall know the tree by its fruits. For a good tree cannot bear bad fruits and a bad tree cannot bear good fruits.

Jiwa bahasa, jiwa bangsa.

Jiwa bangsa, buah bahasa?

For a tree that bears good fruits is better than one with green leaves. A tree with green young leaves is a sign its growing.

A tree that bear fruits , feed the hungry and then it dies. From its seeds shall sprang up many more trees and abundant of fruits. And it is good in the eyes of the world, for they live by the fruits of the tree.

A giant tree with abundance of green leaves keeps on growing , blocking out the precious sun light that the little good trees beneath needs to grow and bear fruits . But the big tree would not want to share the sun with anyone.

Unless the big bad tree is chop down and thrown into the fire, the hungry would not have fruits from the many good little trees that wants to produce for the world. Once the big tree is gone , the little good trees would grow and multiply and the world sing with joy. For now all have good fruits and are filled. ...

written by Saint, November 05, 2011 18:27:50

An interesting poem with meanings..Thanks for sharing Dr. ...

written by educationist, November 05, 2011 18:23:28

Tq Dr Azly for giving a lesson on the versailtility of the English language!!

But the racists will not be moved for they do not see beyond the narrow confines of their tempurung!! ...

written by Chuan, November 05, 2011 17:57:43

I think Dr M meant his version of 'Dunia Akhirat'.

Really, I don't understand what the fuss it is all about this language medium thing. The most important objective in a learning environment is for the students to master the concept and lesson of what is being taught. It doesn't matter what language it is in.

Of course, if the language used is universal, that's absolutely a bonus point to it as it will increase the competitiveness of our graduates. If not, we still have quality in our graduates who are well-versed in their field of studies and researches. Unless of course, we are in a country where universities existed to fulfill quotas and churn out good-for-nothing grads. Did I offend anyone? Well, what can I say, truth hurts.

Let our students learn their lessons in BM or English, or even Mandarin, I don't care, but really, stick to ONE and move on. And THEN, ensure these same students are given the opportunity to learn elective languages which will help them in the global markets. I sincerely believe that most Malaysians have the knack for languages. We can easily speak many dialects and languages without formal training. Also, look at our politicians, ain't they all also cunning-linguists?

The debate should not be on which language to use in the teaching, but rather, on the QUALITY of the education. My fellow Malaysians, don't let ourselves get side-tracked by these cunning-linguists! ...

written by vhari, November 05, 2011 17:11:37

All languages are useful. English is becoming a international language Mr. .LKY once replied Mandarin cannot become an international language. ...

written by Susuit, November 05, 2011 16:25:53

Dr Mahathir kata Bahasa Malaysia adalah Bahasa dunia suatu hari nanti. Mungkin pada 2020.