MALAY ELITES AND THE MALAY LANGUAGE IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The aim of my thesis on "Malay Elites and the Malay Language in Singapore' is to find out the different roles played by the Malay elites in the development of the Malay language in Singapore. The key emphasis of this thesis is on the differences between Standard Malay (bahasa baku) and colloquial Malay. Since the early 1990s, the Malays in Singapore have been encouraged to speak in Standard Malay. This effort was propagated by the Malay elites who are members of the Malay Language Committee of Singapore (Majlis Bahasa Melayu Singapura or MBMS) and were implemented through schools. Standard Malay is not a language variety that is used widely among the Malays in Singapore. It is used only in formal situations, in schools and in the radio and television programmes. The Malay elites are the ones who are actively promoting the language variety by monitoring the situation, by ensuring that Malay students use it in schools during their Malay lessons and by exhibiting an example by using Standard Malay in their speeches and interviews. Even though many efforts are done by the Malay elites, the general Malay public still prefer to use colloquial Malay because they consider Standard Malay as rigid and stiff (kaku), unnatural (tak semulajadi) and awkward (janggal). Their perception of Standard Malay centres exclusively on its pronunciation (sebutan baku) because that has been the emphasis of the language campaigns organised in the last few years.