Fusion Talk

Sometimes it’s hard to tell if Malaysians are speaking English.

DIE lah! Mati loh!” a boy was crying out loudly. “I am in hot soup ... in trouble ... my school book is in the swimming pool!”

He had been running around in the Penang Sports Club with his homework and his book dropped into the pool.

“Die lah? Why is there a lah added after the word ‘die’?” enquired my British friend who is amazed with our unique fusion Malaysian English.





“Well, the Malays here use lah a lot in their expression and thus we, Malaysians add Malay or even Chinese or Indian expressions in our English,” I explained.

“Do you want to makan karipap or yam char? asked someone near us.

“Is he speaking English?” asked my British friend again.

I informed him that Manglish is basically English with a unique fusion of words from Malay, Chinese and Indian languages. It shares substantial linguistic similarities with Singaporean English (Singlish). Speakers of Manglish tend to intersperse varying amounts of expressions and interjections from their mother tongue, which in some cases qualify as a form of code-switching. Sentences may be constructed using English words in the syntax of another language.

For instance, my student said, “I cannot twenty five you,” to his friend.

I told him that he is translating a phrase directly from his first language (Hokkien dialect) into English. “Twenty five you” in Hokkien means “to suspect or accuse you of something”.

One small Chinese boy called a turkey a “fire chicken”. In his Hokkien dialect, a turkey is called hoey kei. He has translated directly from Chinese to English, and literal translation can be thoroughly inaccurate.

Many British or other foreigners are intrigued by the Malaysian lingo.

“Eh! Towkay! Towkay! You want to buy this watch ... very special price lah and cheap loh,” said a salesman along Penang road.

“See ... it is fascinating, your Malaysian lingo ... towkay and kopitiam (coffee shop) are unique words and I like char koay teow, too,” Jim chuckled.

Jim is from Darwin, Australia. He has been in Penang for many years and is always tickled when we say, “Alamak! Why so raining wet today; cannot play tennis one.”

Thus the Malaysian lingo may be captivating to foreigners.

Another aspect of language, such as alliteration also can amuse people.

“She sells sea shells by the sea shore”, “Five funny fat Frenchmen flew to France” or “The sixth Sheik’s sheep is silly sick”, or “Rulers row really in rivers”. These are all boring compared to the Thai twister, Khrai khai khai kai or “Who sells chicken eggs?”

Homonyns can be mind-boggling, too. “Give me the hare!” cried someone but he was given some “hair” instead. Both hare and hair do sound the same and are known as homonyms. Thus sounds of words may cause misunderstanding and the sound of this Chinese tongue twister is unbeatable. Si-shi-si zhi shi-zi shu you si-shi-si shi-zi actually means “Forty-four persimmons on 44 persimmon trees”. Well in English, “s” in the word “sit” is pronounced differently from the “s” in the word “sugar”.

Nevertheless some “anguished English language expressions” can be heard or seen. These notices were pasted on walls of buildings:

Laundry in Poland: Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a great time inside or outside.

Tailor shop: Order your summer suits due to big rush. We will execute customers in strict rotation.

University: Room for rent – we do not take self-cooking students. (Students are not allowed to cook in the room).

Anyway, who dares say that our English is weird? Just see below – Malaysian English can sometimes be simple, short, precise and effective. British English can be compared to our English in a few ways:

Asking someone to make way
Britons: Excuse me, I’d like to get by. Would you please make way for me?
Malaysians: S-kews / squeeze me, please.

Asking someone to find out what had happened
Britons: Will someone please tell me what has just happened?
Malaysians: What happenleh? Why like that one?

When asking for permission
Britons: Excuse me, but do you think it would be possible for me to enter through this door?
Malaysians: (pointing at the door) Can enter ah?

When assessing a difficult situation
Britons: Hmmm. We appear to be in a bit of a predicament at the moment.
Malaysians: Ayoh! Die-lah! Mati loh?

When declining an offer
Britons: If you don’t mind, I’d prefer not to do that.
Malaysians: I don’t want lah.

In disagreeing on a topic of discussion
Britons: If you don’t mind, Timothy, I do have to interrupt, and I must say I have to disagree with you about this issue.
Malaysians: What stupid idea! You mad and crazy ah?

When asking somebody if he/she knows you
Britons: Excuse me, but you seem to be staring at me. Have we met before?
Malaysians: Why you look at me like that? See what?

When someone is angry
Britons: Would you mind not shouting at me?
Malaysians: Cilakak! You no manners or what man