Zakir Naik speaks English at Perlis Sunnah Convention By Commander S THAYAPARAN (Retired) Royal Malaysian Navy

Zakar Naik

Malaysiakini : “People evolve a language in order to describe and thus control their circumstances, or in order not to be submerged by a reality that they cannot articulate.”

- James Baldwin, American writer and civil rights activist

COMMENT | Recently PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, probably the most honest political operative in his vision of what Malaysia should be, bemoaned the apparent sidelining of Bahasa Malaysia.

Now whenever people talk of the status of the national language, whatever their stance on the issue, it is always with the qualifier that they agree that BM has to be prioritised over the other languages that are spoken in this country.

Of course, the real targets of these rants are the multiracial urban centres which not only act as economic ecosystems but are also the destination of the rural diaspora looking for a better life and economic opportunities.

So, in other words, people came to these supposed places where BM is sidelined, because they understand they can have a better life.

Hadi said something interesting when talking about another multicultural/racial melting pot, the United Nations - “They don’t speak in English, except for those who are colonised, the countries that have an identity, that have the spirit of the nation, they speak in their mother tongue.”

Now here in Malaysia, if you are a non-Malay/Muslim, you cannot exactly use BM in the way languages are supposed to be used. Non-Malays are banned from using certain words. As words convey ideas, this naturally means that non-Malays/Muslims are banned from conveying certain ideas too.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang

Hadi said - “What is happening today is chaotic, in the shops in the city, the capital, all kinds of languages are spoken, (the use of) the Malay language is sometimes only “halus” (minimal), while English is prominent (even though the English people are no longer around).

As reported in the press, Hadi expressed disappointment that the Malay language is often sidelined in favour of English, especially when only a few foreigners are present. But here is the thing. Looking at the recent Perlis Sunnah Convention 2025 Malaysia. Preacher Zakir Naik spoke in English during his talk “Al Qur’aan and Modern Science - compatible or incompatible?”

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