The Language Month initiative, from my understanding, is to encourage the use of Bahasa Melayu (Malay language) among the local people, specifically Bahasa Melayu Brunei (Brunei Malay language). It is especially important in today’s world, where parents tend to communicate with their children in English.
It is not to say that the English language is not important. Parents ought to still allocate time to teach their children how to converse well in the world’s lingua franca. However, family interactions should still be carried out in Brunei Malay.
It is concerning that our native language is struggling to stay relevant. Quite a number of local words are no longer commonly used. I remember during my childhood, we would use the words ‘piasau’ for coconut and ‘gelagah’ for sugar cane. Today, however, I see more locals favouring the standard ‘kelapa’ and ‘tebu’ instead. Even at popular markets, vendors seem to favour standard Malay words when labelling their produce.
As a local, who grew up speaking Brunei Malay, it is sad to see so many of our beloved words fading away. While the Language Month is a good move from the authorities to preserve our ‘dying’ language, we the locals ought to do our part too, by actively using it in our daily engagements with others, especially the younger generation.
I know my plight may seem small to some, but if the trend continued, I fear that our native tongue would be lost forever.
Purih Brunei
