Read the signs, not only the signboards
Thursday, 05 Dec 2024 12:13 PM MYT
By Praba Ganesan
DEC 5 — There is this old development near my home. It started off during construction as Evergreen, but ended up as Alam Jaya when they finished construction.
Evergreen became Alam Jaya.
For those unacquainted with Malay, shame on you, and yes, they mean the same thing.
It’s Malaysia in the 1980s, names ostensibly changed to fall in line with a raft of bureaucratic conditions — synonymously the law in those seemingly lawless days — to raise the import of Malay (Bahasa Melayu).
Then, roads, schools, malls, buildings and maybe the odd streetlight were renamed in Malay, to end colonial or ethnic hangovers.
Yet, Alam Jaya is not in Kuala Lumpur, where the scene of our current power-play transpires. It’s close though. Almost in KL, edged out by a kilometre.
Almost and close is a recurring theme in today’s column. But does not explain the corrosion of Malay language primacy in displays. It’s certainly not down to city shopkeepers as officials suggest. Not even close.
Talking about Kuala Lumpur signboards and city hall’s enthusiasm to fine businesses over their displays of other fine languages.
Coincidentally, the fining episode kicked off after former PM Mahathir Mohamad walked the streets, not like a streetwalker. The nonagenarian was appalled by the number of signboards emblazoned in Chinese.
His traipse around Kuala Lumpur inadvertently brought him a sense of abandonment and rejection, not unlike how Langkawi voters treated him.
Fortunately, for him, KL City Hall in what they publicly claim to be unrelated, went out to discipline the transgressors.
These signboard dissidents.
Malaysia still being Malaysia, various groups accused city hall — in their unadulterated passion to uphold the Malay language — of targeting Chinese owned businesses.
Which prompted Federal Territories Minister Zaliha Mustafa to defend her team. Her rebuttal? City officials together in tandem with Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka (DBP) were merely actualising The Advertisement (Federal Territories) By-Laws which is subservient to the 1976 Local Government Act.
The by-law’s Article 3(2) reads: The letters of the words in the national language shall be given prominence and shall of a size bigger than the letters or characters of the words in the other language.
Short version, Malay above all other languages.
Therefore, the actions of city hall enforcers are correct.
However, when context and history is lumped together with the actions, there are glaring inconsistencies.
While officers assiduously looked at street shops’ signboards, they failed to look up at skyscrapers and assess their attitude to the national language.
Like Kuala Lumpur City Centre.
There is no Pusat Bandar Kuala Lumpur posted at and around its 120,000 square metres.
Just the English abbreviation KLCC. Building after building and whole zones, park and a set of twin towers plus a philharmonic orchestra, which is the key city tourist attraction. Key-chains, magnets, tablecloths and horrendous looking T-shirts.
Where is city hall’s outrage there? Not just signboards but a whole branding around KLCC. Which is in English.
Since it was almost 30 years ago, so maybe give KLCC a pass? Oh, yeah, an LRT station runs through it, with a MRT at its pinggiran (fringe).
Then turn and look at the taller Tun Razak Exchange (TRX). It’s not Bursa Tun Razak. And it is the main city interchange for the two MRT lines. Another affront to the language.
City Hall probably fears mention about its revitalisation of Klang and Gombak Rivers. Because the official name is in English, The River of Life (RoL).
Where did the passion for Article 3(2) disappear in their approval or treatment of KLCC, TRX and the River of Life?
Why the anger now, after Mahathir’s visit, when all along city hall chooses English over Malay in so many instances. Blaming smaller shopkeepers rather than weigh their own complicity to diminish Malay in KL’s main appearance.
Beams, splinters and ray-guns
This is why it needs to be viewed in its entirety.
The infringing shopkeepers seek Renminbi, so they went down the path of least resistance and let their signboards scream in Chinese. To lure tourists and their cash. Signboards in Malay do less for them.
Compare them with people in other industries — those grossly more profitable.
Property developers want their mega projects to sell, before bank foreclosure, so they name them in English.
Apparently, homes, towers, condos and whole developments appear more affluent — or atas — in English. City Hall if judged by the signboards all over the city are less prickly about English signboards.
There’s KL Gateway in Kerinchi — pardon, pardon, Bangsar South — Holmes (an ode to Sherlock?) Condominium in Bandar Tun Razak and Pavilion is Bukit Bintang’s centrepiece.
How to weave these separate situations operating parallelly together?
The language kerfuffle has three dimensions.
Malay on top — since 1970s to perch the language at the expense of other languages.
Globalisation — insidious ascension of English, in inches in years. Softly when no one looks. Or ask those who look to be OK with it. Chipping away at
Malay prominence, to be visually present.
Thirdly, what turned out to be incendiary, Chinese tourism, threatening to convert Peel Road into Ping Road.
When Chinese pops-ups are more than minimal, red flags are raised.
It is difficult and cuts to the centre of all our insecurities, not the least city hall’s insecurities.
Say my name
City Hall has to find its peace with tourism driven signboards, even if they are Chinese language ones which trigger other worries. They should be mindful to remember their disdain was more restrained when it came to Arabic signboards.
At the same time, our local councils, not the least Kuala Lumpur, should review the lax treatment of English in naming conventions.
There is a clear dip in the excitement for Malay named locations — whether residentials, towers, streets or whole townships. Laws and policies can only go that far. They cannot force people to covet things in Malay names.
Perhaps the local councils should shoulder the blame for society’s attitude. The initial efforts to force Malay names did not conjoin with efforts to foster love and positivity to Malay names.
Translated, requiring only sticks a short time, shared values never materialised in Malaysia adequately.
To end in Cheras, Alam Jaya is a mixed bag. The main commercial street is a hit, behind it not as much.
Parts of it are really rundown. Adjacent to it, a new development is almost complete, condo, shops and such. More atas. They call it Emerald 9.
DEC 5 — There is this old development near my home. It started off during construction as Evergreen, but ended up as Alam Jaya when they finished construction.
Evergreen became Alam Jaya.
For those unacquainted with Malay, shame on you, and yes, they mean the same thing.
It’s Malaysia in the 1980s, names ostensibly changed to fall in line with a raft of bureaucratic conditions — synonymously the law in those seemingly lawless days — to raise the import of Malay (Bahasa Melayu).
Then, roads, schools, malls, buildings and maybe the odd streetlight were renamed in Malay, to end colonial or ethnic hangovers.
Yet, Alam Jaya is not in Kuala Lumpur, where the scene of our current power-play transpires. It’s close though. Almost in KL, edged out by a kilometre.
Almost and close is a recurring theme in today’s column. But does not explain the corrosion of Malay language primacy in displays. It’s certainly not down to city shopkeepers as officials suggest. Not even close.
Talking about Kuala Lumpur signboards and city hall’s enthusiasm to fine businesses over their displays of other fine languages.
Coincidentally, the fining episode kicked off after former PM Mahathir Mohamad walked the streets, not like a streetwalker. The nonagenarian was appalled by the number of signboards emblazoned in Chinese.
His traipse around Kuala Lumpur inadvertently brought him a sense of abandonment and rejection, not unlike how Langkawi voters treated him.
Fortunately, for him, KL City Hall in what they publicly claim to be unrelated, went out to discipline the transgressors.
These signboard dissidents.
Malaysia still being Malaysia, various groups accused city hall — in their unadulterated passion to uphold the Malay language — of targeting Chinese owned businesses.
Which prompted Federal Territories Minister Zaliha Mustafa to defend her team. Her rebuttal? City officials together in tandem with Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka (DBP) were merely actualising The Advertisement (Federal Territories) By-Laws which is subservient to the 1976 Local Government Act.
The by-law’s Article 3(2) reads: The letters of the words in the national language shall be given prominence and shall of a size bigger than the letters or characters of the words in the other language.
Short version, Malay above all other languages.
Therefore, the actions of city hall enforcers are correct.
However, when context and history is lumped together with the actions, there are glaring inconsistencies.
While officers assiduously looked at street shops’ signboards, they failed to look up at skyscrapers and assess their attitude to the national language.
Like Kuala Lumpur City Centre.
There is no Pusat Bandar Kuala Lumpur posted at and around its 120,000 square metres.
Just the English abbreviation KLCC. Building after building and whole zones, park and a set of twin towers plus a philharmonic orchestra, which is the key city tourist attraction. Key-chains, magnets, tablecloths and horrendous looking T-shirts.
Where is city hall’s outrage there? Not just signboards but a whole branding around KLCC. Which is in English.
Since it was almost 30 years ago, so maybe give KLCC a pass? Oh, yeah, an LRT station runs through it, with a MRT at its pinggiran (fringe).
Then turn and look at the taller Tun Razak Exchange (TRX). It’s not Bursa Tun Razak. And it is the main city interchange for the two MRT lines. Another affront to the language.
City Hall probably fears mention about its revitalisation of Klang and Gombak Rivers. Because the official name is in English, The River of Life (RoL).
Where did the passion for Article 3(2) disappear in their approval or treatment of KLCC, TRX and the River of Life?
Why the anger now, after Mahathir’s visit, when all along city hall chooses English over Malay in so many instances. Blaming smaller shopkeepers rather than weigh their own complicity to diminish Malay in KL’s main appearance.
Beams, splinters and ray-guns
This is why it needs to be viewed in its entirety.
The infringing shopkeepers seek Renminbi, so they went down the path of least resistance and let their signboards scream in Chinese. To lure tourists and their cash. Signboards in Malay do less for them.
Compare them with people in other industries — those grossly more profitable.
Property developers want their mega projects to sell, before bank foreclosure, so they name them in English.
Apparently, homes, towers, condos and whole developments appear more affluent — or atas — in English. City Hall if judged by the signboards all over the city are less prickly about English signboards.
There’s KL Gateway in Kerinchi — pardon, pardon, Bangsar South — Holmes (an ode to Sherlock?) Condominium in Bandar Tun Razak and Pavilion is Bukit Bintang’s centrepiece.
How to weave these separate situations operating parallelly together?
The language kerfuffle has three dimensions.
Malay on top — since 1970s to perch the language at the expense of other languages.
Globalisation — insidious ascension of English, in inches in years. Softly when no one looks. Or ask those who look to be OK with it. Chipping away at
Malay prominence, to be visually present.
Thirdly, what turned out to be incendiary, Chinese tourism, threatening to convert Peel Road into Ping Road.
When Chinese pops-ups are more than minimal, red flags are raised.
It is difficult and cuts to the centre of all our insecurities, not the least city hall’s insecurities.
Say my name
City Hall has to find its peace with tourism driven signboards, even if they are Chinese language ones which trigger other worries. They should be mindful to remember their disdain was more restrained when it came to Arabic signboards.
At the same time, our local councils, not the least Kuala Lumpur, should review the lax treatment of English in naming conventions.
There is a clear dip in the excitement for Malay named locations — whether residentials, towers, streets or whole townships. Laws and policies can only go that far. They cannot force people to covet things in Malay names.
Perhaps the local councils should shoulder the blame for society’s attitude. The initial efforts to force Malay names did not conjoin with efforts to foster love and positivity to Malay names.
Translated, requiring only sticks a short time, shared values never materialised in Malaysia adequately.
To end in Cheras, Alam Jaya is a mixed bag. The main commercial street is a hit, behind it not as much.
Parts of it are really rundown. Adjacent to it, a new development is almost complete, condo, shops and such. More atas. They call it Emerald 9.
***
kt comments:
"Someone"'s once-political party was called "United Malays National Organisation" (UMNO) - why NOT "Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu" (PKMB)?
That same "someone" once owned a bakery called "The Loaf"; why not "Sebuku Roti"?
And his horse is (or was) named "Al Bariq"; why not "Berkilau"???
Podah!
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