He saidlife in the 60’s wasn’t like it is now
Communicating with the lady next door was difficult
Not only because grandmother was jealous
but it was more like a chicken talking to a duck
He also said
he learned to speak Bahasa Malaysia from friends
little by little
and finally became fluent
Here and there he went
proudly speaking in Bahasa Malaysia
with Pak Amin and the next door Nyonya Lee
with Tauke Leong and Sarbagat Singh
even with Uncle Muthukaruppan
and grandmother too
..
Said grandfather while he was still around
he was proud to have taught me Bahasa Malaysia
As a child, I was dragged to various events
since1970 when ‘Bahasa Malaysia’ was introduced
Try to listen, he said. Try to understand
You should grow up with the Malaysian spirit
..
Grandfather never learned to write
but he taught me to speak Bahasa Malaysia
..
He said
you should not be proud to speak your mother tongue alone
you should not be proud to speak English alone
you must be proud to be able to speak Bahasa Malaysia
..
Shortly before his death, he said
I’m proud to end my life with a sentence in Bahasa Malaysia
and here I am, proudly telling his story
to Pak Amin and Nyonya Lee’s grandchildren
to Tauke Leong and Sarbagat Singh’s grandchildren
even to Uncle Muthukaruppan’s grandchildren
and to my children too
in Bahasa Malaysia
(Translated by Uthaya Sankar SB to help non-Malaysians understand the content of the poem. Please CLICK HERE for the original Bahasa Malaysia version and CLICK HERE for more articles in English.)