Rais: Reject ‘Arabism’, preserve Malay culture
Former minister Tan Sri Rais Yatim urged Malaysians to reject ‘Arabism’ to preserve Malay culture in the country.
Based on a report in Free Malaysia Today, Rais said that not many would dare to talk about separating Arabic culture from Islam.
However, he insisted there was nothing about the region that made it any better than the Malay archipelago.
“Saudi Arabia is now killing Yemen. Where is the Islamic culture in that? Who is setting an example for whom?
“I would like to suggest that Malaysia and Indonesia, in particular, give the world a better example,’ he said.
Rais, a former Communications, Information and Culture minister, was speaking at the opening of the International Literature, Language and Culture Nusantara Seminar 2019 at the Langkawi Research Centre yesterday.
Elaborating on the matter, Rais said Malays should allow themselves to be Islamised instead of ‘Arabised’, while preserving the Malay culture and Malaysian foundations.
“We cannot just talk about language, grammar, syntax and so on but ignore the message about the value of our nations,’ he said.
Rais, who is also PPBM council member, said efforts to preserve Malaysian culture must begin with the national language, and he called on the ‘cultural warriors’ to learn from the infiltration of English words into the Malay language.
Citing an example of a book on Malay grammar, Rais said it contained words such as adverb, adjective and morphine.
This sort of thing, he said, had taken root.
“Even if we do not want to ‘cakap orang putih’ (speak English), the influence has seeped through our national language,” said Rais.
“How to get back to Za’aba?” he said, referring to author Zainal Abidin Ahmad who modernised the Malay language with the publication of a series of grammar books entitled Pelita Bahasa, starting in 1936.
Rais said trying to preserve the Malay language was difficult but worth the effort.
Free Malaysia Today
