Bahasa Malaysia: Its Modernization and its Relation to the Politics of National Unity in Peninsular Malaysia

The objective of this paper is to examine the present state of language policy in Malaysia, and the relationship between that policy and the closely interrelated troika of language modernization, education and development, the latter conceived in the widest sense of the pursuit of social, economic and political goals of a generally higher standard than those currently prevailing. In practical terms, however, this problem is solved for us since, through its Malaysia Plans, through its educational policy and through a range of governmental or government-influenced agencies, the Malaysian Government is seeking to promote certain policies regarded by itself as leading to "development". In the context of this paper we must therefore regard this as a "given", as a base line in relation to which certain other variables can be examined. The particular variable of interest here is language. At first sight the connections between language and development in Malaysia may seem obscure, but in fact this is not the case for several reasons. In the first place the Malaysian Government is and has been pursuing an active national language policy designed to implement Bahasa Malaysia (a standardized version of the Malay language) as the sole official language. Such a policy has profound social implications in a multiracial, multilingual and, as yet, far from homogeneous new nation. In pursuing the same policy in the schools and institutes of further and higher education, the educational consequences are also great. Since education is a major route to social and economic mobility, such a language policy is bound to influence the structure and functioning of the economy. Finally, it should always be remembered that language is not a neutral entity, but a highly political organism. It is the relation ships between these aspects of the Malaysian national language policy that I wish to examine here. There is also another major theme which underlies the whole issue, notably the suitability of Bahasa Malaysia, as a language, to carry the load that is being thrust upon it, and the steps that are being taken to rectify its weaknesses and consolidate its strengths. Throughout the paper I will be referring principally to Peninsular (West) Malaysia, since the political and linguistic history of Eastern Malaysia is in many respects very different from that of the Peninsula, and really requires a separate study to do it justice. It is in fact necessary not only to discuss the relationships between language policy and modernization, but also the closely related issue of the modernization of the language, the vehicle for the policy, and by which to a great extent the policy stands or falls. Malaysian language policy is of course not arbitrary?it is based on a set of premises, amongst which are the axioms that a single national language is a necessary prerequisite of political and cultural stability and growth in the country; that the language selected as the basis for the national language (Malay) is in fact, historically and culturally, the primary language of the nation; and that the language is Unguis