Wait Your Father Shower Come Out!

Actually, the title means to say “wait till your father gets out of the shower” or “wait till your father is done with his bath”. Yes, I am on the topic of our dear Malaysian version of the English language.

I chanced upon this article some time ago about Malaysian English and it got me thinking. And no, I am not belittling the way Malaysians distort the English language and make it their own. To me, there is nothing more endearing than to hear a mother warn her child: "don't run-run, afterward fall down!"

If the Singaporeans have their “Singlish” (Singaporean English, or Silly English if you ask me) then we Malaysians have our very own Manglish (Mangled English). Where else in the world are good friends referred to as “Abang”, “Bro” and “Macha”?

I know for a fact that “Macha” actually means brother-in-law; or to be more specific it refers to the person married to your sister. Here in Malaysia it's now an accepted term of endearment for your best buddy.

A few examples of the way Malaysians stamp their style on the English language:

• Instead of asking you where are you are headed to, we ask “go where?”
• Instead of saying “how is this possible” or “what is up with that”, we say “why like that one?”
• Instead of asking you whether you’ve eaten, we ask “makan already?”
• Instead of asking to increase the volume, we say “louder the volume” 
• Instead of asking you what you would like to have for dinner, we ask “what you feel like to eat for dinner?” 
•  Instead of saying “she's good at pool” or “she's a good pool player”, we announce “she good play pool!” 

I could go on and on and on…

Again, I am in no way belittling the way Malaysians speak. If anything, I’d rather the above being uttered any time of the day than listen to some idiot slinging his slang around, slang so fake it melts my earwax! I did mention at length my absolute abhorrence here some time ago.

So my dear Malaysians, get’s mangle!