Non-Malays welcome to join sessions on culture for Malay Language Month

This year's Bulan Bahasa or Malay Language Month activities will include a series of online sessions to help participants, in particular non-Malays, learn more about Malay culture and heritage.

Jom Belajar (Let's Learn) will explain topics like Malay food, clothing and weddings in English, and is organised by Wisma Geylang Serai (WGS). The four sessions will be held over Zoom once a month, with the first this Saturday.

WGS is one of several community partners hosting this year's Bulan Bahasa activities. It hosted performing arts workshops for children during last week's school holidays, and will launch a series of five books on Geylang Serai's history this month.

Speaking to reporters last Thursday, Malay Language Council chairman Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, who is Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development, said the programmes aim to help young people better understand Malay culture. "Although the proportion of our community that is bilingual remains high, efforts to preserve the language, culture and Malay literature should be continued, especially for the younger generation," he said.

While many Malay children are able to speak both English and their mother tongue, the proportion of Malay children entering Primary 1 who speak mostly English at home is similar to that for the other communities - about 70 per cent.

At the launch of the language month on Sept 4, Bulan Bahasa chairman Rahayu Mahzam said: "Families may be using more English at home. However, this does not mean that the use of the Malay language is languishing."

Ms Rahayu, who is Parliamentary Secretary for Communications and Information, as well as Health, added: "Many Malay families are effectively bilingual and do continue to use the Malay language at home, and we hope to strengthen this in future."

Other programmes include Malay poetry and dance performances, and workshops for children on traditional arts like bangsawan, which combines elements of poetry, theatre, dance and song into an operatic stage production.

Samudera Seni, one of the performances, is produced by local playwright Almahdi Al-Haj Ibrahim, better known as Nadiputra.

"I hope both the Malay and non-Malay community in general get to know the Malay language and its usage better, and understand the different aspects of Malay culture," he said.