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wetbenang
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Tuesday, August 01, 2006
“YANG KURIK KUNDI, YANG MERAH SAGA....”
(Note: I wrote and published this article elsewhere some time back, but thought it would be OK to recycle it here.)
A few weeks ago, my colleagues and I attended a three-day course to improve on our understanding, command and usage of Bahasa Melayu so that we could communicate more effectively and efficiently in the national language. For me, it was certainly a process of re-discovering and re-appreciating the strength, beauty and adaptability of the language, which has been the lingua franca of the Malay Archipelago since centuries ago. After all, the last formal training I had -- if you could call that “training” – on my mother tongue was in secondary school. And you would agree with me that we were not taught much then. Whatever little we had learnt, I’m pretty sure we have forgotten, anyway.
During the three-day course, we were exposed to many different aspects of the language, including the national policy on Bahasa Melayu and the policy’s implementation, the language’s functions, its evolution, as well as aspects on grammar and spelling. There was also a module on kesantunan berbahasa, or the gracefulness of and correctness in using the language, in our day-to-day communication and interaction. In fact, the course facilitator dedicated one whole day to discussions on this aspect of the language, and how it builds, forms and shapes our social system, our values, our social etiquette, our character and so forth. I always have a particularly keen interest in this subject and its relation to the Malay kesopanan dan kesusilaan as well as to the universal code of etiquette.
In the Malay community, the norms and messages of the Malay etiquette are manifested in thousands of pantun, proverbs, adages and idioms. But sometimes, the deeper meaning of a pantun or a proverb is lost on us because we do not really understand how or why that particular pantun or proverb was coined, and why certain words or phrases were used. In a pantun, for example, each of the words and phrases, even those in the first two lines of the quatrain, is carefully chosen and carries a significant meaning. Yes, the words and phrases are there not just to rhyme. And most traditional pantun contain much wisdom to guide us in almost all aspects of our life. Just like the concept behind kesantunan berbahasa reminds us of who we are, where we come from, where we are (or should be) going, and how we should get there. Such is the beauty, the richness and the refinement of Bahasa Melayu.
Yang kurik kundi,
Yang merah saga;
Yang baik budi,
Yang indah bahasa.
Of course, as we evolve and change with the time, as does the language, we do not pay much attention to its beauty, richness and refinement. Heck, we don’t even understand certain words or phrases, let alone try to fathom their deeper meaning or significance. And we wonder why there are so many individuals out there in the society who lack budi bahasa or budi pekerti, or both.
Which reminds me of a little conversation I had the other day with a couple of instructors at my fitness club. Apparently they were – they still are -- at their wits’ end on how to handle this particular member who seems to have ditched all tenets of kesopanan dan kesusilaan in her interaction with staff of the club. According to the instructors, they have also received verbal complaints about her from other members of the club. “Rude”, “loud”, “sarcastic”, and “caustic” are just some of the favourite adjectives they closely associated with her. I, too, had had the displeasure of interacting with her, when she decided to bulldoze her way into a conversation that she was never a part of in the first place. And the remark that she passed was downright rude and uncalled for. Her incessant chatter, and always about herself, drive some members of the gym up the wall. Nowadays, I steer away from her whenever I see her in the club. I am also considering wearing a pair of really effective earplugs.
Tingkap papan kayu bersegi,
Sampan sakat di Pulau Angsa;
Indah tampan kerana budi,
Tinggi bangsa kerana bahasa.
I suppose we can never stress enough on the importance of budi bahasa and budi pekerti as they say a lot about a person. I’m not sure whether people still do this, but when I was growing up, my parents and relatives were always reminding me to “bawa diri baik-baik” whenever I returned to school after term breaks, or before I left home for extended visits somewhere. Even when I was in university, letters I received from home always ended with the phrase, or its variations. Although short, it went a long way in reminding me of how I should behave and carry myself wherever I was. It still works for me, and it has become my own favourite piece of advice.
Now, I wonder whether anyone has ever told our good friend at the gym to “bawa diri baik-baik”, but the next time she steps on my toe, I’m just going to look squarely at her in the face and say, “Yang kurik kundi, yang merah saga….”, and hope that she’d get it. If that fails, I’d go the whole hog with this lightly veiled threat:
Ubi keledek dibuat pengat,
Mari dimakan di bulan puasa;
Wahai cik adik hendaklah ingat,
Kerana mulut badan binasa.
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