Dr. Mohamed Pitchay Gani Mohamed Abdul Aziz is a prominent figure in language and literature, an educator, and a social activist. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Linguistics from the University of Malaya and has pursued postdoctoral studies at the University College London in Educational Assessment. As a writer, Dr. Pitchay has written novels, short stories and poems and has been part of Angkatan Sasterawan ’50, a post-war movement aimed at inspiring and representing the Malay community through language and literature.
Malay Heritage Foundation (MHF) Assistant General Manager, Muhammad Fadli Idris, gave a welcoming address to audiences on-site and those who tuned in via FB Live and YouTube before handing it over to MHF Vice-Chairman Dr. Azhar Ibrahim to introduce the speaker. This season’s Cendekiawan Lestari Series (CLS) is supported by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) and Rohan – Mah & Partners LLP (RMP). The CLS session is organised for the first time, in collaboration with the National Library Board (NLB).
Saturday, 15th September 2022 – Dr. Pitchay started the session by explaining how he came up with the lecture title. He shared that this question emerged due to the similarities he observed from his experience in London and Singapore, where language became less formalised and diluted due to a shift from bilingualism to multilingualism in the community. For example, he observed an increase in the informal use of English in schools and institutions in London due to the influx of migrants moving there. He drew a similar comparison to the situation in Singapore within the Malay community regarding the Malay Language. Therefore, leading to the question of to what extent the language is representative of the nation and, finally, the question of “Bahasa Melambangkan Bangsa?”.
To answer this question, Dr. Pitchay first conceptualised some general terms such as ‘Bangsa’, ‘Kaum’ and ‘Etnisiti’. He described ‘Bangsa’ as physical features such as skin colour, ‘Kaum’ as groups within the ‘Bangsa’ and ‘Etnisi’ as referring to a much broader definition that creates a feeling of unity amongst respective ethnic groups such as Javanese, Bugis and more. Dr. Pitchay also discussed the terms language and culture. For culture, Dr. Pitchay is attracted to Ismail Hussein’s (1960) conceptualisation of culture as dynamic and ever-changing according to the current time and period, as well as Mahmud Ahmad’s (1958) explanation that held to the importance of adapting ideas from outside the community to uplift the community rather than being influenced by those outside the community but adapting to be what it is today. Dr. Pitchay discussed how language is psychosocial as it is arbitrary, making language an essential social aspect of the community as it reflects its beliefs. He also drew a link between language and ethnic identity by drawing on Fishman (1977), who mentioned that language is the flesh and blood of ethnicity. Without ethnicity, it is akin to facing death.
Dr. Pitchay then shared research findings to understand the latest trends in the language of Malay Singaporeans. According to Singapore Statistics (2020), bilingualism has risen almost 100% across all races. Still, for the Malay community specifically, the use of the English Language is consistently increasing, but the use of the Malay Language is decreasing. This was again reflected in the research findings centred on using the English Language in households according to age. Previously, it has been said that the younger generation uses more English. In comparison, the older generation is the gatekeeper of the Mother Tongue Language, but this may no longer be the case as, across all ages, English language use at home has increased significantly (Singapore Statistics, 2020). Dr. Pitchay also shared that the research by Singapore Statistics (2020) also found that education level is no longer a determinant for the use of the English Language as no matter the education level, everyone now speaks English more than their Mother Tongue.
According to Singapore Statistics (2020), there is also a stable amount of inter-ethnic marriages between Malays and someone of another race, resulting in children of such marriages not using their Mother Tongue and because of the salient English Language usage in the family. Hence, due to the combination of all the factors above, Dr. Pitchay posed the possible implications to our ethnic heritage, specifically in terms of language and thought, culture and values, and attitudes and behaviours. To end off this section of his sharing, he brought in an exciting trend on the achievement of PSLE students taking the Malay Language getting a grade between A*-C and how it has been consistent despite the significant increase in the use of English language over the Malay language, therefore leading him to ask how this was maintained despite the trend observed in the earlier section.
Afterward, Dr. Pitchay presented research on the perceptions of Malays towards ethnicity, explicitly using the research findings in the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) Working Papers No. 28 (November 2017) that focused on race. Some examples of the research questions were: Perception of Malays on the importance of proficiency in Malay, their frequency of reading, writing, and speaking the ethnic language, and more. Dr. Pitchay found an interesting finding in this research on Malay respondents’ perceived importance of eating food with their hands and how it was divided by age. Even though older age groups were fine with using their hands, younger age groups did not share the same sentiments, raising the question of why this importance could be passed down from grandparents to parents but not parents to children. In general, perceptions about the significance of ethnic markers scored high percentages. However, respondents gave low percentages when asked whether they practice Malay arts, language and culture. Hence, Dr. Pitchay found a difference between what was being said and believed in and what was being practiced by the Malays.
Next, Dr. Pitchay asked, “Who are the Malays in Singapore?”. To answer this, he provided a literary perspective, as literature can introduce the sociology of the community. He uses prominent literary figures and their works to provide an image of who the Malay Singaporean community is. An example would be Harun Aminurrashid, who had pictured the Malay community as full of potential and visionary. One aspect that displays this is the Malay idiom. Malay idiom is not easy to create, and Dr. Pitchay gives an example of how a simple idiom of “Menanam Tebu di Bibir” would mean genuine and kind words. Still, if one were to add the phrase “Sedangkan rebung berduri di hati” after that, the whole idiom would change to words that are not genuine but full of ulterior motives. Hence, this exemplifies the intellectual capability that the Malay community has. Dr. Pitchay also featured the highest level of Malay intellectualism through the inventions of thousands of Malay quatrains that describe the rite-de-passage of Malays from the day they were born to their death, touching every aspect of the community. Some other examples include literary canons from Singapore pioneer authors namely Masuri SN, Muhd Ariff Ahmad, Suratman Markasan, Mohamed Latiff Mohamed and A Ghani Hamid. Hence, literature itself can picture who the Malay community is as these writers have lived through different periods and observed how the community has changed and been shaped over the years.
Towards the end of the lecture, Dr. Pitchay provided an alternative picture to explore what could have caused the findings explained in the earlier part of the lecture. Dr. Pitchay introduced a new term – Ethnic Symbolism. He explains that it means that one is aware of the existence of ethnicity and not to lose one’s own identity but will not necessarily practice it. He then dived deeper into this term and discussed three sub-points under ethnic symbolism, which are: (1) Ethnic visibility, which means that the presence of large numbers of Malay professionals and academics may not necessarily be a sign of Malay sociocultural supremacy, as not all of them are necessarily contributing to the Malay community because their presence is only impressionistic rather than real, (2) Re-embracing ethnicity which is usually for their own personal benefit of wanting to be a part of the ethnicity only when it is deemed as successful and (3) Ethnic scapegoating to which refers to the way one uses ethnicity as an excuse for their failures. He ended this section by posing two questions to the audience: (1) Does speaking Malay make us Malay? and (2) By involving ourselves in Malay activities, does it make us Malay?
Lastly, Dr. Pitchay emphasised the importance of practising and appreciating Malay ethnicity in every aspect of the community, such as at home, in school, in institutions, in leadership, during events and gatherings and in our culture and heritage. To end his lecture, he asks the question, “How do we want to define our bangsa?” and leaves the audience with the final message that while language is important, so is ethnicity in defining our bangsa as it will help to develop other aspects that allow our language and race to develop and prosper.
A Q&A segment followed the presentation, with Dr. Pitchay answering several questions posed by the attendees on-site and those tuning in via Facebook Live. CLS is one of our initiatives to provide a discursive platform for featuring ideas and perspectives from prominent figures and key thought leaders in the Singapore Malay community. Close to 20 participants attended the fifth CLS session in 2022, and more than 450 people were reached via FB Live.
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