| James Kon |
ACCORDING to findings of a study by the Language and Literature Bureau (DBP), 50.5 per cent of the public in Brunei communicates in Malay Language at home.
Only 31.5 per cent of them use it to speak with friends and 38.8 per cent converse in the country’s official language at workplace, the study has found.
The research also showed a drastic drop in the use of Malay Language among secondary school students. Only 48.6 per cent of them use it at home while 38.8 per cent communicate with friends in Malay Language and 43.7 per cent speak it at school.
However, the survey also indicated that 82.2 per cent of primary school students communicate in Malay Language at home. Malay Language is the favourite of 80.3 per cent of them when conversing with friends while 62.1 per cent speak it at school.
The survey, carried out from November 2016 to May 2017, involved as respondents more than 1,000 primary students, some 1,600 secondary school and college students and 500 members of the public.
The study aimed to find out the level of Malay Language usage among citizens of the country.
The survey found that 71.9 per cent primary school respondents prefer to read Malay language mass media materials, however only 39.4 per cent watch Malay TV programmes and 52.2 per cent listen to Malay radio channels.
According to the findings, 53.6 per cent secondary students read Malay Language materials while a meagre 8.3 per cent watch Malay TV programmes and 27.3 per cent listen to Malay radio channels.
Some 65.9 per cent of the general public reads Malay media materials, but only 15.6 per cent of them watch Malay TV programmes and 36 per cent listen to Malay radio channels.
According to Hajah Sariani binti Haji Ishak, Acting Deputy Director of DBP, “The findings show primary students are still utilising Malay Language, however at the secondary level, its usage has dropped, and at the community level, less people are using the Malay Language.”
Overall, she said, the use of Malay Language is disappointing because many people are using a ‘Rojak’ language – meaning a mix of Malay and English languages.
In a test of 50 Brunei Malay words, held as part of the survey, a majority of the members of the public were found to be well versed in Malay Language.
Most respondents opined that the community needs to prioritise the use of Malay Language and to preserve it.
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