It seems that even after the chaos that was 2020, people are still making a huge fuss over the most unnecessary things just for clout.
An example of this unnecessary over-the-top drama? The so-called controversy over this recent (and in my opinion, totally harmless) tweet by Netflix Malaysia.
Real talk, what are some of the funniest show titles, kalau we translate to Malay? We'll start:
Bird Box -> Kotak Burung ??? — Netflix Malaysia (@NetflixMY) August 24, 2020
On a tweet they posted on August 24, 2020, Netflix Malaysia's Twitter account made a tweet asking its followers to translate some English titles literally into Malay.
The tweet used 2018's sci-fi thriller Bird Box as an example. And of course, in a literal translation to Malay it would be "Kotak Burung," with "kotak" meaning box and "burung" meaning bird.
Most people played along with the game and gave some pretty funny responses.
Crash Landing On You = Jatuh terhempap di atasmu — 1000% Hungry (@EyrahClyne) August 24, 2020
The Kissing Booth ? Gerai Bercium ? — n?s?h (@anxscha) August 24, 2020
omg the fresh prince of bel air — putera segar udara bel ? — Rathika Sheila (@rathikasheila) August 24, 2020
Ok je kalau tak ok. pic.twitter.com/J2LHmMGZuF — Nor Salleh ??? (@mnss2903) August 25, 2020
Lucifer - Setan HAHAHAHA — ???? (@rphrxie) August 24, 2020
And of course, one of my personal favorites.
Gossip Girl = Makcik Bawang — fie (@wfqhk) August 24, 2020
These tweets brought a lot of chuckles to most Malaysian Netflix users on Twitter.
Unfortunately though, not everyone thought it was funny.
Some Malaysians took offense to the tweet, claiming that it was "insulting" the country's national language.
Why are you making fun of bahasa Kebangsaan? — Azwa Kamaruddin ?? (@scholarazwa) August 25, 2020
Perlukah hina Bahasa Melayu?
Sudahlah itu Bahasa Kebangsaan dalam Bulan Kemerdekaan.https://t.co/XdH99gJ7Y7 — ?? ???????????????????? (@jibfitri) August 25, 2020
This person asked "Do you need to insult Malay?" and included a tweet from Netflix Indonesia that was written in Indonesian.
Bodo je lawak camni. Zaman dulu? sekolah rendah boleh la kan masa nk try blend in lawak? bdk pandai
Translate literally memang la jadi macam ni. Linguistik setiap bahasa tu kan lain?. Bodoh macam tombol pintu la admin ni — yol?? (@khairlanwr) August 26, 2020
"Acting like this is stupid. If you were in primary school back in the old days it'll be OK to translate literally like this to blend in using comedy with the smarter kids. The linguistics of each language are too different. The admin is as stupid as a door knob," another Malaysian posted.
There were even some people saying they would be deleting their Netflix account as a result of this tweet.
Bye2 netlix pic.twitter.com/XrmIQu5Qjg — faizalbahasan (@faizalbahasan) August 28, 2020
So why are people upset over the tweet?
Twitter user @YaminLawut claims that the reason people found the original Netflix tweet so funny was because Malaysians thought of the Malay language as "inherently unsophisticated."
It's funny because Malay is seen as "inferior" due to shoddy translations!
It's funny because Malay is so associated with melodrama that nobody cares for unique works like scifi in that language!
The language of my own userbase is inherently unsophisticated, amirite? ? https://t.co/ecyydA5YEh — ?? Palang Merah Lubnan ???? (@YaminLawut) August 24, 2020
In a Twitter thread, @YaminLawut continued to write that they believed that poking fun at these literal translations "perpetuate surface-level judgement giving low self-worth on targeted speakers."
...low self-worth on targeted speakers (and hence cultures). All languages are special in their own way.
It's bad enough that certain languages are related to certain classes in friction with one another. I dunno, such jokes just don't sit well for me. — ?? Palang Merah Lubnan ???? (@YaminLawut) August 25, 2020
They went on to write, "I think the idea behind this joke also dismisses real problems (like awful translations) that ruin progress of languages in the first place. It'd be like blaming a inanimate knife for some faraway murder...A language is a mere tool that one makes of it."
Another Malaysian on Facebook also made the following comment in a private Facebook group.
So... What's the big issue?
From the tweets above there seems to be a general consensus among the critics.
The first being that Malay as a language is not being taken seriously by some of the people who use it, leading to its possible demise in the upcoming future.
Secondly, because some of us may not be from a race or ethnic group that primarily uses the Malay language (in Malaysia, that could be anyone who identifies as Chinese or Indian) we don't have the same "rights" to not be offended or to be offended as it's "not our culture" in the first place.
But the thing is, as a Malaysian-Chinese, who lives in Malaysia, who has a Malaysian identity card, and who has grown up studying and speaking both English and Malay, I really don't understand why there's even a "controversy" about this.
Languages change over the course of time, and Malay is certainly not the only language that will "cease to be" in the future.
It's inevitable that in a multi-lingual country such as Malaysia, because there are so many languages and dialects we use on an everyday basis, they will be mixed up and be occasionally "tarnished" as the outraged Malaysians pointed out.
That's just how languages evolve over time.
Even in Netflix Malaysia's tweet itself, the person who posted it was using what many Malaysians call Bahasa Rojak, which is the way many Malaysians described the mixture of languages and dialects into one cohesive sentence.
Heck, it even has its own Wikipedia page! I don't know about you but I think that's pretty cool.
And at the end of the day, the tweet by Netflix Malaysia was just a joke about literal translations. Which you know, happen everywhere to every language in the world.
But that's just my opinion. Care to share yours?
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Cover image sourced from Lowyat.com.
