AGAINST the backdrop of nationalist-minded Malays slamming non-Malay citizens for their poor Malay language fluency, Selangor state assembly speaker Lau Weng San has been praised for reprimanding first-term Lembah Jaya state assemblyman Syed Ahmad Syed Abdul Rahman Alhadad a.k.a. Altimet for using English during a state assembly proceeding.
In a brief clip, the famous rapper/composer-turned politician who is a PKR state representative was heard posing a question to his Seri Serdang Amanah colleague Abbas Salimi Che Azmi, “do you feel Selangor deserves better from members of the opposition of this state legislative assembly?”
“This post has nothing to do with political issues, just an expression of frustration that the Malay language is not properly respected by Malay leaders,” lamented poster Saufy Jauhary 🇲🇾 (@SaufyJauhary) of the clip on the X platform.
Sampai speaker Cina yang tegur sebab ADUN Melayu tak guna bahasa Melayu… 🤦🏻♂️
(Penafian: hantaran ini tiada kaitan dengan isu politik, sekadar luahan kekecewaan bahasa Melayu tidak dimartabatkan oleh pemimpin Melayu dengan sebaiknya) pic.twitter.com/eqJPXtza6v
— Saufy Jauhary 🇲🇾 (@SaufyJauhary) November 24, 2024
A few commenters ponied out that this is likely the case of “new kid on the block” Syed Ahmad being unaware that he has to first utter the phrase “dengan izin” (literally, “with permission”) if one needs to use English in the august house or that he was too eager to display a sycophantic tendency.
Others wondered if he wanted to speak in English to “look smart”.
One commenter praised Lau who has served as the 12th Selangor State Legislative Assembly speaker since September 2023 for not taking sides despite the Selangor DAP state organising secretary and Syed Ahmad belong to the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.
Another commenter stated that Syed Ahmad deserved to be reprimanded “regardless of whether the speaker is Malay, Chinese, Indian, Dusun, Iban, etc” for failing to converse in Bahasa Malaysia.
In fact, one commenter was dumbfounded that the Malay opposition did not capitalise or turn the matter into an issue.
At the end of the day, one commenter summed best when he suggested that whether Syed Ahmad was carried away with his rapper style or otherwise, he would eventually get used to his new surroundings. – Nov 25, 2024
