Friday, January 18, 2008

The (very wise) Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka


Guess my horror when my brother Keefe showed me this.

Jawaban?

At first sight, I thought that it was just a typo. Just another cheap workbook I thought.
Imagine my horror when he told me that "jawaban" is Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka's new spelling for "jawapan" ("answers" in English).

WHY CAN'T YOU MAKE UP YOUR MIND, DEWAN BAHASA?

Whats next in the series of errata for the Malay language? Will "alat kelengkapan" become "alat kelengkaban"? Will "ungkapan" become "ungkaban"? Why the need for this change? Will Malaysians need to go to school again every 5 years to update our tatabahasa (Malay language grammar)?

Guess for the layman, "jawapan" will still stay "jawapan". But will this change Malaysia's version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Imagine Jalaluddin Hassan, saying his slightly altered trademark line in the next season of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Malaysian edition:

"Adakah ini JAWABAN muktamad anda?"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

Changing the language just to suit the whims and fancies of the Dewan?

THIS IS MALAYSIAAAAAAAA!!!

1 comments:

Mujtahid005 said...

haha. i totally agree with u abt DBP.
but i dont quite agree about "jawaban" though, since both "jawapan" and "jawaban" are still accepted.
but yes, as a Malay i'm more pissed off with them...
u must use "oleh sebab" instead of "oleh kerana" n "dalam kalangan"
instead of "di kalangan",
like it'll change the meaning of sentence of we use either.
we are accustomed to this language and now... to change it?