I refer the column Malaysian literature in English, anyone? by Sim Kwang Yang. I disagree with Sim's view on Malaysian literature. He concluded that English is the only suitable medium for the birth of a great Malaysian literature.
First and foremost, Sim did not give a definition on what he meant by Malaysian literature. As he has suggested in his article, there are many award-winning Malaysian writers who wrote in the Chinese language. I do not understand why their literary works are not considered as great Malaysian literature by Sim.
If Sim considers only literary work written in languages that most Malaysians understand, I assume he means works written in Bahasa Malaysia or English, since these are the two compulsory subjects in our schools.
A generation ago, most Malaysians were educated in English-medium schools (secondary schools). However, all but the 61 Chinese secondary schools are now using Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction for most courses. The most widely understood language, and the language that describes Malaysian life, is Bahasa Malaysia.
As pointed out by many concerned citizens, English proficiency among Malaysians is at all time low. The small group of Malaysians who speak English fluently is an elite group. Let us not turn our great Malaysian literature into an elitist's bedtime story (pardon me for my anti-elitist view).
Sim also pointed out that Bahasa Malaysia has been too politicised that non-Malays would resist using the language. This statement is half-true. Many Malaysians of non-Malay background try and will continue to try communicating with the majority of the population in this language which everyone is most familiar with.
He also mentioned that literary works that are not produced in BM will be sidelined. This statement is contradictory to Sim's hypothesis. If non-BM literary works will inevitably be sidelined, how will English literary works become great Malaysian literature?
Sim's observation about the small market for local literary works is the correct diagnosis of Malaysia's literature situation. As he mentioned, people are more interested in books on fortune-telling, cookery and cheap romances and (please note) not foreign or English literature.
Instead of believing that English is the only language that can be used to produce great Malaysian literature, maybe we should pay more attention to Malaysians' poor reading culture. Without a market, no literature will survive. The rapidly expanding Malay bourgeoisie will inevitably create a demand for literature written in the language they are most familiar with, which until now is still Bahasa Malaysia.
It is hard to believe that the literature produced by and for 70 percent (and rising) of the Malaysian population (native BM speakers), whose buying power is rising, will not become great Malaysian literature.
