Tadin Sahak, in Bahasa Melayu still a subtitle language, has got a point. Interesting title. But as a movie buff, I wouldn't want to term what I read displayed across nearly half the cinema screen as 'Bahasa Melayu'.

I have always held the view that the need to display Bahasa Malaysia subtitles for the foreign English movies has long past served its purpose. Don't label me as being unpatriotic for saying this but subtitles are a mere nuisance and a great distraction especially so when they cover nearly 30 percent of the screen.

We have come a long way in mastering English. We conduct business and banking transactions in English and our travel brochures promise tourists that they won't have problems communicating with the locals since English is widely used in this country.

So why the need to have subtitles for the English movies? In the 70s I watched Bruce Lee's 'Enter The Dragon' in Frankfurt and enjoyed the movie even though I didn't speak Cantonese. Of course, one could choose to watch the German-dubbed version. But why spoil the original flavour? It would be strange to listen to Bruce Lee letting out his trademark screams in German.

Back to the local cinemas. There was one occasion when my wife and I were concentrating on a serious scene. It was hard enough to see the lead actor and actress whose faces were partly covered by the subtitles. But when a wrongly worded subtitle flashed across the screen, we could only sigh in disgust at this most unwelcome distraction. What a letdown. Instead of feeling the depth of the dialogue, we were thrown completely off balance.

So whoever is in charge of imposing the subtitle rules, will you please junk the requirement? But if, for some strange reason, this requirement must still be imposed, can you do it in a more tasteful manner instead of making it appear as a joke?

I am sure you too watch foreign movies at the cinemas unless, of course, you prefer to watch original DVDs on your expensive home theatre system where you can have the luxury of turning the distracting subtitles off.

Bahasa Melayu is not meant just for subtitling foreign movies. After 48 years of independence, surely the beloved language that is also lingua franca to more than 500 million people in Asia has a better and more meaningful use elsewhere.