I always believe that the more languages we master, the less bigoted we are. And the less bigoted we are, the happier and more harmonious our societies become.

In Malaysia, the more languages and friends we know, the less credulous and less malleable we are because we can then cross-check what some politicians say in the media of different languages and people speaking different languages, on one national issue.

It is for this belief that I am always grateful to God, my parents and all my teachers who have given me the resources and opportunities to learn Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and English, making it enjoyable for me to live, work and make many good friends in this multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious world .

My parents were neither very rich nor highly educated, but they were certainly street-smart. They sent four of their children to Chinese-language primary schools, but another two to English-language ones.

When we came home, we met and taught each other what we knew better. Classical economists like Adam Smith or David Ricardo would probably call it the benefit of the division of labour. Modern management theorists conceptualise it as synergy.

However, all of us started to learn the Malay language from Standard One (at the age of seven), because by then it had become a compulsory subject. We thus already had a good background of Malay language before we proceeded to the secondary level of education.

Unforgettable year

To my generation, the year 1975 was unforgettable because for the first time, all subjects in the secondary schools, with the exceptions of Chinese, Tamil and English as single subjects, were taught in Malay.

So, while my three elder sisters studied biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, geography and history, I was taught biologi , fizik , kimia , matematik , ilmu alam and sejarah or tawarikh .

I still remember my teachers struggling to obtain sufficient number of the Malay-language textbooks for all the subjects for every student.

My parents had to work doubly hard to earn more money to purchase an entirely new set of textbooks. Somehow, we managed to overcome the problems.

In my fifth-form public examination, I scored a high credit for the Malay language paper which also included a test on the understanding on the classical expressions of the Sejarah Melayu (The Malay Annals)

Even till today, I still remember the manner for addressing the sultans and Malay rulers in the classical language, but my personal sympathy has always been for Hang Jebat, not Hang Tuah.

Hang Jebat reminds me of the upright and principled heroes in ancient China. By the way, that high credit in the Malay language which I acquired in 1980 still enabled me to be qualify for the master's of art course in civilisational studies at Universiti Malaya in 1999.

However, I declined the offer as a symbol of personal solidarity with Dr Chandra Muzaffar whose teaching contract, to my great disappointment, was terminated unexpectedly.

Helped tremendously

During the seven years of secondary schooling, I read Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian, Mastika and Dewan Masyarakat as recommended by teachers for us to improve our reading and writing skills in the Malay language.

Mastering the Malay language has always been good and useful. I remember the many Malay customers who frequented my father's coffee shop were full of praises for my siblings for speaking to them in good Malay.

We also communicated with Indian customers, especially those from the middle and lower-income groups, in Malay. No Chinese has ever accused us of being 'traitors' to the Chinese race.

When I studied Southeast Asian politics and modern history at the Monash University in Australia in the mid-1980s under Professor Hebert Feith who is an expert in almost all things Indonesian, my knowledge of the Malay language helped tremendously, especially in understanding and researching primary sources of the modern history of Indonesia.

Equipped with the knowledge of the Malay language, I read Tan Mlaka's Dari Penjara ke Penjara and many other Indonesian books and publications on legendary figures such as Mas Alimin, Adjeng Raden Kartini, Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta and Abdul Haris Nasution, or those by more modern intellectuals like Rif Budiman.

Thus, in late 1998 and early 1999, some Mandarin television programmes and newspapers in Singapore often invited me to share a thought or two with their audience and readers on modern Indonesian history, current situations and politics.

And when I was an elected member of parliament, I wrote my parliamentary speeches and framed questions directly in Malay because as a junior opposition member, I could not afford to hire any assistance.

Like all the other fellow members of the House, I spoke, asked questions, answered questions and debated in Malay.

Intellectually sterile

I am therefore a product and a beneficiary of the national language policy and system of education.

For anyone to accuse me of "questioning the implementation of the national language policy" is simply over-imaginative as well as intellectually sterile. I just laugh and keep on laughing.

Even nowadays, I still read Harakah and Berita Keadilan to supplement or countervail Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian . Prior to the ban on Detik, Al-Wasilah and Eksklusif , I had read and enjoyed them regularly too.

When I was in Manila last July to attend a regional symposium on 'The State, Civil Society and Media in Asean', Indonesian journalists and I communicated in Malay with each other privately, and to share many ideas.

All of us are happy that presidents B J Habibie and Abdulrahman Wahid restored the right for Indonesians to learn and use Mandarin that had been banned by extremists and bigots for more than three decades.

However, I still use Mandarin-Chinese or English as and when it is required. In writing for Chinese-language newspapers or speaking to Chinese-educated Malaysians or foreigners, I use Mandarin.

On the other hand, when I talk or write to English-educated Malaysians and Western friends, or speaking at international functions, I switch to English.

To my mother, I speak in Cantonese while I greet one of my brothers-in-law in simple Tamil.

Even when engaging in the many dialogues and conversations with Said Zahari, a true, not bogus, fighter for Merdeka and press freedom, we use Malay, English and Chinese alternately.

Said Zahari, on his part, is going to publish his memoirs in the three languages.

Dr M was right

As a modern citizen of Malaysia, I am fully aware of my obligation and right under Article 152 of the Federal Constitution. As a human being, I am entitled to the rights enshrined under Article 2 and Article 19 of the United Nations' Declaration of Human Rights (1948).

However, the principal point is that normal human minds, if used productively and positively, can operate more than one language programme effectively. It is not a zero-sum game as many language-nationalists or language-imperialists used to think in those bygone years of colonialism and the Cold War.

In other words, one can simultaneously be a lover of the Malay language, and an English- Chinese-Tamil and Arabic-speaking friend, not foe, of this beautiful world.

It was because of this more flexible, world-compatible, business-friendly and practical attitude to languages that I privately empathised with Dr Mahathir from a distance when Utusan Malaysia attacked him several years ago for speaking English to the Indonesian media.

Till today, I feel that Dr Mahathir was not wrong on that occasion. In fact, late last year when I was invited to participate in the 30th Renaissance Day of the Sultanate of Oman, I found that most of the political and military leaders of that Islamic nation, including His Majesty Sultan Qaboo, whom I met in Muscat during a state banquet, spoke good English to the international guests, diplomats and the media.

I came back to write about that progressive, enlightened and modern Islamic nation in Mandarin, and someone has also translated my works into English for publication in a Thailand newspaper.

Noisy nostalgia

Back home, Harakah , the organ of an allegedly 'extremist' party, publishes its English-language supplements in every edition. In Chinese-language newspapers, advertisements on English tuition classes for both students and working adults can be found everyday on the front pages. >br>

As Chinese community leaders are urging young Chinese who have already mastered Mandarin to upgrade their English proficiency, Dr Mahathir too is calling on Malaysians, especially the Malays to master the international language.

Young Malaysians have a common future to face, and many challenges to meet in order to survive and prosper in the fast-moving 21st century. It is utterly irresponsible for any bigots and opportunists who are disorientated by new realities, to try and fool around with the future of the nation and its youths due to their petty, egoistic, obstinate and noisy nostalgia. It is time to de-politicizs languages, and respect all of them as God's gift to mankind.

JAMES WONG WING ON is a former member of parliament (1990-1995) and also a leading Mandarin-Chinese opinion writer and columnist. He read economics and political science at the Monash University in Australia from 1983 to 1986. All views expressed herein are his own, and are open to criticisms and debates.