June 18, 2018

Malay is the language of a large group of people in Southeast Asia. The language is spoken by about 13.5 million in Malaysia, plus millions of other people who live in nearby Brunei, Indonesia, and Singapore. Malay belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of Austronesian, a language family that includes Javanese, Sundanese, and Tagalog.

The flag of Malaysia flies over some 13.5 million Malay speakers. Credit: © PhotoRoman/Shutterstock

The Malay language has numerous dialects. The official language of Malaysia, Bahasa Malaysia, is based largely on the Malay dialect of Johor, a southern state in Peninsular Malaysia. The official language of Indonesia, Bahasa Indonesia, is based on the dialect used in the Riau Islands of Indonesia. Because of the similarities between the language used in Johor and in the nearby Riau Islands, the two forms are sometimes classified together as Johor-Riau Malay. Other dialects include Ambon Malay, Ternate Malay, and Banjar Malay. In most cases, speakers of different dialects can communicate with each other without great difficulty.

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Malaysia. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

The Malay language includes elements of Sanskrit and Arabic. These elements entered the language through contact with the culture and religions of India and the Arab world. Contact with traders from many countries led to the development of Bazaar Malay, which became widely spoken in trading communities.

The oldest known Malay text is a stone inscription from the early years of the Srivijaya Empire, a Malay kingdom that emerged in the late 600′s and lasted until the late 1300′s. The text is written in the Indian Pallava script, and it tells of military expeditions. Later Malay texts were written in Devanagari, an alphabet and script used to write Hindi. Beginning in the late 1300′s, many Malay literary and religious works were written in an Arabic-based script called Jawi or Classical Malay. Beginning in the 1500′s, Dutch and British influence in Malaysia led to the adoption of a Malay writing system using the Roman alphabet.

In the 1970’s, Indonesia and Malaysia adopted a common spelling system for their official languages. Since then, efforts have continued to further standardize the Malay language.

March 23, 2015

Lee Kuan Yew in December 2009. (Credit: AP Photo)

Lee Kuan Yew, who turned Singapore from a small port into a modern, prosperous nation, died today at 91. Lee became Singapore’s first prime minister in 1959, after the nation gained independence from British rule. Lee Kuan Yew was a native of Singapore who was educated in law in the United Kingdom. In Singapore, Lee and the party he formed, the People’s Action Party (PAP), worked hard to rid Singapore of British colonial rule after World War II (1939-1945).

Singapore is made up of one large island (also called Singapore) and more than 50 smaller islands at the tip of the Malay Peninsula. Initially, when Lee became prime minister of the former colony, he believed that Singapore would have to join with the Federation of Malaysia, which included Malaya and the Borneo territories of Sabah (formerly North Borneo) and Sarawak. Lee believed the tiny amount of land held by Singapore was too small and that it held too few resources to support a nation. Further, the people of Singapore did not have a common ethnic background or language. Singapore joined the Malaysian federation in 1963, but by 1965 it had been asked to leave.

Lee served as prime minister for 31 years. He was sometimes criticized for being too dictatorial and for lacking concern for the freedoms and civil rights of his citizens. Singapore’s government became known for its authoritarian rule, with rules sometimes covering relatively minor concerns—chewing gum prohibitions, for example. However, Lee fought hard against corruption and crime, and Singapore became an important financial, trade, and transportation center.

Other World Book articles:

• Malaysia (1965-a Back in time article)
• Singapore (2011-a Back in Time article)