When you are a public figure – whether an athlete, celebrity, politician or influencer – nothing you do or say will ever satisfy everyone. From the way you look to the way you speak to the things you enjoy, there will always be something for someone to criticise. One of the most common criticisms we hear online and in real life is aimed at Malaysians who cannot speak Malay despite being born and raised here.
Some celebrities who may not be fluent in the language are often subjected to such backlash. This content creator, however, received the opposite treatment. She was called out on TikTok by a netizen for always speaking Malay, claiming the language is “useless” in the country. Here is what happened:
Yesterday (Tuesday, 2nd December), content creator Mekyun posted a TikTok video on her channel responding to a hate comment from a man who criticised her for speaking Malay — or more specifically, for not being able to speak Mandarin despite being Chinese. “Why bother speaking Malay? It’s useless! If you want to live in Malaysia, English and Mandarin are enough. How are you even an influencer? Your ancestors must be ashamed and crying to see how you turned out,” the individual wrote.
Normally, celebrities would ignore hate comments, but since this person brought up her family, the internet personality chose not to stay silent. “First of all, I was raised in a Hokkien family, so my mother tongue is Hokkien. Secondly, I’ve been using Malay and English throughout my life with friends. I was never taught Mandarin and, again, my mother tongue is not Mandarin,” she replied.
She then argued that her ancestors would be proud of her for being able to live in harmony with everyone in Malaysia because of her proficiency in the Malay language. “It’s our national language. It’s the language that unites us all. And I disagree with your point that you don’t need to speak Malay to live in Malaysia, because it doesn’t make sense that you’re not fluent in the national language despite being born and raised here,” she elaborated.
Mekyun’s followers quickly came to her defence, agreeing with her points and criticising the netizen for being so narrow-minded. Others commented that they shared the same experience as the influencer, being more fluent in Malay themselves.
Watch the video below:
@mekyunnnn Korang setuju tak dengan apa yang Mekyun cakap? Haih… STOP lah dengan mentaliti macam ni sebab mentaliti macam ni lah yang sebenarnya wujudkan jurang antara kita, sedangkan Bahasa Melayu sepatutnya menyatukan kita semua.
Source: TikTok
