Malaysian authorities from all levels from the Prime Minister downwards have been harping on the need to attract more Malaysian visitors and tourists to Malaysia but they fail to realize that Malaysia is so tourist unfriendly. Just look at the signboards everywhere, they are mainly written in Malay language; the directions to the places of interest or necessity, you name it they would be in Malay. Even the safety instructions beside the highways and byways are just in the Malay language. How are the people from overseas going to understand ‘ Pandu Laju Maut Menunggu’. I am a citizen, belonging to Malaysia and so very well understand what the sign says. But pity the poor foreigner. For all we know he could be just speeding not knowing that death awaits him!
Okay, fair enough. You must be proud of the national language. But it should not be at the expense of inconveniencing the much welcome tourists. You are not going to lose if English translations are placed below the Malay signage. Okay, make the English signage smaller if it satisfies your ego. At the end of the day you are not going to lose anything. In fact you are going to earn admiration and appreciation from the foreign guests and even from the foreign workers who are living in the millions here now. The spillover effect is that even our own citizens will have a chance to grasp a thing or two of the English language if all the signboards have English translations.
