Lost in translation?
Written by Nadia Hassan, The Edge
Was Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's remarks in assessing the lack of support for Barisan Nasional (BN) from the Chinese community in the Bukit Gantang by-election taken out of context or merely lost in translation?
Given that the remarks were made during an interview with Mingguan Malaysia, is it still the case of politicians saying different things to different audiences, as suggested by a commentary on the Malaysian Insider website?
Bear in mind, nuances can differ from one language to another and perfect translations of certain words cannot at times be achieved. Also body language and facial expressions are also important elements in communication.
Here we reproduce the Muhyiddin's remarks in as close an English translation as possible and let readers decide for themselves if Muhyiddin's remarks were taken out of context and what his intentions may be in making those remarks while assessing the lack of support for the BN.
Mingguan Malaysia's leading question was: "Tetapi bukankah setiap kali pilihan raya kecil, permintaan kaum bukan Melayu dipenuhi, malah di Bukit Gantang walaupun peruntukan RM1 juta diberikan tetapi kaum Cina tidak juga menyokong BN?"
Translated: "But isn't it the case at every by-election, the requests of the non-Malays are met; in fact in Bukit Gantang even though a RM1 million allocation was given, the Chinese still did not support BN?"
The following are the Bahasa Malaysia version and the English translation of Muhyiddin's remarks.
Bahasa Malaysia:
Oleh itu kita kena kaji psikologi apa yang menyebabkan masyarakat Cina tidak bersedia untuk berubah, pada zaman dahulu tidak begitu.
Persoalannya apakah mereka melihat dalam konteks senario politik baru ini, selepas kerajaan BN tumbang di lima buah negeri, mereka sudah menjadi kuasa penentu?
Orang Cina rasa sekarang, walaupun mereka kumpulan minoriti, merekalah menentukan kerana kelompok masyarakat Melayu sudah berpecah tiga kumpulan.
Masyarakat Cina tidak berpecah mereka bersatu, setidak-tidaknya dari segi semangat apabila bersama-sama membuat sesuatu keputusan.
Dalam keadaan ini, mereka boleh menentukan keputusan sesuatu pilihan raya dan apabila kesan itu dapat dilihat dalam pilihan raya umum lalu dan beberapa pilihan raya kecil, mereka fikir sekarang mereka lebih ada kuasa penentu, bukan sahaja Cina malah masyarakat India pun begitu, apa tah lagi apabila mendapat kedudukan dalam kerajaan yang ditubuhkan pakatan pembangkang dengan menjadi Timbalan Ketua Menteri, Speaker dan exco kerajaan negeri, jadi ini bagi mereka seolah-olah tawaran yang diberikan oleh pihak sana lebih baik daripada kita pernah tawarkan dalam konteks BN, jadi ini kita harus teliti.
The question is, do they perceive in the context of this new political scenario, after BN was defeated in five states, that they have become the deciding factor? The Chinese feel now that although they are a minority, they are the deciding force because the Malay community has split into three factions. The Chinese community does not have this issue, they are united, at least in spirit when they make a united decision.