Manglish and communication gap

“Double-storey bungalow”, “Three-storey bungalow” or even “Semi-detached bungalow”, are common descriptions which we can find daily in newspaper advertisements.

I found out the correct meaning of “bungalow” one evening, after dinner in an English friend’s house in Leeds. I took a book on building which was lying nearby and read a few lines. I asked him, a Chartered Surveyor, “Why is the cost of building a bungalow lower than a double-storey terrace house?” He replied, “Of course, a bungalow is only one-storey!”

Imagine the following conversation between an Englishman and a local builder:-

Malcolm: Chu Kang, I want to build a bungalow on my piece of land in Sungei Buloh. Could you give me a quotation please?

Chu Kang: How many storeys you want? I can build one, two or three storey bungalows!


The word “supersede” has been so frequently spelled incorrectly as “supercede” that I am sure many people were swayed into thinking the latter spelling is correct. Even newspaper editors sometimes failed to notice the error, let alone the reading public.

Once I asked an English colleague, who was a graduate trainee, how he would spell “supersede” and he spelt it with a “c”. When I pointed out to him the word in a dictionary, he said, “Honestly, I didn’t think it was incorrect and wouldn’t even bother to look up the dictionary!”


In conversational English, we often come across someone who would ask, “Do you mind if I smoke?”

Many Malaysians are likely to answer, “Yes.” As in “Yes (go ahead)” very obligingly as is common with our hospitality towards guests or foreigners.

The Englishman is likely to be startled and say, “You mean to say, you actually mind that I smoke?”


In Malaysia, I have come across a few people actually claiming that they speak fluent English. Yet, upon listening carefully, their sentences consist of a mixture of English, Malay and Cantonese or Hokien! Surely, any English-speaking foreigner, including Chinese from Hong Kong, cannot understand fully.

Malaysian: “This lighter yoursah? Myswan cannot work onelah. Can borrow yourswanah?”
English: "Is this your lighter? Mine doesn't work. Mind if I borrow yours?"
Malaysian: “I stay in a kampong datswhy I don’t like city one.” “My son very pandai one you know?”
English: "I live in a village and I dislike city life. My son is a bright one. Do you know?"

The following sentences sound correct, but not grammatically:-

“You can go to KL, isn’t it?” "You can go to KL, can't you?"
“You are 22 years old, isn’t it?” "You are 22 years old, aren't you?"
“All of us are going, isn’t it?” "All of us are going, aren't we?"

I can safely say nobody can claim to know perfect English. In fact, there is no perfect English, it being a living language and each year, there are new words being coined as well as foreign words being added on.

But in Malaysia, the level of English has dropped so much that even some university graduates cannot converse in English.

A former classmate, who speaks so-called “fluent English”, lamented that his English is better than his son! Fortunately, his son is currently studying in Australia and hopefully, he will be back speaking a much improved English to challenge his dad!

We must bear in mind that some native English can speak the language but are practically illiterate, just like some Malaysians in the south, speaking Mandarin like a dialect, but not necessarily able to read or write it. It is also easier to read than be able to write, as the former involves recognizing and not necessarily understanding, while the latter involves the ability to make sentences to describe and so on.

In case there are any English teachers reading this posting, I am like a “sek siew siew, parn toi pew” or translated as “know a little, pretending to be a representative”. After all, to quote William Hung, “I have no professional training!”