KUALA LUMPUR: Actress Sharifah Amani says she once admitted that she could not speak Malay well, not because she was proud of it, but rather because she needed help in polishing up on speaking the national language.
The 33-year-old artiste, who is well-known for her character Orked in Yasmin Ahmad's Orked trilogy, wrote this in response to popular drama director Shahrulezad Mohameddin’s recent posting on his Instagram about Malays who proudly claim that they’re not conversant in their own mother tongue.
“I remember how I told everyone of my incapability to master the language back in my early days as an artiste but it wasn’t because I was proud of the fact. I was just being honest. Maybe it was my way of asking for help to master the language. Maybe I was too naive then and maybe it was not the proper way to seek help,” she wrote.
Because of her naivete, she was trashed by many, which resulted in her staying away from using the language.
She said that for years many would still bring that up to criticise her.
“But then I met you, Bahri, Isma and all, who weren’t judgemental at all for my level of proficiency in Malay. Because of your encouragement, I had dared to improve my command of the national language."
“And now, I had even acted in a monologue play, took part in a debate, all in Malay and I'm very confident of my command of the language."