KUALA LUMPUR: "My main intention is to share my knowledge. Why be scared?" This was what actress and singer Adibah Noor said in relation to her frequent acts of correcting the English language usage of various local celebrities and personalities on social media via video clips.
Yesterday, the 50-year-old former English teacher took the initiative to correct the pronunciation of a minister who had recently delivered a speech in English during an online event.
Adibah said she was just sharing her knowledge as usual, and no one should be afraid of it.
"Why be afraid of it? There's no need for that. Many of my fellow artiste friends and people I know seem to be afraid of speaking to me in English for fear of being corrected.
"I think that it's not so much fear that they're feeling but embarrassment. We're embarrassed because we don't know or don't have enough knowledge.
"And that is interpreted as being afraid. No need to be afraid or fearful. I only correct and share it with my followers and whoever that wants to watch my videos," she said in a news report today.
Adibah added that she had only corrected one word in the minister's speech which in fact would have required more fixing throughout the entire speech in terms of pronunciation, intonation and such.
"When speaking, even in Malay, we may sometimes mispronounce certain things but people will still be able to understand us.
"That's why I did not correct everything because overall, the delivery of the speech, although containing certain mispronunciations, was still acceptable and could be understood.
"It was just one word that I had to address since it was clearly the wrong way of saying it. That's all," she said.
Adibah shared that during her school days there were a few teachers whose students were very fearful of.
"We had teachers who we were afraid of. Why? Because they were strict and fierce, right? But we received knowledge from them. If they did not stress on certain things, we would not have gained the knowledge no matter what.
"So, my intention is for us to learn together. For me to share what I know. I'm not the greatest in the English language anyway," she said.
The long-standing artiste added that she realised there would be some who would not like the fact that she puts the spotlight on certain celebrities and public figures.
"There have been some who have told me not to bring attention to these people since they would be criticised and such.
"I do it in the hopes of making it go viral but not because I want to be popular. When it goes viral then it'll be easier to remember. So, the knowledge gets spread further," she said.
Previously, Adibah had also released a video where she corrected the English pronunciation of a news reader, as well as the correct way to say a few Hollywood movie titles which included Tomb Raider, Predator and Skyscraper.