The Many benefits of Bi- and Multilingualism

 The Many Benefits of Bi- and Multilingualism 

M. Bakri MusaMarch 8, 2026

I am bilingual (English and Malay); I dream in both languages. However, when I speak I use only one language. I have not yet developed the irritating habit, most noticeable among Malays and Filipinos, where they would switch back and forth in both languages within the same sentence, the linguist’s code switching. Our local professors and leaders cannot utter even a simple sentence in complete Malay or English. It is all jumbled up. 

       There are many benefits to being bilingual. During my freshman English class, I would often get favorable comments on my essays along such lines as “interesting viewpoint!” Later I would hear similar words at various committee meetings when I came forward with a compromise.

       My first reaction was of course to believe that I was smart. On reflection, it was more my ability to see different perspectives. I attribute that to my being able to speak two languages and having lived in different cultures. That sensitized me to different realities and viewpoints.

        My wife and I had friends back from our student days in Canada, Karen Crouse and her husband Badri Muhammad. Both were longtime Professors of Chemistry at Universiti Pertanian Malaysia. She adapted so well to Malaysia such that whenever I complained about the local bureaucracy she would sooth me with, “They do it differently here, Bakri!”

       Not wrong, but differently. That perspective would determine whether your reaction would be one of equanimity or frustration, not to mention success or failure. Karen Crouse learned Malay fast and was able to give her lectures in that language in short order.

        Contrast her to many non-Malays who were born and had lived their entire lives in Malaysia yet could not speak Malay. A ready and pathetic example is Tommy Thomas, a distinguished defense lawyer privileged to be the first non-Malay to be appointed Attorney-General, a prestigious accomplishment. However, at his first official press conference, without hesitation he spoke in English. He ignored and paid no due deference to the National Language. He was not even embarrassed by his glaring deficiency. In fact, the very opposite as he was barely able to conceal his disdain for it. And this character was born and bred in Malaysia!

        His behavior was such an embarrassing contrast to all previous non-Malay Ministers. It was as if he was mocking the national language and the associated culture. Yet he proudly displayed, and relished, his feudal Malay honorifics. You can bet that it would be a very long time before another non-Malay would even be considered for such a position. Thomas had poisoned the well.

        I have long advocated such high-level infusions of fresh talent into the civil service so as to reinvigorate it. 

        Thomas and Karen Crouse demonstrate what the Stanford psychologist Carol Dwyer refers to as individuals with a “fixed mindset” and “growth mindset” respectively. Thomas, and others with a closed mindset, viewed learning Malay as a sop to Malay nationalists instead of another useful skill. 

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