History has, after all, taught us time and again that no good ever comes from bringing up the issue of race in Malaysia, and it’s time DBP takes heed of this. Words like ‘ keling’ may have been accepted in the past, but over time, they have evolved and lost its original meaning and become insults and racial slurs, and this is where DBP must draw the line. This is especially true for words with racial connotations. While this is true, shouldn’t DBP, as the arbiter for all issues concerning the national language, be more sensitive of the gradually-evolving definitions of certain words to begin with? In the case of ‘ keling’, Sallehuddin also said, “dictionaries record history through words every word has a historical, social and cultural value”. DBP defined ‘ tambi’ as “a word used to refer to a ‘ keling’ person younger than us”.Īlthough the term ‘ keling’ originated from Kalinga, an ancient Indian kingdom and had no derogatory slur, it was later used by certain people as an insult to Indians. To recap, the issue began after a screenshot of the definition for the word ‘ tambi’ on DBP’s online dictionary made its rounds on social media recently. Instead of making excuses for racism and issuing non-apologies, perhaps it is time for DBP learn to keep up with the times and go through its databases with a fine-toothed comb to make the necessary updates. Sebanyak 5843 kata baru yang meliputi entri, subentri dan frasa entri termuat dalam edisi keempat ini.

To put an end to the controversy, Sallehuddin told Malaysiakini that the department will update the Kamus Pelajar’s definition of the word ‘ tambi’ and will replace the word ‘ keling’ with ‘Indian’.īut an update is not an apology or an admission of guilt. Kamus Dewan Hardcover JanuMalay Edition by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (Author) Hardcover from 87.88 2 Used from 87.88 1 New from 118.00 This is a Malay dictionary. Of course, updating the physical copy of the dictionary takes time and effort, but the definition could’ve easily been amended in the past, right? But here’s the problem with DBP’s explanation: it still doesn’t say why the word was still found online and without proper disclaimers.

Kamus dewan bahasa dan pustaka