Malaysia

To which language should you translate to localize in Malaysia?

LAH, SAMA KE? (LAH, IT’S THE SAME?)

“As someone who’s been living in Malaysia my whole life, I never thought that our neighboring country (Singapore) spoke better Bahasa Melayu than me. I always thought that since it was introduced as Bahasa Malaysia when I was in primary school, we Malaysians spoke it better than anyone else.  How shallow I was. Until recently, when I heard this comedian from Singapore speak Bahasa Melayu in full, perfect, proper sentences. It blew my mind! 

Well, Bahasa Melayu doesn’t just belong to Malaysia and Singapore alone. Indonesia and Brunei speak it as well. And it might be a surprise to some, but many of the words that we use nowadays come from the Philippines. 

There’s another special thing about Bahasa Melayu too. Especially the variety shared between Malaysia and Singapore. We tend to add ‘lah’ at the end of sentences. It makes them sound better, more emotional and full of expression, and it makes speakers feel closer to home. On top of that, we can mix and match with other languages, especially in English. 

For example, ‘lah’ is the fine line distinguishing between a cold, emotionless sentence and a warm, polite and thoughtful sentence: ‘No need’ and ‘No need lah’. 

Another good example: ‘lah’ is used to add emphasis to an adjective: ‘She is so pretty!’ to ‘Why lah she so pretty?’

So how do you know when to use it? I say, come on over here and you’ll master it in no time.”

Official language

Malay (58.4%; 20 mln)

Actual languages

Malay (58.4%; 20 mln), Chinese (10.7%; 3.67 mln), Tamil (3.9%; 1.33 mln), Iban (2.8%; 960k), English (1.6%; 548k), Dusun (1.1%; 377k), other (21.5%; 7.37 mln).

What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in Malaysia

(Top 150 websites listed in the Global by Design ranking – published annually by Byte Level Research, this report provides a list of globally localized websites, showcasing best practices and emerging trends in their globalization)

• 14/150 localize by translating into Malay
• 2/150 localize by translating into Burmese
• 2/150 localizes by translating into Simplified Chinese
• 1/150 localizes by translating into both Malay and Tamil
• 1/150 localizes by translating into both Malay and Malaysian Sign Language
• 1/150 localizes by translating into Malay, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Vietnamese and Burmese
• 1/150 localizes by translating into French, Simplified Chinese, German, Spanish and Japanese
• 1/150 localizes by translating into French, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Italian and Russian
• 1/150 localizes by translating into French and Simplified Chinese
• 1/150 localizes by translating into Traditional Chinese