Clothes That Poke Eye...

That the standard of English in Malaysia has gone to the dogs is further shown up by the Ministry of Defence's recent website posting on what constituted "ethical clothing" for military personnel.

The Star 6 January 2012

The posting had Malaysian netizens ROFL i.e rolling on the floor laughing!

Consider this: military personnel should not wear "clothes that poke eye". This is a direct translation of the Malay phrase "pakaian yang menjolok mata" which means revealing clothes.

Then there was this: "shine closed" for the Malay phrase "kasut bertutup" which is supposed to mean closed-toe shoes.

And this brief summary of the ministry's history: "After the withdrawal of British army, the Malaysian Government take drastic measures to increase the level of any national security threat" when it should have read: "After the withdrawal of British army, the Malaysian Government took drastic measures to increase the level of national security against any threats"

The Malay version reads: "Selepas pengunduran tentera British, Kerajaan Malaysia mengambil langkah drastik untuk meningkatkan tahap keselamatan negara dari sebarang ancaman"

The ministry has since taken down the English version after it had gone viral on Twitter and Facebook.

I had wondered how Education First could name Malaysia as No 1 in English proficiency among Asian countries.