By Mahendra Ved
IANS
Kuala Lumpur : The Malaysians have treated the marriage of their 67-year-old prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, last week with grace and good cheer.
They appear to willingly accord the popular approval he sought while declaring that while his love for Endon Mahmud, his wife of four decades, was eternal he was once again "in love".
Even as fellow ministers subjected Badawi to what the media called "friendly ribbing" about his decision to marry Jeanne, 53, his first wife's sister-in-law, the wedding itself was kept strictly a family affair – his family and hers – with grown-up children expressing happiness.
A family photograph with the bride's father, the daughters, and Badawi's sons, sons-in-law and grandchildren summed up the mood.
The local paparazzi were kept out, as were most of the ministers and the public.
There was spontaneous 'doa salamat" (thanksgiving prayers) at many places across the country.
Badawi's minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, who heads the Malaysian Indian Congress, said it with poetry:
"From this day forward,
You shall not walk alone.
Her heart will be your shelter,
And her arms will be your home.
A mountain needs a valley
to be complete;
The valley does not make
The mountain less, but more;
And the valley is more a valley
Because
It has a mountain towering
Over it."
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Bollywood rules KL
Bollywood reigns here too. The Hindi film industry is enormously popular and the IIFA award in Yorkshire last week cornered the top of the entertainment page.
Astro TV, in tie-up with Zee, shows classics, old and new. This week's fare includes Raj Kapoor's "Mera Naam Joker" and "Sangam", and some Subhash Ghai blockbusters.
New arrivals are regularly reviewed and rated by a media that goes a little beyond the 'Mumbai masala' while profiling the Indian artistes. For instance, a Priyanka Chopra profile states that she is unlikely to be amused and cites her vital statistics (35-25-35). It also admits that there may never be a 'confirmation' of this bit of info.
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Shared hockey past
Much like India, Malaysia, that hosts the Azlan Shah Cup, is also nostalgic about its hockey past. Its tryst in the World Cup in 1975 that ended with the semi-final was recalled in New Straits Times earlier this week.
When the team, with seven Tamils, lost to Holland, the King, Raja Azlan Shah (in whose name the tournament is held) and others "were in tears", it says.
While praising the "heroes of 75", Malaysians have encomiums for the winning Indian team. One old apparently black and white photograph shows India's Harinder Singh "breaking through the English defence".
The largest photo is of the victorious Indian team boarding the Malaysian Airlines aircraft. Captian Ajitpal Singh is "showing off the trophy", says the caption, "While Balbir Singh, a great Indian international in his day, looks on".
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Malay amalgamates many languages
It is interesting to see how many Sanskrit, Urdu and even English words find their way into Malay. So you have familiar words like "sewa" (service), "rahasya" (confidential), menteri (mantri, minister), per dama menteri (pradhan mantri – prime minister).
Then there are everyday Urdu words like "khazana" (treasury) and 'fayda' (benefit). The term 'negara', which is an adaptation of the word 'nagar', harks back to the concept of a city-state, but its present-day connotation is 'national'. For instance, the country's central bank is called Bank Negara Malaysia.
As for adapting English to the easy local use, there are any number of words like "sentral" (central), and "stesan" (station).