By Norhayati Muda
KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 (Bernama) -- Azizah, Adam, Adibah, Harun and Musa are five youths who are not only different in race, religion and culture but they also come from different countries.
However, they were brought together for the first time today under one language -- Bahasa Melayu.
They are among 26 participants of the International Bahasa Melayu Oratory Contest for the Deputy Prime Minister`s Trophy, held for the first time in Malaysia.
Azizah or her real name, Olga Valdimovna Vasilevskaya, 19, is a student of Bahasa Melayu and Malaysian History at Moscow State University, Russia, while Adam or Tom Gunnar Hoogervost, 22 is a third-year student with the Faculty of Southeast Asian Studies at Leyden University, Holland.
Adibah or Wang Di, 20, from China, is a second-year Foreign Language (Bahasa Melayu) student at the University of Beijing, while Harun or Ryosuke Hotoda, 22, is from Tokyo where he studies International Development in Bahasa Melayu at Takushoku University.
Nigerian Musa`s (real name, Adediran Adekola Musa) situation in getting to know the Malay language had been different.
Unlike his friends who studied Bahasa Melayu formally, Musa was taught by two housemates from Malaysia who lived and worked for several years in Nigeria.
"One of them is Hafiz from Kelantan. The other is Halim from Kedah. They taught me how to speak Bahasa Melayu," said the 27-year-old who is studying economics at the University of Nigeria.
"I intend to study Bahasa Melayu here after my university course because the language is interesting," he added.
Vasilevskaya`s (Azizah) love for Bahasa Melayu was kindled when two lecturers introduced it to her.
"My lecturers are Russians and they spoke very fluent Bahasa Melayu," she said.
According to her, many students in Russia preferred to speak in English instead of Bahasa Melayu, and Bahasa Indonesia was more popular there than Bahasa Melayu.
Hoogervost or Adam said he loved foreign cultures, especially from Southeast Asia due to their unique character.
He plans to study the language futher and would later spread it in Holland.
Wang (Adibah) said she only spoke Bahasa Melayu in class.
"Although there are some Chinese students from Malaysia in my university, they prefer to speak in Mandarin or English," she said.
Hotoda (Harun) said his interest in Bahasa Melayu began when he visited Johor several years ago.
"I learn to speak in Bahasa Melayu in class but I also use it in my email to friends in Malaysia."
The final of the competition which offers cash prizes of almost RM10,000 (USD$3,000) for the champion, RM8,000 (USD$2,000) for the runner-up and RM3,600 (USD$1,000) for the third-placed winner will be held on March 16 at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC).
Seven participants will take part in the final round. (29 Maret 2007)
