JOHOR BARU – An Indonesian woman is receiving brickbats on social media for poking fun at Bahasa Malaysia in a video that has been making rounds on Twitter.
According to The Vibes' Bahasa Malaysia sister portal Getaran, Sarah Tresnowati, who goes by the handle @STresnowat1, uploaded a video where she compared several Indonesian words and phrases to English and Bahasa Malaysia.
However, what drew the wrath of netizens was that her comparisons were deemed inaccurate and appear to be made to mock Bahasa Malaysia.
The clip was quick to draw negative comments from local netizens, with a majority perceiving the video as a provocation.
Commenters attempted to correct the flaws in translation.
Nevertheless, Sarah appeared to have doubled down, citing a news article that condemns the use of the phrase “Indon” to describe Indonesians.
The Merdeka.com article pointed out that the phrase was deemed offensive, claiming that the Indonesian diplomatic mission urged the Malaysian government to refrain from using that term.
“What’s going on with you, Sarah? Are you purposely making a fool out of yourself on social media? You are defaming Malaysians.
“There are no such phrases in Malay. Be smart if you are trying to mislead Indonesians, they are your people too, no?” @camancher2012 tweeted.
“Using the word stupid can draw anger, but this is obviously stupid. Are Ind** like you this stupid? You have a smartphone but can’t Google translate? Stupid Ind**,” @_nama007 said.
Negative comments did not only come from Malaysians, as Indonesian social media users felt uneasy with the video, accusing Sarah of causing tension between the communities.
Twitter user @sang_bango, advised Sarah that her actions were unwise.
“That’s not true, you have made many mistakes. Laughing at someone’s language is unwise,” @sang_bango tweeted.
Meanwhile, @anusekalinya shared the same view, urging Sarah to appreciate other languages.
“Appreciate that they have their own original features and styles in the language,” @anusekalinya said.
Sarah responded to the negative comments, alleging that Malaysians look down on Indonesians.
However, @harapanpejalan rubbished such accusations, pointing out that Sarah’s actions were still wrong.
“So what should we do so that we are not perceived as inferior people? Do we need to reply to every insult?” @harapanpejalan said.
The video also caught the attention of an Indonesian citizen who advised Sarah that it would be better to remain quiet.
“The video is not funny and could become the cause of an unwanted conflict. If you don’t know, stay quiet to avoid embarrassment,” @ceritakiri said.
As of 12pm today, the video uploaded on March 9 has been viewed 3.2 million times. – The Vibes, March 12, 2023
