Ever since we changed our aid application forms to e-forms (gone green!), everything has been going very smoothly.
Of course there are the aunties and uncles who complain that they cannot fill up the e-forms. For that matter, they also couldn’t fill up the paper forms, so apa bezanya? If you apply for a loan from a bank, you still have to fill up forms, right?
We encouraged them to seek help from anyone who could assist them to fill the forms.
There’s no other way to go about it. As humans, we have to learn and keep up with the times.
I have had to keep years of hardcopy application forms for income tax audit and these have taken up so much space in my wardrobes! And it is not just about storing hardcopy forms, it is more about going green and not wasting paper. And it is also cheaper send the forms online than to go to the post office to send them off to us. And there’s always been the Pos Lambat problem too.
However, recently, we encountered people who don’t know English, that is why yesterday, I included a Bahasa Malaysia version in all our forms, so now our three e-forms are bilingual.
I think that’s fair enough. We are a Malaysian organisation, so our forms are bilingual. English is a lingua franca in this region (no thanks to the penjajah but what to do, they conquered, pillaged and plundered 90% of the planet) while Bahasa Malaysia is our national language and as Malaysians, we are supposed to know this language like the back of our hand. I do. I write and read Bahasa Malaysia fluently. So there’s no excuse, really, when I encounter fellow Malaysians who have been to school but cannot speak or understand Bahasa Malaysia. Even foreigners like Bangladeshis, Myanmars and my neighbour, Koreans, speak fluent and proper Bahasa Malaysia! BM is an easy and friendly language to learn and pick up fast, unlike French or Mandarin!
So, our e-forms will only be in two languages. We are not including Chinese or Tamil, because if we do, where do we stop? Iban, Kadazandusun, Dayak, Punjabi, etc. would have to be included as well. And yes, we are constantly reminded that China is fast becoming an economic superpower and we might need Mandarin to do business with them. But this is still Malaysia and we have our national language. If Mandarin becomes a lingua franca here one day, we will adjust accordingly.
So, kalau masih tak faham BM, please get some assistance from a friend or family member.